Why Doula Burnout Happens and What Actually Keeps You Going

In this episode, Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors sit down with Dr. Abby Jorgensen, sociologist, bereavement doula, and director of Haven Bereavement Doulas. They discuss the realities of perinatal loss, the need for grief-informed care, and why every birth professional should build bereavement support skills into their practice. The conversation covers how language, culture, and personal experience shape our approach to loss, what it means to truly support clients through devastating situations, and the practical tools doulas need to show up prepared. Whether you've faced loss in your own work or are just starting to think deeply about it, this episode offers honest, thoughtful guidance for sustainable, compassionate care.

In today's episode, Robin Elise Weiss and Hillary Melchiors reflect on what it means to be a doula for five years and beyond. They dig into why so many birth doulas have short careers, what helps professionals stay in the work, and how both personal and professional priorities change over time. You'll hear honest stories about real challenges: from finding backup and setting boundaries, to handling compassion fatigue, burnout, and the shifting landscape of client needs. Whether you've just finished your training or have decades in the field, this conversation offers candid insights and practical wisdom about staying in birth work for the long haul. If you've ever wondered how your own practice might change over the years, or what it takes to keep showing up for families, you're in the right place.

In this episode, Hillary Melchiors and Robin Elise Weiss unpack the real contents of a doula's birth bag. From the practical to the quirky, you'll hear how the items doulas carry have shifted over the course of their careers, what actually gets used during long hours at births, and why less is often more. They share favorite finds, ways to keep things clean and organized, and surprising tools that have stood the test of time, or failed spectacularly. Whether you're a birth or postpartum doula, or just curious about what actually helps in those high-pressure hours, this is an honest, experience-driven look inside the infamous doula bag.

The pressure to perform is so very real as a doula, and sometimes the fear is holding us back from being even better for our clients. In this episode we're getting real about why it feels so scary and how you can get over this hurdle as a doula. 

Setting yourself up for a sustainable doula career is essential if you want to keep doing this work over the long term. Whether you are a birth or postpartum doula, planning ahead  for more than just self-care bubble baths, can help you keep serving more clients. Listen in as we discuss what's help us stay in this work for the long haul. 

Dr. Kathryn Konrad on doula and nurse relationships, what nursing textbooks miss about labor support, and how to plug doulas into the maternity workforce.

This one's for the birth doulas who are excited to get the wake up call and haven't yet realized the physiological toll that this will take (as we see in the scientific literature) on your body. We're talking about all the ways we deal with being on call and making sure we're getting our Zzzzzzzs on this week's episode.  Birth doula work gets described as thrilling—the middle-of-the-night call, the quick scramble, the arrival at a birth. But what's left out of that story is the reality of sleep deprivation, the impact of disrupted schedules, and the ongoing challenge of protecting your health while being on call. In this episode, Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors get honest about what it really feels like to be awakened at 2 AM and share what has helped, and what hasn't, over their years of practice. We'll hear about their personal sleep routines, the science behind chronic sleep loss, and practical tools that have been effective (from blackout blinds to bright light therapy boxes to bedtime routines and planned breaks). They don't shy away from the tug-of-war between loving the work and needing rest or the strain on relationships with partners, kids, and friends. If you've ever wondered how to make birth work sustainable or questioned if a change to postpartum work is the answer, this episode is for you. Get ready for an honest look at sleep, burnout, and the boundaries that make a long-term birth career possible.

The doula community talks about abundance mindset constantly, but the actual behavior in many local communities tells a different story. In this episode, Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors dig into the professional dynamics that shape how doulas treat each other across the experience spectrum. They name what a scarcity mindset actually looks like in practice, why it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and why newer doulas often misread what established doulas can and should offer them. This is a direct, honest conversation about the professional culture that determines whether doulas stay in this work long-term or burn out trying to fight for a piece of a pie that was never shrinking.   The episode moves through mentorship as a practical structure, the difference between what newer doulas think they need and what actually builds their practice, pricing psychology as a confidence signal, and the underexamined role that race, class, and geography play in who gets included in local doula communities. Robin and Hillary make the case that the doula community serves everyone better when established practitioners function as connectors rather than gatekeepers, and that reciprocity, not charity, is the right frame for inter-doula relationships. If you have navigated a competitive local market, been on either end of a mentor-mentee relationship that went sideways, or wrestled with your own scarcity thinking, this episode is the conversation you have probably needed for a while.

Everyone who comes through doula training asks the same question: how do I actually find my first clients? In this episode, Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors cut through the anxiety around getting started and offer practical, grounded strategies for new birth and postpartum doulas who are ready to build a practice. The conversation covers everything from the psychology of feeling "ready" to the concrete mechanics of networking, social media, pricing, and contracts, and it does so in a way that will resonate with trainers and agency owners who field this question constantly.   Robin and Hillary draw on their own very different origin stories, including Robin starting before the internet existed and Hillary stumbling into the work with a fresh PhD and a serious case of imposter syndrome, to make the point that there is no single right path to those first three births. What matters is telling people what you do, showing up consistently, building relationships with providers and other doulas, and not letting the pursuit of perfect paperwork or one more training become an excuse to delay. The episode closes with a clear-eyed discussion of pricing, shadowing, and the mindset shift from believing clients will find you to understanding that it is your job to be findable.

In this episode of The Birth Geeks, Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, OB-GYN hospitalist, IBCLC, and author, joins Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors to talk about the hospitalist model and what it means for doulas and clients, how to show up during a home birth transfer, obstetric violence and why the term matters, misinformation on social media, informed consent as a human rights issue, and what a well-prepared patient looks like from the perspective of someone meeting people for the first time in active labor. Dr. Lincoln also discusses her new book, written for birthing people and designed to challenge providers. She's a delight, and in the good fight against misinformation for expecting and new families every day.  Come listen in on two doulas and an OB as we break down some myths, talk history, and get excited about the future of collaboration for birth teams.  Find her at drjenniferlincoln.com.