Birth Business

Are you passionate about supporting women during one of the most transformative moments of their lives? Are you intrigued by the idea of being a part of the birth process, providing comfort, guidance, and invaluable assistance to expectant parents? If so, then owning a birth business may be your calling. (It’s definitely a calling!)

As more women seek personalized and holistic care throughout pregnancy and childbirth, the demand for skilled birth workers is on the rise.

Who Owns a Birth Business?

Let’s explore what it takes to start and succeed in owning a birth business, from understanding the roles of different birth professionals, to building a strong network within the birthing community, and continuing education.

Midwife

Midwives come in a couple of flavors – certified nurse midwives (CNM) and licensed midwives (LM) or certified professional midwives (CPM). CNM’s typically attend hospital births, but not always, and LMs and CPMs attend out of hospital births at freestanding birth centers or home births.

Childbirth Assistant

A childbirth assistant, or birth assistant (BA), attends out of hospital births with licensed midwives at freestanding birth centers and homebirths. Childbirth assistants are not doulas, but help the midwife do her job by helping with things like charting, cleaning, laundry, organizing supplies, and handing the midwife things she needs (without her asking for them!).

Doula

What is a doula? A labor doula offers continuous non-medical physical, informational, and emotional support during the labor process. A postpartum doula similarly assists new parents during the postpartum adjustment period through tasks like birth processing, light house work, baby care, baby and postpartum education, meal preparation, and community referrals.

Learn the benefits of being a new doula, what essential oils to bring to a birth, the top ten reasons to hire a doula, and more!

Childbirth Educator

I’ve been teaching childbirth classes since 2010 and it’s one of my greatest privileges. It’s a really neat time to be involved in people’s lives. Parents are hungry for information, and looking to feel more confident leading into their births.

Childbirth education helps parents learn the basics of birth, pain management at birth, how to make informed decisions, and so much more.

“If you don’t know your options, you don’t have any.”
Diana Korte and Roberta Scaer

Placenta Encapsulation

What is placenta encapsulation? A placenta specialist processes placentas into placenta pills and tinctures immediate postpartum. Parents then “eat” their placenta during the fourth trimester, or the three months after birth.

Parents pursue placenta encapsulation for the following reasons.

Avoid postpartum depression
Stabilize hormones
Increase milk production
Increase energy levels

To get started as a placenta specialist, you’ll need the right placenta encapsulation supplies, like a placenta dehydrator, cooler, or a small placenta encapsulation kit. (And make sure you charge the right amount for placenta encapsulation!)

Continuing Education

Birth work is quite challenging, however, one of the really fun parts is continuing education. Attend an annual birth conference, learn through continuing education credits, take a training a place that has birth history, or meet your hero (I met mine – Barbara Harper in 2018!).

Build a Strong Birthing Community

Whether you are a doula, midwife, lactation consultant, or childbirth educator, cultivating a network of like-minded individuals can offer invaluable resources, collaboration opportunities, and emotional support.

Learn 4 principles for building a strong birthing community, 10 boundaries for a successful birth business, how to pay a backup birth worker when you can’t be there, and more!