This is really happening!!

[snugglekitty]

Okay. Suddenly it becomes clear that I am actually becoming a doula.

I now have my training certificate, and a potential client (and a clue!). I also have lots of other new doulas I can network with, and some volunteer opportunities which I can use towards completing my certification.

One of the things that I need and don't have is a name for my soon-to-be-burgeoning business.



I can imagine the name of my business being Magickal Birth. It also looks like magicalbirth.com and magickalbirth.com are free. Maybe I should just dive in and grab one? And if so, which one?
(The spelling "magickal" will be a signal to other witchy folk. The spelling "magical" will seem correct even to mundane folks. I welcome your thoughts.)

The other phrase that comes to mind is "unique families." The name associated with that would probably be Unique Families Birth Services, but that's not as catchy.

Any other suggestions?
My desire is to work with other people who are queer, poly, pagan, kinky, or otherwise unusual at least some of the time, which obviously should help determine my naming choice. But, at the same time, I realize that many of my clients will not be in any of these demographics, so I'm not planning to use a name like Birth For Freaks. I also want to focus on birth in my business name, rather than being a doula, since my hope is to eventually become a midwife.

I need to make this decision so that I can:

- set up an email address for "work stuff"
- use the email address on business cards and flyers
- post the cards and flyers everywhere!
- file paperwork for "doing business as"



The other thing that I need is to attend a birth. I am now qualified to help the mom and her partner(s) work towards the kind of birth that they want, but I am lacking in experience.
Some doulas start charging full rates immediately after their training. This work is going to be my career, but I am not going to charge anything for the first two births I attend. I will charge only my own expenses for the next four (probably in the form of books and supplies I need for the work). I'm trying to set up a registry on amazon for that, but it's not going well. Am I going to have to create a whole different account?

Please tell your expecting friends/coworkers/family members about this. I would really like to get started, and networking is often the best way.

I will try to send future messages to a filter, so as not to bore you all to tears, but for now I wanted to get as much input and support as possible.

Comments

[fortryll.livejournal.com]

I haven't been commenting much...but I'm following your progress and really excited that you're doing this! You will be a fantabulous doula :) And if I hear of ANYONE in your neck of the woods that will be birthing in the coming months, I'll send them your way :)

[watercolorblue.livejournal.com]

This is so cool! Congratulations!
I'm inspired to google "doula" and learn more about your career move.

As for business titles, I like "Magical Birth" because in the early days of your business, you'll probably want to appeal to mundane folks to bring more clients in.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Thank you!! I didn't know you felt that way. I just added you to the relevant filter.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

The training I took was through ALACE, an organization that is specifically dedicated to natural birth. They also train childbirth educators. You can read a lot about their philosophy at alace.org . Neat stuff!

Thanks for your thoughts on the business name, too.

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

-I suspect there are a lot of people who are queer, poly, or kinky, and who would not be attracted by the word "Magickal". (I personally find spelling "magic" with a k to be slightly twee, though I recognize there are valid linguistic forces that lead to variant spellings.) "Unique" isn't bad. One alternate which came to mind is "Your Birth", though that leads to awkward sentences like, "Your Birth is here to help with your birth." Still, something which suggests that you're there to facilitate their version of the experience is a good idea.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Generally, magick is spelled with a "k" to distinguish it from stage magic. But yes, that's a good point.
Unique Families, Unique Births could be a possibility too, I guess.

[fortryll.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) I remember you talking about it last spring and I remember the enthusiasm in your voice when you described your feelings around working with birthing mothers. I just know you'll be fantastic at supporting them both physically and energetically!

[beowabbit]

It also looks like magicalbirth.com and magickalbirth.com are free. Maybe I should just dive in and grab one? And if so, which one?
(The spelling "magickal" will be a signal to other witchy folk. The spelling "magical" will seem correct even to mundane folks. I welcome your thoughts.)

If you take magickalbirth.com, you definitely should also take magicalbirth.com and redirect from it. Otherwise (1) people will hear (or even read) your URL and then not be able to find it when they get back home, or (2) people will hear or read your URL, and then when they go to what they think it is they will find some 14-year-old's vanity site about his baby sister, or worse yet, the site of a doula or midwife in Nebraska encouraging people to "let the Holy Spirit guide your precious baby's birth!" :-)

I confess that my gut reaction to the spelling "magickal" is similar to woodwardiocom's, although I also recognize the magick/magic distinction and think it would be useful.

[woodwardiocom.livejournal.com]

Generally, magick is spelled with a "k" to distinguish it from stage magic.

[nods] Oh, I know. I could get into a lengthy and boring discussion of the politics and culture of that particular spelling, but [shrug] I'm probably biased because one of the first contexts I found it in was the RPG Mage, which at the time I found annoyingly pretentious. My biases, of course, should have no affect on your choice of names for your business, save that I'm kinda vaguely in the demographic you're interested in reaching.

[watercolorblue.livejournal.com]

That's really great.
One of my ideas is to go to acupuncture school, but basically, I'm interested in becoming a healer of some sort, so my curiosity is very much sparked here. From what I know about you, I think you've made a fantastic career choice.

[dalbino83.livejournal.com]

I was just going to say the same thing - buy both domains. FAO Schwarz bought faoschwarz.com and faoschwartz.com because they know lots of people misspell their name. And if someone else swipes your idea and takes the other name, you'll be kicking yourself for not grabbing it when you could.

I hope to be attending a friend's birth this summer, if I can time my trip to her correctly. (If she gives birth too much earlier or later than her due date, I'll miss it; she lives in L.A., so I can't wait until she goes into labor to head out there.) I'd love to be on your doula filter!

[aillecat.livejournal.com]

This is great, and I'm not bored to death hearing about it. I'd definitely want someone like you around for my next kid's births.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I think it's going to work out really well for me. But time will tell. :)

[srl.livejournal.com]

Congratulations. I like "Magical Birth", with both spellings of the domain name registered.

Have you thought about getting in touch with Fenway's lesbian parenting group? Might be one way of networking.

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll add you to the filter. :) I would be very interested in what you and Shana might, ah, cook up. :)

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

I am only beginning to think about networking, but yes, that's a good idea.

[sparkymonster.livejournal.com]

on a side note, charging a reduced fee for your first doula thingies might me a good idea. People often value something they pay for and resent charity.

magical birth to me sounds a bit too, um, hippie. i like unique families/unique births or something

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

I can understand what you're saying about charging a fee. But considering I have never actually attended a birth, charging for my first two doesn't feel quite right.

Most people who are going to want doulas are going to be a bit on the hippy side, I imagine. I'll keep thinking about it.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

I'm putting the word out about you to some local, pregant friends...

Baby stuff

[tigira.livejournal.com]

I don't know if we know each other IRL, but tafkar recommended that I might want to chat with you.

My baby is due August 21, and my partner (meadmaker) and I begin prepared childbirth classes through Harvard Vanguard later this month.

From reading your posts about becoming a doula, I see that you need to attend a few births. I don't know if you'd be interested in meeting with me about this. You should know that given my age (I'll be 36 when the baby is born), my family history of diabetes (I don't have it, but my mother is Type II, and I have an aunt who had gestational diabetes that morphed into Type I), and the fact that I am also somewhat overweight (though not obese), I am classified as high-risk. I was told early on that with all of these factors, I would probably not be able to find anyone outside of a doctor who would be willing to work with me. I called a few CNM's, and was told that I was too high-risk for their consideration.

Given all that, would you be at all interested in meeting with me and my partner to see about this?

Re: Baby stuff

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

Hi there,

I don't think I know you but I'm very willing to meet with you and your partner to discuss things. I will email you off lj.

-Honey