Operation Special Delivery
01.23.2012

Operation Special Delivery (or OSD), provides trained volunteer doulas for pregnant women whose husbands or partners who will be deployed ,have been severely injured or who have lost their lives due to the current war on terror, or unable to attend the birth due to military reasons. The doulas that are volunteering are doing so by their own discresion.  Doulas have the right to refuse a client due to timing constraints,  conflict of interest, etc.

www.operationspecialdelivery.com

The International Birth and Wellness Project is a health and social service entity designed to educate and support women and families towards a healthier pregnancy, birth, post-partum and parenting experience. We believe that birth is a universal Rite of Passage that joins all people and all generations. In our services to women and families we strive to highlight and blend the most positive, healthy beliefs and traditions of all cultures to create a diverse tapestry of knowledge and techniques that emphasize the importance of the mind, body and spirit connection. We are a collective of health professionals focused on providing holistic services during the childbearing years. Our organization consists of three inter-connected efforts referred to as our circles of influence:

 http://www.alace.org/

DONA International certification is a widely respected measure of quality and professionalism. We are an international, non-profit organization of doulas that strives to have every doula trained / educated to provide the highest quality / standards for birth and/or postpartum support to birthing women and their families.

http://www.dona.org/

For over a decade, CAPPA's mission has been to offer comprehensive, evidence-based education, certification, professional membership and training to childbirth educators, lactation educators, labor doulas, antepartum doulas and postpartum doulas worldwide. CAPPA is proud to provide new and expectant families access to these professionals.

http://www.cappa.net/

Availability Calendar

Hello-

I was wondering how you can edit your availability calendar on your profile.

Thanks for the help!

Gaylen Alexander

Hi!

I am Courtney Pellegrino, from Spotsylvania, VA! My services include doula and childbirth education! I am getting Lamaze certified (taking LCCE test in Oct), and my DONA cert is pending. So many new adventures.

toLabor Doula Training in Wilmington, NC

June 29 - July 1, 2012

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/274963102578926

Help empower women so that they & their babies have the healthiest & best birth experience. Learn an incredible wealth of information. An excellent childbirth education class based in the Midwifery Model of Care and evidence based practices.

The intention of toLabor is to educate and certify professional birth doulas in order that they may help women and their partners become active participants in their birth. To learn how to support them so that they may feel a sense of confidence and power that can be carried forward into their parenting as well as into their daily lives. Pregnancy, labor, and birth serve a purpose ~ to help prepare the way to raise a child.

toLabor believes that all women benefit from support and resources that will help them be aware of, and educated about, the options and choices that are available so that they may make informed decisions concerning their birth experience. We embrace the evidence that a woman who actively participates in her birth will have a healthier birth for her baby, herself and her family; physically and emotionally. We believe that in every birth, there is room for compassion and respect for the process. We believe this a civil right, a human right. We believe in creating and fostering a community of change.

We invite you to attend this powerful workshop coming to Wilmington.

Please contact:
Kirsten (910)367-6346 or email: wholemomma@gmail.com
Nicole (910)200-8646 or email: Nicole@bridgingbirth.com

or contact the toLabor office directly (804)320-0607 or email tolabor@gmail.com

The Birth Arts International doula training is in Chicago on June 22, 23, and 24th. For more information see http://www.birtharts.com/classdates.htm#june

and http://www.facebook.com/events/369699449723567/

Hi my name is Samantha, I'm just starting out as a doula, but I'm super excited.  I've been attending OSD births and explaining to my clients that I'm not certified yet, and being sure to let them know that.

I have been having some trouble though and I wonder if any of you are as well.

I attended my first birth (as a doula) in August, and my client was wonderful, second birth was in October, again a wonderful client, I had another due in October but almost last minute she dropped me because of a difference in views on vaccinations (I had not had the whooping cough vaccination and didn't want to get it, and she wasn't letting anyone near her baby who didn't have it)  We mutually agreed that I wasn't the doula for her, still very sad to have seen her go though.  Then in November I had some family problems that meant I had to drop a client (I'm starting to feel horrible about my client rate here).  I explained with plenty of time to my client the situation, but unfortunately we had wires crossed and she took it personally.

The last one was due December, she was to be my last client before an upcoming cross country move.  I explained to her before even taking her on that I had two december babies myself and would be celebrating their birthdays that month but that I had a back up plan.  We met in person with my back up doula and she decided to go ahead and have me attend.  I checked out the birth center with her, I texted and called often to check on her, and to see if there was anything I could do for her.  She expressed that she was super nervous about the induction date that was fast approaching and that her midwife had suggested getting off her phone and facebook to ease her nerves and that she was going to keep me updated.

I texted her yesterday to ask her some questions, and she replied that she had delivered the baby.  I'm proud of her, she got the birth she wanted, but super bummed that for the last month I've been on call for a woman who didn't even tell me she went into labor.  I'm just a volunteer doula but still!

What can I do to make myself more professional so that clients wont waste my time?  I've already got a contract saying that communication is very important to me and that if I can't reach them then I will assume they dropped me, that if they do drop me they need to call as soon as they are able.  I'm already planning on putting in my contract the bit about vaccinations so that I don't have another client drop me last minute due to my view on them, but I don't know what to do about this last one.  Please help.

Hi!  I'm relatively new to Doulas.com.  I just got certified through DONA international as a birth doula in October.  Could someone help explain what the difference is between the "Standard" membership and the "Premium" membership? Thanks!

Hello all, my client delivered a few days ago and she gave me permission to post a pic of her and I on the OSD website. Problem is, I can't find out a place to do it on the website. Can anyone help?

There is a CAPPA approved CBE/LD training in salem Or. September 15-18, 2011

Here is a link to the event page

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=116937941716792and

and here is a link to the instructors home page.

http://sweetmiraclesdoula.com/default.aspx

she is wonderful.

Hi My name is Alicia! I live in Arlington, WA. I attended the Doula training last November and then right after got a job as a Health Educator so I haven't been able to work as actively as I had wanted to. Does anyone have any good tips for doulas with jobs?

Thanks!

When editing your profile and you want to add pictures you need to click on the small icon of a person on the bottom right hand side of your page.   This will bring up your options for your photos.

Your availability calendar is fairly easy when you bring up the calender you click on the boxes to turn them blue or white.

Also be sure that when you change something you go to the bottom of the page and save it.

We are also working on the language part to make it clear for everyone.

Thanks,

Nancy