Hi, friend!

So you want to be a Postpartum Doula/Newborn Care Specialist and don’t know where to start?

I got you!

I’ve been a Postpartum Doula & Newborn Care Specialist for nearly 9 years, and I’ve grown & mentored a growing team of professionals who now work with parents all over the Kansas City area. Aside from my experience as a parent and as a professional in Postpartum & Newborn Care, I have also worked as a birth doula, midwifery assistant, childbirth, breastfeeding & parenting educator, and a life coach.

What do we actually do?

Like I mentioned above, we support new parents. This can look like:

• Emotional support - validating & holding space with parents when they are doubting themselves & don’t know if they are doing anything right,

• Educational support - showing them how to do some basic newborn care so that they can feel confident in their parenting skills, connecting them with resources that will make their lives easier, being a resource yourself for solid postpartum & newborn questions. This isn’t to say that we will always have the answers - honesty about what you do or do not know is greatly emphasized within our team. But rather, if we do not have an answer for our families, we tell them “we have many highly qualified professionals we work with, if I don’t have the answer, I can readily find the answer for you!”

• Physical support - Being an extra set of hands, eyes & ears in the home so they can focus on resting, recovering & bonding with their baby. This can look like doing some light housework, caring for the baby so the parents can take a nap or shower, running errands, or if you are with them overnight, caring for & soothing the baby in-between feeds so the parents can get as much sleep as possible!

Sound like the dream job? Keep reading!

How does one get started in this path? And more pointedly, how does one become an Oh Baby! KC professional?

Good news is that becoming a Postpartum Doula is fairly simple. All you need to do is take a workshop (we recommend CAPPA, but there are many others out there).

Although that is technically all you need to start, you do also need to keep in mind that when you start out as a postpartum support professional, you are becoming a business owner. At OB!KC, we are an agency. Meaning, we contract out to business owners. We pride ourselves on having high-quality, rigorously screened, professionals who take this job seriously & who are committed to making the postpartum experience of the families of Kansas City restful, smooth & refreshing.

For best practices, to protect yourself, to ensure your families feel safe with you & to position yourself as a professional in your field, these things are also highly recommended:

Note: if your goal is to become an Oh Baby! KC team member, these things are required. No exceptions.

• Infant CPR certification,

• Have a background check done,

• 2 letters of recommendation either from past clients or professionals you have worked with,

• Attain liability insurance.

Additionally, we strongly encourage our professionals to seek continued education - whether that is workshops, additional certifications or simply reading books!

Once you have taken your training & have these things ready to go, and if you are interested in working with us, you are welcome to complete our application form. Do not worry if you are new & do not have any experience! Working with an agency is a great place to start out, gain experience & be connected to a supportive community.

What does being a team member of Oh Baby! KC look like?

Unlike other doula agencies in other areas, or those who have been in the Kansas City area in the past, we do not require our Independent Contractors (that’s you!) to sign non-compete contracts. You are free to take your own clients, work with other agencies (as long as they are cool with it too) or just take work through us if that’s what you’d like to do!

Our team is tight-knit & we work together to serve our families. When we get inquiries, we pair those families with our team members based on availability, personality, specified needs, experience & location.

We strongly believe that we are better together. Working with postpartum families is not a competitive sport. Someone else getting placed on a contract does not mean you are being overlooked; it simply means that the Family Care Coordinator spent time learning about the needs of that particular family and hand-picked their team! We are all about “Community above Competition”. We value people who can work as a team & can model support to their fellow team members to the community.

We cannot guarantee work all the time - there are months when things are quiet. That is the nature of this work & of being a small business! In the quieter months, we may schedule some classes to keep ourselves busy, but we believe that rest is important & take the quiet months in stride.

We do not recommend that you quit your job to do this work if being without work for a month or two at a time is not a risk you are willing to take. However, if you hold a regular job and want to ease into this work, we will work within your availability!

Please Note: Filling out the application form and signing up for a training does not guarantee you a spot on the Oh Baby! KC team.

Who becomes a doula?

Our professionals come from many different backgrounds! We have stay-at-home moms, a woman who manages her husband’s construction business, a NICU nurse, a degree in early childhood development & education, a dermatology nurse, a photographer, a professional art framer, a musician, an army veteran wife & a few nerds. If you have a heart to support new parents & have the time to dedicate to this work, you can do it!

Ready to go?

Once you complete the thing listed above, fill out the application & you will be contacted about your next steps!