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A 40% wholesale discount is available on all items sold through the Center, except herbs. To obtain the wholesale discount, you must place a minimum order of six copies of any one item. The discount will be automatically applied. Shipping and handling costs will be added to all wholesale orders.

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Foreword by Penny Simkin

$29.95 plus S&H

• Table of Contents
• Excerpts from Penny Simkin’s Foreword
• What Childbirth Leaders are Saying
• Order the Book
• Become a Distributor
• Special Free Gift from the Author

“Thank you for your wonderfully encouraging helpful book. After reading it, I feel I have the resources to confidently market my doula practice. I moved from a small city in Minnesota to Portland, OR last year and went from being a busy doula to not having any clients or connections with the birth community. After wasting time wondering if something was wrong with me being a doula, I am now actually excited to network with professionals, organize my marketing materials, and tweak my website. Thanks again for the inspiration!” — Celia Linnemann

Why should I invest in this book?

Finally, Patty Brennan raises the bar for the doula profession! The Doula Business Guide is the must have, comprehensive resource for anyone seeking to establish an independent doula business or program. Four hundred pages of inspiration and useful information for launching your dream career and making it pay well. When you invest in this thorough guide, you get Patty’s 28 years of expertise distilled into one go-to resource. Each chapter is like taking an entire training course on the subject. The book shows you how to:

• Determine which business model is right for you (see our detailed analysis of a variety of models)
• Avoid ruined friendships with our frank discussion on the pros and cons of business partnerships
• Identify seven critical decisions every new business owner must make
• Command respect from the medical community
• Build a professional image by establishing and maintaining professional boundaries with clients
• Achieve success through implementation of low-cost, 21st-century marketing strategies
• Set your fees, communicate with clients about money, avoid conflicts, and get paid without hassles or guilt
• Stay out of trouble with the IRS
• Determine whether a nonprofit business model is right for you
• Avoid common mistakes in establishing a doula program
• Win grants up to $200,000 and more to fund your doula program
• Protect yourself from liability
• And lots more (seriously!)

Order Now!

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“I created a website today and that section of your book was wonderful. I had never done it before (for example, buying a domain, figuring out the content of the site, etc.), so the guidance was awesome. I am also working on establishing myself as a business and I was really nervous about how that works but that section of your book was also really great. Thanks again!” –Elizabeth Gillette

“AMAZING! I’M THRILLED! I wanted you to know that your book arrived yesterday and I am tremendously impressed. What a fantastic book! I can’t put it down. I keep going from heading to heading, wondering ‘What does she say about this? About that?” and “ooh, that’s good” or “I love that story about Nan Koehler!.’ You’ve done an impressive job and I am happy it is so comprehensive!! Not only do independent doulas need this information, but so many have their fingers in a few different styles of doula care. Or they wonder if they could make it go in another model. It also has a lot to offer non-doulas who are on the board of directors of doula organizations. We discussed so many of the topics in Chapter 7 and 6 just two weeks ago. But at the time it just felt overwhelming because we didn’t have any template to follow or even a starting point. So thank you!” — Amy L. Gilliland, Ph.D., CD(DONA), DONA Approved Doula Trainer and Doula Researcher

“This has been the singular ‘light in the dark’ resource for me as I begin my career as a doula…. Though we have never met, I have found confidence in my ability to navigate the nebulous world of self-employment and doula work and find myself asking, “What would Patty do?” — Jessica Gee, San Mateo, CA

“Just wanted you to know that I appreciate the book! It has really helped me to get up to speed very quickly with the business end of my practice.” –Kate Donahue

Table of Contents

Preface. Birthing Your Doula Business

Chapter 1. Choosing the Path

• Consider …
• Going It Alone
• Partnerships: Think Twice!
• To Incorporate or Not to Incorporate?
• Collaborative Models
• Evolution of Center for the Childbearing Year

Chapter 2. Implementing Your Creative Vision

• Mission/Values/Vision
• Naming Your Business
• Considerations Regarding Office Space
• Defining Your Service Package
• Money Matters!
• Insurance Reimbursement for Doulas
• Staying Out of Trouble with the IRS
• Getting the Paperwork Together
• A Word about “The Stuff”
• Commanding Respect

Chapter 3. Why Doulas Matter: How to Market Your Practice

• The Big Picture: Marketing Overview
• Cultivating Referrals, Repeat Business, Word of Mouth
• Print Media
• Online Media
• Radio and Television Media
• Establishing a Community Presence
• Evaluation of Marketing Efforts

