Information about Childbirth Education Classes
Child Birth Education classes are required as a part of your Doula
certification process. It is required that you audit a full series as a non-pregnant
person. Many independent Louisville area CBE's are willing to allow you to audit
these classes for free. You may also audit the area hospital's free classes. At the
end of the series you must have a letter showing that you attended in order for
this to count toward certification. If you miss a class, you will need to make it up because you have to show a full 12 hrs.of attendance.
Aside from the requirements, classes are of great value to attend because they are
the single best source that we have found to get paying clients. The BCN has
managed to build good relationships with some area CBE's, and have been invited
into their classes to do a brief talk on the value of Doula care. It takes very little
money and a small amount of time. You are advertising your services directly to
the consumer. In turn, you are promoting the value of doula
care for all doulas and BCN as well. You will also learn a lot. I find them to be a great review of
basic birth material. Often, you will hear information on how a particular facility
or care provider operates, not to mention getting to know just where the mothers
in the class stand on issues pertaining to their births.
We encourage all Doulas to attend and take a turn at presenting information in a
public setting. If you are uncomfortable with public speaking, please ask you
Mentor to attend with you. Most mentors are at ease with this type of
situation. When visiting a class for information/marketing purposes, please keep
these things in mind:
- Be time wise. Be on time. Be considerate of her time constraints. The instructor has managed
to squeeze in time for you to make a presentation. Please be concise. She has a
great deal of material to cover in a short amount of time. Offer to answer
continuing questions AFTER class is over if need be.
- Look professional. This certainly doesn't mean you have to wear a business
suit, but tattoos and tongue piercings might go over better somewhere else. There
is no need to stereotype yourself right out of a potential client with your looks.
Wear a name tag so that you can be easily remembered.
- Keep your own emotions in check. We feel passionately about what we do. That
is why we do it. However, this often leads to strong opinions and emotions. In
childbirth classes, you may hear statements from mothers and teachers that could
be upsetting or even false. Be prepared to allow others to have their opinions
without yours being asked for.
- Keep comments and side conversations to a minimum. It is great when the
teachers ask our opinions,but be careful not to "run" the class with your
comments. Keep them brief. Again, they have a lot of material to cover.The bottom line is that we
want to be asked back and we want to be hired.
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