ProDoula Official Statement on In-Person Doula Support – COVID-19
Posted on: March 23, 2020 | Doula Business, Doula Certification
Month: March 2020
Sunday, October 11th
A downloadable copy of this letter can be found via the link below:
Virtual, Interactive, Live Doula Trainings
Posted on: March 17, 2020 | Become a Doula, Doula Business, Doula Certification, Doula Training
Distance Learning During Social Distancing!
As we all navigate the COVID- 19 pandemic, many of the things we do on a regular basis will change. What will stay the same is the human desire to learn and grow, and ProDoula will continue to teach and support.
This is a perfect time to take a doula training.
ProDoula invites you now to immerse yourself in training, and in developing your doula business. As much is placed on hold right now, we know that your passion for supporting families through birth and early parenting is not.
Temporarily, all ProDoula trainings will take place virtually and interactively via Zoom, a FREE to use video conference calling platform.
Just like children across America will continue growing and learning via video conference calls with their teachers, your training, with your soon-to-be colleagues will work similarly!
While ProDoula trainings are typically 20 hours in length, over 2 days, our total education time is actually 17 hours. During in-person trainings, lunch breaks and bathroom breaks consume a total of 3 hours over the course of both days. Your virtual-interactive training will be 17 hours in length over 2 consecutive days.
Our Training schedule is currently being updated to reflect that temporarily, scheduled trainings will be held virtually!
What you should know:
- The time to register for a training is now!
- Your training will take place in your home, a location that is safest for you and others.
- You can utilize Zoom, the free video conferencing platform from a phone, computer or ipad.
- Your ProDoula training manual will be mailed to your home.
- Your training will be live!
- Your doula trainer will be speaking and interacting with you in real time.
- This will NOT be a series of recorded videos that you will sit alone and watch.
- You will ask questions and they will be answered.
- You will participate in discussions.
- You will finish this training as a Pre-Certified Doula!
- Upon completion, you will be sent a link to your comprehensive (open book, open computer) certification exam.
- If you are not currently CPR Certified, you will take this online CPR course and upload a copy of your certification as the final step of your exam.
- Upon successful completion of your virtual-interactive training, your exam and your CPR Certification, YOU WILL BE A CERTIFIED DOULA!
ProDoula is thrilled to accommodate the passionate professionals who see the tremendous value in supporting others through pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period.
We continue to be the leading edge certification organization for birth workers, and we are committed to supporting people as they come out of this pandemic smarter, wiser and more qualified to serve and support!
Support for Doulas During Covid- 19
Posted on: March 15, 2020 | Doula, Doula Business, Doula Self Care
At ProDoula the health and well-being of our fellow birth professionals, their families, their clients and their businesses are our top priorities.
As a result, we are attuned to the uncertainty, fear, and anxiety that many of you are experiencing. We know that worrying and waiting can increase that anxiety and can almost become paralyzing. For that reason, we want to help enable your empowerment by shifting your focus to ways that you can take action during this time.
We want to encourage you to be responsive vs. reactive. This will allow you to provide more deliberate, effective support to your clients. If you wait for them to contact you right now, you will be reactive and may not have a plan in place for what to say or do. Instead, reach out to your clients now with a responsive plan to accommodate them within the realm of what is possible in your area. You’ve been hired to instill strength and reduce fear for them, and now is a time that they may truly need it.
Now is NOT the time for panic. As doulas, we are an effective measure of calm for the families that we serve during times of uncertainty and change. This is one of those times. Remain the calm voice and anchor for your family, your clients and your community. We will get through this.
First and foremost, be safe.
Continue to follow safe hygiene practices and model them for clients. More importantly, protect yourself from anxiety and fear. Fear and anxiety can be debilitating. Seek to find opportunities to see the bright side in social distancing with your families. Remind yourself that this is temporary. Reach out for help if you are feeling overwhelmed and increasingly anxious. Social distancing is intended to slow things down. More importantly, to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Second, the time for creativity is now. Be proactive with your current clients.
Consider ways in which you can still provide support, especially when your physical in-person presence may not be possible. Creating options for packages with an emphasis on educational and emotional support that can be offered to your current clients. These packages are especially important to those who are located in areas where additional support people will not be permitted into the birth room.
Contact your local hospitals DAILY by phone regarding policy changes. Now is not the time for lengthy letter writing as the inboxes of hospital administrators are overflowing with crisis information and details. These letters will not be read now and will not have the impact intended. Instead, encourage your clients to call and express their wishes. Patients are customers and hospitals are businesses. Businesses work to meet customer demands. 10+ customers calling each day and saying, “I want my doula AND my partner at my birth.” will have far more impact toward leniency than any other strategy right now.