Chapter 4. To Be or Not to Be: Nonprofit Primer

• What is a Nonprofit Corporation?
• Pros and Cons of Nonprofits
• Step-by-Step Set-Up
• About “the Board”
• Cloning the Executive Director
• Fundraising: The Bottom Line
• Story of Center for the Childbearing Year
• The “Essentially Flawed Concept”
• Reality Check

Chapter 5. A Doula for Every Woman Who Wants One: Doula Program Models

• A Community-Based Volunteer Doula Program Model
• Community-Based Doula Programs: The HealthConnect One Model
• Community-Based Program Models Summary
• Hospital-Based Doula Programs

Chapter 6. Making the Case for Funding Doula Programs

• Identify Funders with a Mission Match
• Cultivating the Grantor–Grantee Relationship
• Follow the Required Format of the RFP and Avoid Common Mistakes!
• Components of a Proposal
• Proposal Writing Tips
• Specific Doula Program Funding Strategies
• Heads Up on Fiduciary Relationships
• Sample Funded Proposal: Ann Arbor Thrift Shop
• Sample Funded Proposal: Ann Arbor Community Foundation
• What If Your Proposal Doesn’t Get Funded?
• Honing Your Grant Writing Skills

Chapter 7. Risk Management for Doulas and Doula Programs

• Scope of Practice
• How to Make an Effective Referral
• Creating Effective Client Contracts
• Small Claims Court and the Doula
• Risk Reduction Strategies for Doula Programs
• Poor Birth Outcomes and the Doula
• HIPAA Laws and Doulas
• Child Abuse and Neglect and the Doula: Are Doulas Mandated Reporters?
• Domestic Violence Awareness
• Boundaries, Personal Safety, and Self Defense for Doulas
• LLC Formation
• Transfer of Risk: Insurance Considerations

Chapter 8. Going the Distance

• The Art of Being “On Call”
• Boundary Setting Revisited
• Nurturing Yourself as Well as You Nurture Others
• I Don’t Have Time to Read a Book on Time Management
• Doula Power!

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Excerpts from Penny Simkin’s Foreword to the Book:

A glance over the Table of Contents shows how complete this book is, covering everything: various models for a private practice or a doula program, how to set it up, market it, remain within the law, finance the practice or program, and manage all possible risks to survival.

She also covers, with humor and the voice of experience, such touchy topics as individual lifestyle issues, self-care, and personal relationships within the family, community, and with clients. She even shows how we can be effective birth activists without jeopardizing our clients’ well-being in the birth room. Whew! . . . An appropriate subtitle for this book might be, “Everything You Wanted to Know about Doula Business, but Were Too Naïve to Ask.”

. . . this book is a very good read! Patty’s honesty, conversational tone, instructive stories, and obvious expertise carry you through each chapter. She shares pearls of wisdom that she has gleaned from years of varied experiences with many types of doula practice.

As we learn from Patty, good business practices ensure that the wisdom, experience, and unique assistance provided by doulas will continue to be available and will grow to benefit more childbearing women and their families. This book is more than an excellent guide to business, but also a guide to the high road for each of us and to positive growth for the entire doula movement.

What Childbirth Leaders are Saying about The Doula Business Guide:

“Many of us believe that the over-medicalized American way of birth must change, but no one has done what Patty Brennan does here. Combining smart business sense with the wisdom of grass roots organizing, Brennan provides a complete nuts and bolts guide to creating and sustaining a business that helps moms get the safe and satisfying birth they want.”

—Raymond De Vries, Ph.D., Professor, Bioethics Program, University of Michigan School of Medicine

“Patty Brennan provides a step-by-step guide for building a sustainable doula business as well as a bounty of inspiration for staying the course. The Doula Business Guide is a recipe for success as a birth worker and an entrepreneur.”

—Geradine Simkins CNM, MSN, President & Interim Executive Director, Midwives Alliance of North America

“Patty Brennan’s vast experience of directing a nonprofit center, writing grants, collaborating with community agencies, managing for-profit programs, and operating an independent doula practice offers a broad and practical perspective. For any model of making doula services available that Brennan hasn’t directly done, she has done a thorough job of researching. Whether you are new to the field or an experienced doula interested in broadening your business focus, I highly recommend this book.”

