Finding Your First Three Clients

So you just finished your training and now you need to find your first 3 clients. Getting started can feel daunting as a new doula. In this episode we talk about multiple strategies we have used to find clients, including who we network with and how we feel about shadowing in doula work. Listen in and geek out with us a little! 

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.

We're tackling a tough subject for birth doulas in this week's episode: induction arrival. When do you join your clients and how do you communicate with them before and during an induction? Speaking from our experience as birth doulas, we're talking about approaches we've seen work and some that haven't too. As birth doulas, at some point you will absolutely have a client be induced, and planning ahead can make a world of difference in everyone's experience, including the doula's. 

Insurance coverage for doulas sounds like a win for everyone. More clients, broader access, sustainable practice. But the reality is messier than the headline, and Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors have both lived that reality from opposite sides of the billing process. Robin brings a background in health management system sciences, years of taking insurance as a doula, and experience running an oral surgery practice where insurance claims were part of every single day. Hillary brings the on-the-ground perspective of a doula agency owner who has navigated company benefits, watched payment timelines stretch, and done the math on whether Medicaid reimbursement rates actually pencil out. Together, they unpack what it genuinely means to accept insurance as a birth professional. This episode covers the credentialing process, the critical distinction between insurance and company benefits like the Walmart employee program, balance billing rights, and the hidden contractual traps that can turn a missed call into a fraud risk if you are not paying attention. FSA and HSA accounts get real attention here as a lower-barrier starting point for most doulas, along with Robin's "open season" approach to client education each fall. The conversation is practical and honest, including a frank look at why insurance-based doula work may make sense as one piece of a mixed caseload rather than the foundation of a sustainable practice.  

No-shows are one of those topics birth professionals talk about in private but rarely address out loud. In this episode, Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors get into both types of no-shows that doulas actually deal with: the potential client who ghosts a consultation, and the client who goes into labor without ever picking up the phone. They share what they've done to reduce no-shows before they happen, how to respond when they do, and why extending grace doesn't mean abandoning your systems.

Dr. Hillary Melchiors sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Kerry Makin-Byrd for a grounded, experience-led conversation about burnout, moral injury, and the emotional weight of long-term birth and mental health work. Dr. Makin-Byrd reflects on moving from Colorado to New Zealand and how that shift reshaped her clinical practice and her own recovery. Taking apart the myth that burnout is a personal failing, they make the case that systemic factors, not individual shortcomings, drive the exhaustion so many birth workers carry. Covering boundary-setting in a field that rarely rewards it, they directly and practically confront the value of professional support for providers, and what "good enough" care actually looks like when perfection stays just out of reach. This one episode won't define burnout for you, but speaks honestly about what to do when you're in it, why it is not your fault, and what might actually help.                        

Lisa Vee, aka Loudmouth Lisa, is a doula business strategist and coach who brings her whole heart to this work with the flare of the dancer and salesperson background that she brings to the table. In this episode we talk about attracting clients, pricing your services, shifting priorities, and more. Enjoy! 

Maggie Runyon became a nurse to help and found out quickly that saving the entire healthcare system and everyone in it was a fast ticket to burnout. In this interview we discuss her book I Thought I Was Here to Help, along with strategies for advocacy, community, & support for all of us that work as perinatal professionals. 

Rural medicine, Indian Health Service, MD advocacy, and so much more

The messy magic of being a doula! In this episode of The Birth Geeks, we sit down with Dr. Andrea Ford, anthropologist, doula, and author of Near Birth, to explore the strange, powerful, and often contradictory world of modern birthwork. What even is a doula today? A sister or a professional?
A rebel or a regulated service?
A support system or a scapegoat? We unpack it ALL:
The tension between respect and reimbursement
 Why doulas are praised for outcomes they can't control  What happens when community care meets institutional demands
 And how birthwork quietly challenges American values about bodies, power, and autonomy If you've ever wrestled with your role in the birth space or wondered how being "near birth" is as political as it is personal, this conversation will hit home. Listen now.