Let’s be real, if you are contemplating whether you can afford doula services, think about your budget. Do you spend money on luxury items or self care experiences for yourself like a manicure, pedicure, or that Fenty product haul? If you can, you should invest in a good birth team.
I don’t want my stress from not having fair wages to come in the form of interrupting the sacred environment I work so hard to create for my clients. My wages include in addition to the tangible goods and services provided to you, my fee includes access to quality backup doulas, continuing education and training, time for mentorship opportunities of others, business and LLC costs, birthing & postpartum supplies plus PPE for your safety and mine, collegiate level certifications and college degree, offerings to the community of free support groups, professional organization accreditation costs for business marketing and validity, and this is all upfront costs. In birth work these wages cover my travel expenses, meals, childcare, body work, therapy, to name a few.
Attending a birth is rewarding work, but so is getting a massage to nurture sore muscles following a particularly long birth, mentoring another doula who could really benefit from my support, traveling to advocate for families like to our legislators, therapy services for any secondary trauma to better ensure that I do not allow it to carry over into my work or everyday life or just taking a vacation from on-call life to spend some quality time with my family after being apart. Self-care is essential to maintaining the peaceful disposition necessary to provide a quality service to you AND for you.
I’m passionate about the birth work I do, and being a native San Diegan, I love my community but the cost of living here is high! I do offer sliding scale fee discounts based on the FPL (federal poverty level) 2022. Proof of income will be required for this discount of up to 80% off my services.