—Teri Shilling, MS, CD(DONA), IBCLC, LCCE, Owner of Passion for Birth

“Patty Brennan’s business acumen and expertise really show in this thorough, well-written, and researched business book for doulas and others with birth-related practices, including midwives. Marketing is key to your business and is very well covered here. This should be the first book you get when you decide to be any kind of birth practitioner. We can only change birth practices for the better if we are successful at reaching our audience.”

—Jan Tritten, Midwife and Editor of Midwifery Today Magazine

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To Order

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To pay with a check, send $29.95 plus $7 for shipping and handling within the U.S. (total $36.95), payable to:

Center for the Childbearing Year
722 Brooks St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48103

If you live outside the U.S., please order online so correct S&H charges can be calculated.

If you prefer to pay with a credit card by phone, please call 734-663-1523. We accept VISA, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.

Become a Distributor:

Our wholesale discount of 40% off the retail price (of $29.95) is available for orders of six or more copies of the book. The discount will be automatically applied once you update your shopping cart to six copies of any one item. Bulk orders may take up to two weeks to arrive; if you are ordering for a class, please allow sufficient time.

Special Free Gift from the Author

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You don’t have to learn everything the hard way! With this accessible, comprehensive grant writing training package, you can become a successful grant writer and get up to speed quickly. Expert grant writer Patty Brennan shows how to identify funding sources, plan a funding strategy, create measurable “outcome objectives,” cultivate relationships with funders, and, in short, get your program or initiative funded.

Speaking at a full-day March of Dimes-sponsored Pre-Conference Workshop for the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Michigan Annual Conference, in Mt. Pleasant, on June 2, 2010, Brennan and a panel of experts make the task of grant writing less daunting. This program was so successful that March of Dimes has engaged Patty for a command, repeat performance at the 2011 Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Conference.

Avoid common mistakes that make the difference between, literally, thousands of dollars and zero dollars for your program. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to gain the insider’s perspective on the grant-making process!

Key topics include:

• identifying funders who are a mission match
• understanding the dynamics of the grantor/grantee relationship
• demonstrating community need
• establishing community partnerships and fiduciary relationships
• describing your target population
• developing objectives that are specific and measurable
• defining parameters and tools for evaluating success
• budgeting considerations
• developing sustainability strategies

NO-RISK GUARANTEE: If you are not completely satisfied with this training package, just email me within 90 days of purchase, and I will refund your money.

Your Total No-Risk Investment = $97

The Grant Writing Training Package includes:

• a copy of the PowerPoint presentation (PDF)
  
• the Grant Writing Resource Guide with valuable tools for writing outcome and process objectives, identifying funders online, resources for free online tutorials, proposal-writing tips, and, last but not least, the March of Dimes Grant Reviewers’ Score Sheet (invaluable!)
  
• AND your choice of one of the following four media formats:

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Includes two DVDs with over 4 hours of training.

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Includes one CD with the complete 4+ hours of training, especially suited for those time-management experts among you who want to learn while commuting or otherwise multi-tasking.

The instructor, Patty Brennan, is an entertaining and dynamic speaker and adult education specialist, as well as an expert grant writer. She has served as a grant reviewer on the March of Dimes Michigan Program Services Committee since 2006 and understands the grant making process from both sides of the table. She is devoted to your success, especially if it helps moms and babies and families. Email Patty for more information.

This comprehensive proposal includes the following:

• Overview
• Role of the Professional Birth Doula
• Role of the Professional Postpartum Doula
• Doula Scope of Practice
• Benefits of Doulas
• Benefits to Hospital
• Program Model Options/Variations
• Doula Training
• Marketing the Program
• Sample Implementation Timeline
• Potential Challenges and Solutions to Implementation
• Budget Items
• Revenue Streams
• Insurance Reimbursement Status
• Summary

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Consulting Services

Patty Brennan is a consultant, professional grant writer, and program development specialist. She is available to assist you in developing a proposal and implementing a program uniquely tailored to your organization. Patty can help you sidestep hard lessons learned and launch your program effectively and efficiently. She can save you time and money. Email patty@center4cby.com or call 734-663-1523.

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The book is designed to help parents make an informed decision regarding childhood vaccines. Favorite resources on various aspects of the vaccine controversy are outlined.

