meme made by Denise Forman for #worlddoulaweek
World Doula Week is over. It was incredible to see the word #doula trending on Facebook, in part because of a blog challenge hosted by September Phillips of Not Just Nine Birth Services. And even more incredible to see how many women were engaged in their communities to get the word out. The word doula. Doula. #Doula.
There is another tag that has been going around. It's #doularevolution. And it's been building. Women from across the globe have been making changes so that they can pursue doula work.
Doula work as their profession, not as a hobby. Women are learning what it means to be business women. They are learning what it means to follow a dream and build something with passion. And they are learning to "turn their passion into a paycheck."
I got to see this revolution begin in a Facebook group called The Business of Being a Doula. There Randy Patterson braved the water of "how it's always been done" and pushed women to think beyond what they were told, to see how they could be better, and to choose what was best for themselves.
It is a bold move for a woman to put herself first. But it shouldn't be. (Lessons in life, motherhood, and business come crashing together in this business group.)
From Randy and her partner Debbie came ProDoula. From ProDoula came the tools women needed to make the changes.
And as Heidi Shulista of Kansas City Doulas states when she talks about the #doularevolution, "A revolution happens because lots of like-minded people all have the same thoughts, at the same time, and they all move simultaneously in the same direction to make the change they believe is necessary to happen."
ProDoula isn't a brainwashing. ProDoula isn't telling women about what they are doing wrong. What makes them unique is they actually practice the values they teach. They support women - pregnant women, laboring women, business women. They give tools so women can make choices that are best for them - tools for labor, tools for business, and really, tools for life.
And the #doularevolution is picking up steam because of one simple thing: it makes sense. It makes sense that woman should be paid for their work. It makes sense that businesses can't survive on offering services for free. It makes sense that for our profession to be taken seriously, new doulas need to start smart business practices from their first birth on.
It doesn't make sense that women and families should suffer financially so other women and their families can be supported through birth.
Our culture has changed but our hearts are still here. The #doularevolution isn't just about a paycheck. The #doularevolution is, in part, about taking the choke collars that the "sisterhood of free birth" offer women as a tool to gain experience, and instead offer guidance, tried and true models, and wisdom. Actual tools for longevity and sustainable careers. Actual help from actual mentors.
It has been an incredible week. It has been an incredible year. the #doularevolution is just picking up steam.
Authored by A Swift Doula
Photo credit to Denise Foreman, The Issaquah Doula
There is another tag that has been going around. It's #doularevolution. And it's been building. Women from across the globe have been making changes so that they can pursue doula work.
Doula work as their profession, not as a hobby. Women are learning what it means to be business women. They are learning what it means to follow a dream and build something with passion. And they are learning to "turn their passion into a paycheck."
I got to see this revolution begin in a Facebook group called The Business of Being a Doula. There Randy Patterson braved the water of "how it's always been done" and pushed women to think beyond what they were told, to see how they could be better, and to choose what was best for themselves.
It is a bold move for a woman to put herself first. But it shouldn't be. (Lessons in life, motherhood, and business come crashing together in this business group.)
From Randy and her partner Debbie came ProDoula. From ProDoula came the tools women needed to make the changes.
And as Heidi Shulista of Kansas City Doulas states when she talks about the #doularevolution, "A revolution happens because lots of like-minded people all have the same thoughts, at the same time, and they all move simultaneously in the same direction to make the change they believe is necessary to happen."
ProDoula isn't a brainwashing. ProDoula isn't telling women about what they are doing wrong. What makes them unique is they actually practice the values they teach. They support women - pregnant women, laboring women, business women. They give tools so women can make choices that are best for them - tools for labor, tools for business, and really, tools for life.
And the #doularevolution is picking up steam because of one simple thing: it makes sense. It makes sense that woman should be paid for their work. It makes sense that businesses can't survive on offering services for free. It makes sense that for our profession to be taken seriously, new doulas need to start smart business practices from their first birth on.
It doesn't make sense that women and families should suffer financially so other women and their families can be supported through birth.
Our culture has changed but our hearts are still here. The #doularevolution isn't just about a paycheck. The #doularevolution is, in part, about taking the choke collars that the "sisterhood of free birth" offer women as a tool to gain experience, and instead offer guidance, tried and true models, and wisdom. Actual tools for longevity and sustainable careers. Actual help from actual mentors.
It has been an incredible week. It has been an incredible year. the #doularevolution is just picking up steam.
Authored by A Swift Doula
Photo credit to Denise Foreman, The Issaquah Doula
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