Doula Programs: Do new doulas need mentoring?

Doulas are brave. After completing training prerequisites and attending the doula training weekend workshop, would-be volunteer Doulas Care doulas simply needed to sign up for the volunteer orientation to be ushered into the program. On occasion, the volunteer coordinator made doula–client matches by the end of the first orientation session.

The sink-or-swim approach worked surprisingly well, for the most part. Some doulas, feeling a bit timid, asked to shadow a more experienced
doula or be mentored in some way for the first birth or two, while others
just forged ahead and jumped in the deep end. We were reluctant to take on the administrative burden of establishing a formal mentoring process for the doulas. This was primarily because I felt that the clients’ needs must always come first and that two doulas might be overwhelming to some women. I suppose if it had been a persistent need, we would have found a way to do it. Most doulas simply rose to the challenge and overcame their reservations, and I have come to believe that the need for mentoring is more perception than reality. I am forever encouraging new doulas to focus on their strengths (exactly the same thing we tell the laboring mother) rather than their insufficiencies. When you are with a
mother who needs support, you will find a way to support her, from your heart and from your existing knowledge base. Your goal is to serve her, to be an asset. Surely, we can all find a way to do that. After all, it’s not about you. (Say it to yourself ten times: “It’s not about me, it’s not about me . . .”)

Still, it can be really helpful to have someone to debrief with after a particularly challenging birth. Our partners, after all, have a limited capacity for listening to birth stories. My very indulgent husband claims to know WAY more about birth than he needs to—“TMI” as they say. So a support group for doulas is a great solution, serving as a means to do some group problem solving, learn from each other’s mistakes, and identify common themes for future The Doula Programs blog provides a forum for doula program visionaries and implementers to consider common challenges, ask questions, and learn from each other.

Patty Brennan is the author of The Doula Business Guide: Creating a Successful MotherBaby Business.

Posted by Patty Brennan on February 17, 2011 • Filed under Doula Programs
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