• We begin with the case against compulsory vaccination including discussion on the role of the government in ensuring vaccine safety, the process by which vaccines become “mandated,” vaccine efficacy, the concept and ethics of “herd immunity,” how the immune system works, and how vaccinations work.
• For each vaccine, discussion is organized as follows:  (1) definition of the agent that causes the disease and method of transmission, (2) disease symptoms, (3) available allopathic treatment, (4) vaccine history and effectiveness, and (5) vaccine risks.
• Emphasis is placed on the prevention of adverse vaccine reactions. (There is much that parents who choose to vaccinate can do!)
• Excellent materials on enhancing the immune system naturally are featured (a good idea regardless of your choice) including discussion on whether germs cause disease, the meaning of symptoms and the suppression of symptoms, holistic modalities, a special section on fevers, food and herbal sources of important immune system nutrients, antibiotic abuse, “family winter health tea” recipe, and how to stimulate a weakened immune system.
• Homeopathy is presented as (1) a method of preventing and treating acute and chronic vaccine reactions, (2) a prophylactic after exposure to the disease or during epidemics, and (3) a treatment modality to limit the course and severity of the diseases when sick.
• Resources are included for understanding, exercising, and preserving your legal right to waivers, and how to deal with coercion.
• Additional topics include finding a vaccine-friendly doctor, alternate vaccine schedules, dealing with daycare providers, and world travel resources.

Order Vaccines & Informed Choice now.

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Save time and S&H costs; download your E-Book now.

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A 40% wholesale discount will be automatically applied to orders of six or more of any one book.
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From many kitchens to yours . . .

Whole Family Recipes–For the Childbearing Year & Beyond is more than a cookbook. While being a guide to nutritious and delicious meals the whole family will enjoy, it highlights foods that are especially needed by pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and their growing children. Taking a non-dogmatic and down-to-earth tone, the book focuses on incorporating vitamin- and mineral-rich foods and good quality fats into the diet. It playfully encourages parents to experiment with “new” foods as they transition to healthier food choices. In addition to yummy recipes, the book contains numerous tips for parents and a collection of essays devoted to nutrition during the childbearing year, including a unique piece on “The Birth Marathon–Food & Drink for Labor & Birth.” The cookbook is a community effort. Contributors include midwives, doulas, moms, and dads, with illustrations by children. Makes a great gift for those moms, doulas, and midwives in your life!

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We offer a 40% wholesale discount on orders of six or more of any one book. Become a distributor now.

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Fourth Revised Edition, 2005
By Patty Brennan
$12

This compact booklet is designed to provide a practical, quick, clinical reference guide that birth attendants can easily slip into their birth bags. Seventy-five key remedies are briefly summarized for their applications in midwifery practice or self care. Prenatal problems, complications arising during labor and birth, and postpartum complaints of both mom and baby are covered. The 4th edition features an expanded therapeutic applications or repertory section designed to facilitate expedient choice of a remedy during labor. Written by a midwife for midwives, mothers, and anyone who works with pregnant, birthing, or breastfeeding moms and their babies. Find out why this is the “go-to” reference book for thousands of midwives!

Buy Guide to Homeopathic Remedies for the Birth Bag now.

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Save time and S&H costs; download the E-book now.

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We offer a 40% wholesale discount on orders of six or more of any one book. Become a distributor now.

The work performed by traditional homebirth midwives is showcased in this DVD presentation. Three different families, attended by three different midwives or midwife teams are shown. Educational and clinical aspects of prenatal visits are depicted as each midwife reveals her own particular style of care. The mothers give birth at home, one in bed, one on hands and knees on the floor, and the last on a birthing stool in a supported squatting position.

The viewer experiences a sense of time passing in labor, witnesses the struggle of one mother who has an especially painful back labor, and sees an unedited, slow crowning of the baby’s head over an intact perineum. A range of support techniques, including the use of herbal and homeopathic remedies, is shown. One mother experiences a complication with a partially separated placenta, which resolves safely at home due to the decisiveness and skill of the attending midwife.

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We offer a 40% wholesale discount on orders of six or more of any one book. Become a distributor now.

1/4 pound organic Red Raspberry leaves

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1/4 organic Nettles

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Learn about Pregnancy Tea.

Postpartum Herbal Baths

Each bag makes one healing bath and contains a pre-mixed batch of organic calendula flowers, comfrey leaves, and lavender.

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Learn about the Postpartum Herbal Baths.