Next, and this can be a tough one, think about whether or not you take yourself seriously. Other people tend to believe in us if we believe in ourselves first. How do you view your doula and childbirth educator work? Is it a career and business, or do you treat it as a hobby? For most people, we treat a business as serious when it is financially viable. Rightly or wrongly, when we are not making money others tend to see it more as a hobby. While you are training, are you charging for your services? If not, consider why you have chosen to offer free services. What does it say about the value you place on your service if you are not being paid for it. Is it costing you money? For example, are you still having to pay for childcare, gas and parking but not receiving any fee from clients? Could you change this and begin to at least break even?

Finally, consider why it might be a problem to have a hobby rather than a career. You can still be serious and passionate about a hobby. Do you believe that a hobby is as serious as a career? If not, why not?

At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you believe in what you are doing and it is fulfilling you. once that is in place, what other people think is not nearly as important!

How does Childbirth International training address this?

Understanding your own goals and motivations, as well as areas that you can build on, is important to a successful business. This is covered in all Childbirth International certification programs.

For more information on training with Childbirth International, take a look at our website, or contact us.

Childbirth International offers training programs for Birth Doulas, Postpartum Doulas and Childbirth Educators. From September 2008 we will also be launching a Breastfeeding Counseling course.