What you’ll learn in this post:

• Why waiting until you “feel ready” keeps you stuck
• How to have the conversation with your partner about investing in training
• The real math on whether you can afford the $650 investment
• How doulas with young children make it work (and why not having kids isn’t a barrier either)
• What to do this week if you’ve been “thinking about it” for months or years

I once had a woman call me multiple times before signing up for training. She had a full-time office job. She wanted to be a doula, but she wasn’t sure it was the right time. She wasn’t sure her life could accommodate it. She wasn’t sure she could make it work financially.

We talked through her questions. She called again. We talked some more.

Eventually, she signed up.

Four years later, she’s a full-time doula and one of my biggest supporters. She’s built exactly the career she imagined during those phone calls when she wasn’t sure.

Her story isn’t unusual. Most of the doulas I’ve trained started exactly where you might be right now: interested, uncertain, and waiting for something to click into place before they took the leap.

Here’s what I’ve learned after training over 700 doulas: that click doesn’t come from more research. It comes from doing the thing.

The $650 Question

Let’s talk about money first, because it’s often the elephant in the room.

Six hundred fifty dollars is real money. I’m not going to pretend it isn’t. But here’s the math that most people don’t do:

You earn that $650 back in your first birth.

Most new doulas charge between $800 and $1,500 for their first few births, depending on their market. With one client, you have covered your training investment. Everything after that is building your career.

If you’re comparing training costs, you’ll find programs ranging from free to well over a thousand dollars. The question isn’t just what you pay but what you get. DONA certification is recognized by hospitals, Medicaid programs, and insurance companies. It opens doors that other certifications don’t.

Payment plans exist. Many employers offer education reimbursement. Some community organizations fund doula training because they know their neighborhoods need more birth support. If cost is genuinely the barrier, there are usually ways to work around it.

But I’ve also noticed that sometimes “I can’t afford it” is easier to say than “I’m scared to try.”

Having the Conversation at Home

If you have a partner, you’ve probably thought about how to bring this up. Maybe you’ve mentioned it casually and gotten a lukewarm response. Maybe you haven’t said anything at all because you’re not sure how to explain why this matters to you.

Partners often have practical concerns: How much does it cost? How will you manage being on call? What about your current job? What if it doesn’t work out?

These are fair questions. Here’s what I’d suggest:

Talk to other doulas first.

Before you try to convince your partner, get a realistic picture of what doula life actually looks like. Join my free Facebook group, Doula Business, and ask questions. How do doulas with day jobs make it work? What does being on call actually mean in practice? How long did it take to get your first client?

When you can answer your partner’s questions with real examples from real doulas, instead of theoretical possibilities, the conversation goes differently.

Also worth saying: your partner doesn’t need to fully understand the pull you feel toward this work. They need to understand that it matters to you and that you’ve thought through the practical concerns. Those are two different things.

The Childcare Worry

This one comes up constantly, so let me share something that might surprise you: 44% of the people who take my doula training haven’t had children yet.

You don’t need to be a parent to be a doula. You don’t need to have given birth to support someone through birth. What you need is training, presence, and the ability to hold space for someone during one of the most significant experiences of their life.

For those who do have young children, the on-call nature of birth work requires flexibility and planning. But doulas figure it out. Some arrange backup childcare with other doulas who understand the unpredictability of birth schedules. Some have partners or family members who can step in. Some take fewer clients while their children are small and build up as their kids get older.

The doulas who make it work aren’t the ones with perfect circumstances. They’re the ones who decide this matters enough to figure it out.

What You’re Really Afraid Of

Most of the objections I hear, including the ones about money and time and childcare, are real. But underneath them, there’s usually something else:

What if I invest in this and then don’t follow through?

What if I’m not actually good at it?

What if I put myself out there and nobody hires me?

I can’t make those fears disappear. But I can tell you that the doulas who succeed aren’t the ones who started without any doubt. They’re the ones who started anyway.

Your first client isn’t hiring someone with 30 years of experience. They’re hiring you, with your training, your presence, and your genuine desire to support them. That’s enough to begin.

If You’ve Been Thinking About This for a Year (or More)

Some of you reading this have been researching doula training for months. Maybe years. You’ve bookmarked programs. You’ve read blog posts. You’ve thought about it during quiet moments and then pushed it aside when life got busy.

Here’s what I want you to hear: waiting until you feel ready is the thing keeping you from feeling ready.

Confidence doesn’t come before action. It comes from action. You learn what you’re capable of by doing things you weren’t sure you could do.

The doulas in my alumni community aren’t fundamentally different from you. They just decided to stop researching and start training.

Three Things to Do This Week

If you’re serious about moving forward, here’s what I’d suggest:

1. Talk to a working doula. Join my free Facebook group and ask questions. Read how other people navigated the same concerns you have. Get a realistic picture, not from a sales page, but from someone living the life you’re curious about.

2. Have the conversation at home. If you have a partner, tell them you’re seriously considering this. Share what you’ve learned. Ask for their questions and concerns, and then go find the answers.

3. Pick a training date. Not “someday.” An actual date. Having something on the calendar changes how you think about this from “maybe eventually” to “this is happening.”

The Doula You Could Be

A year from now, you could be exactly where you are today: still thinking about it, still researching, still not sure.

Or you could have your training behind you. You could have attended your first birth. You could know, from experience, whether this work is what you thought it would be.

The only way to find out is to begin.

Ready to stop thinking and start training? Check out upcoming DONA-approved training dates and pick one that works for your schedule.WIth one