Think about the networking you have been doing and the relationships you’ve been developing with providers and hospital staff. Now is the time to continue building on those foundations. Be a calm voice of reason and explain that you want real-time details on their current policies. Advise them that this will enable you to be concise and accurate when sharing details with clients and your community. Let them know you will be calling daily, as you understand that these policies may change from day to day.
Consider ways in which you can collaborate with colleagues. Stress levels are high, client scenarios are uncertain, the health of your businesses are of great concern, and children are home from school for what may be an undetermined amount of time. Lean in. Rely on one another for support. And as always prioritize your mental health and physical well-being.
Third, be flexible.
In some cases, it may be appropriate to be flexible on some of the aspects of your business contracts. With this in mind, examine your current contracts. Identify areas where you are protected and where you may want to consider offering a partial refund. How a business responds to difficult situations sets them up for what comes next. Be reasonable and understanding and find solutions that benefit both your business and your clients.
Continue to be a leader in your community – be a voice of reason, providing positive reassurance. Calm the panic with a clear voice, appropriate resources, and evidence-based education. Let’s take this opportunity to move forward with creative and flexible planning, forward-thinking and perhaps enjoy the slower pace for a bit, as this is a temporary moment in time that will pass before we know it.
And finally, rally for change!
Doulas MUST collaborate with hospitals by creating a point of accountability for themselves. The issues that doulas and their clients are facing right now during the Covid- 19 situation makes this abundantly clear.
Several years ago a conversation regarding “Hospital Credentialing” for doulas began. And although ProDoula was advocating strongly for these policies, it was met with tremendous pushback by much of the doula community. Had these policies been implemented then would it have made a difference right now? We believe whole-heartedly that it would.
For that reason, the steadfast work of making this a reality begins Monday morning, March 16, 2020. ProDoula will begin developing a nation wide campaign that will enable doulas to register with hospitals in order to serve clients in each facility. We will be advocating strongly for the implementation of these policies for a variety of reasons.
- Clients must NEVER have to choose between their loved ones and their doulas ever again.
- We must elevate the role of the doula by consistently practicing within our scope.
- We must have a point of accountability for when and if we practice outside of our scope.
- We must be transparent in our practices and in the support that we provide. When we work as professionals, we have nothing to hide.
- We must present ourselves as professionals and work collaboratively to improve the birth experience for all families.
Expect more information regarding this important and necessary action in the coming weeks.
As always, the ProDoula office is open Monday – Friday from 9:00am – 6:00pm and will be available to take your calls and answer your questions. Please reach out for any reason at all. 914-400-3494.
Stay safe, stay creative, stay flexible, and stay at the ready to rally for change!
Resources:
WHO:
CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
WHO – Hygiene Course: You will need to sign up for this on the WHO site.
https://openwho.org/courses/eprotect-acute-respiratory-infections
ProDoula
Doula Support and COVID-19
Posted on: March 11, 2020 | Doula, Doula Business, Labor & Birth
Providing doula support during the COVID-19 pandemic is bringing some new challenges for birthing families and in turn, the doulas they have hired.
Across the United States, doulas are beginning to see hospitals imposing visitor limits on labor and delivery units as a result of growing concerns surrounding the COVID-19 virus. These hospital visitor policies will have an impact on a doulas’ ability to support their clients.
Some hospitals have already implemented policies that allow only one support person to be present during birth.
Likewise, visitor policies post birth may be more strict than what doulas have seen previously.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, doulas are fielding questions from clients regarding who they will be able to have present when they give birth. These clients are being forced to choose between their mother, sister, aunt, best friend or doula.
“Will you be able to support me during my birth?”
“Are doulas still allowed to be present on labor and delivery?”
“Are doulas considered a visitor on labor and delivery or part of my birth team?”
“What if I want my mother present in addition to my partner and my doula??”
Due to these new and potential restrictions, it is important that doulas maintain a positive and mutually respectful relationship with local hospitals.
Hospital administrators are deciding whether to include doulas as part of the birth team or consider them visitors. It is important for doulas to be included in these discussions.
Now is the time for doulas to be proactive in their communities.
Reach out to the hospital administrators. Request that doulas become a part of the birth team. Excluded from the visitor count.
Fortunately, doulas have the support of the AWHONN when it comes to doula support and COVID-19.
On March 11, 2020, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses issued a public statement in support of doulas at the bedside in hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The statement reads:
As the information surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic continues to emerge, concerns among doulas are also emerging.
“Doulas are not visitors and should not be blocked from caring for patients in the antepartum, intrapartum and postpartum period. Most doulas have been contracted by patients weeks to months ahead of time and have established provider relationships. They are recognized by AWHONN and ACOG as essential personnel and part of the maternity care team.”
https://awhonn.org/novel-coronavirus-covid-19/?fbclid=IwAR3HkFFc84dpRwpziAcu16GW957L7_BCL_NeDzzSDiwY1-ldXFVpEXxmDOo#
Authored by: The ProDoula Home Team