For Doulas
Community Doulas is one of the first organizations in Maine to provide free and reduced cost doula care to families in need.
Our doulas and mentors are 100% volunteer. We may at times provide a small stipend to cover expenses (such as gas and meals while attending a birth) but we specifically partner with new doulas and/or doulas-in-training to help you certify, establish your business and enjoy this exciting career.
We are dedicated to growing the doula community and are ready to match doulas with families.
We know how intimidating it can be for a newly-trained doula to set out into the birth world with little to no experience. To support you through this process, we provide you with support, continuing education and guidance for prenatal, birth and postpartum visits.
Your experienced mentor will be there to discuss prenatal visits, provide support during the birth, and answer any questions you may have. They will be your personal guide, demonstrating best practices, helping you with research and evidence-based information and providing you with hands on help when you need it.
Once you’ve completed three births with a mentor, and complete your certification with one of many certifying agencies you can start to build your own doula practice. During this phase, we can help with business development, client relations, forms and marketing, as well as provide networking opportunities and client referrals.
After you’ve established your doula business, and have served at least twenty clients, we may invite you to be a volunteer mentor to help grow other doulas in your area and we hope you’ll partner with us!
Being a doula requires dedication to the belief that everyone deserves life experiences that are supported in non-judgmental and caring ways. Birth can be exhilarating, traumatic, joyful and sad all at once.
Supporting birthing persons during this time can be extremely fulfilling, fun, gut-wrenching and exhausting. Like many service professionals we are on call. It’s a job that can take you away from your family or other activities at inopportune times. During a birth, we don’t get “shift changes”, regular breaks, or recognition much of the time, but ask any birthing persons who’s had a doula and they’ll tell you that we are often the most important person in the room to them.
A doula is a constant, continuous and steady presence during an event that is ever changing, fraught with possibility and life changing.
What is it like to be a doula?
What happens next?
Once you have completed our doula Inquiry, you can expect to hear back within a few days.
The volunteer coordinator or program director will schedule an interview and determine where you fit into our program. This will depend on several factors such as where you are in the education process, what your career goals are, what your time commitment can be, etc.
Once you’ve been accepted into the program, you’ll be given access to our doula portal, your access to a wealth of information and links to help support your journey to become a doula. You will also be able to volunteer for clients if you have completed a doula training.
You do not have to have completed or be enrolled in a doula training class to start our program…we can help you find the best training to fit your individual goals. There are many certifying agencies out there and each have their own requirements. However, you will not be matched to any clients until you have completed the classroom portion of the training course you choose.
Ready to join our team?
We can’t wait to meet you.
Please fill out the form below and someone will get back to you.