Turning Your Doula Certification into Income: Real Strategies for New Grads

Getting your doula certification is a huge deal. You invested time, money, emotional energy, and often rearranged your life to get here. And then comes the part no one really prepares you for.

Now what?!

We hear from new grads every single week who are certified, passionate, capable, and quietly panicking because the income part feels unclear or have no idea where to begin. You were trained to support families within your training. The problem is that many trainings do not prepare you to build a business in a world where care work is undervalued and burnout is normalized.

We are going to hold your hand and help you turn your doula certification into income without selling your soul, underpricing yourself into resentment, or pretending hustle culture is the answer.

We are sharing real strategies that work in the real world.

First, let’s name the truth about doula income

Most doula certifications do not come with a built in business plan. In fact, many don’t even talk about the realities of having a doula business.  That is not a failure on your part. It is a systemic gap in doula education which is already way too short for our industry with the weekend doula training model.

According to data from community based surveys across Canada and the US, many doulas earn under $15,000 in their first year, even while working on call nights, weekends, and holidays. That number is not because doulas are bad at their jobs. It is because care work is expected to be limitless, flexible, and cheap.

If you want your doula certification to become income, the work starts with unlearning the idea that being good at care work automatically leads to sustainability.

It does not.

Income is built through strategy, boundaries, visibility, and community. It is built through steady and consistent actions that will help you build and grow your doula business. 

What your doula certification actually gives you

A doula certification is not just a piece of paper. It gives you credibility and a scope for your care.

Ok, now here is some cheerleading and praise for you… ready? 

It is amazing that you followed your dream of becoming a doula. You signed up, did your course, studied, read so, so many books, passed your exam, completed your practicum, and finally got your certification. 

So many people spend their lives just talking about what they want to accomplish… and you actually did it! 

So, getting certified also gives you permission to get really loud and proud about what you have accomplished!

Permission to say I am trained (hopefully by a training that is longer than a weekend).
Permission to say I am a professional.
Permission to charge for your work.

Especially in the US and Canada with hot spots like Texas, California, New York, British Columbia, and Ontario, where people are often unsure what counts as a legitimate doula certification, your training matters. For example, a doula certification in Ontario or elsewhere in Canada signals to clients that you have education, have completed practicum hours, and have a solid scope or practice and insurance (please get insurance).

But certification alone does not bring clients to your door.

That is where most new doula training grads get stuck.

Strategy one: Stop waiting to feel ready

One of the biggest income blockers we see is waiting.

Waiting to feel confident
Waiting to have the perfect website
Waiting until you have attended five free births
Waiting until you have an additional certification

Here is the truth. You will never feel ready. And clients are not looking for perfection. Check out here what they are looking for.

Start talking about your work now. To everyone. We love the art of the messy start. You won’t know what your clients want and don’t want until you get out there and get feedback. So much time can be spent tinkering with branding and your website… but y’all, you are a doula to help people and make money. 

So what CAN you share about as a new doula?

• Post about what you are learning
• Share reflections from your training
• Talk about why you became a doula
• Name the kind of care you believe in

People hire doulas they feel safe with. This is not about polished perfection!

Strategy two: Get clear on what you actually offer

If someone asked you today what kind of doula you are, could you answer without listing everything you do.

New grads often try to serve everyone – but sadly when we do this, we end up not being awesome for anyone. And honestly, the work can feel clunky and not always fulfilling when you are trying to solve so many problems for so many types of people. So many new doulas are doing it all…

Birth, postpartum, loss, fertility, placenta encapsulation, classes, workshops, night support, emotional support, advocacy, phone calls, texting forever.

That is not a package but rather a recipe for very rapid burnout and work dissatisfaction.

Consistent and dependable income comes from clarity with your doula business. People are googling and you want them to see you when they ask about a problem that you solve.

Here is an exercise to get you started – ask yourself:

• Who do I most want to serve right now (get specific)
• What kind of care lights me up (because you will be doing it over and over again)
• What kind of schedule can I actually sustain (be honest, you will need to ensure self care happens because doula work is physically and emotionally demanding

Then build one clear offer. Clear is kind AND people know the problem that you are solving.

• One birth package
• One postpartum option

Seriously, y’all… get tough with yourself here. 

You can grow later, but you need something concrete to sell now.

PS – this is called Niching and you can learn more about it here.

Strategy three: Price for sustainability, not care provider guilt

Let’s talk about pricing because this is where so many doulas get stuck.

You are not selfish for wanting to pay your rent or kid’s daycare or your car payment or clothes you want. You are not unethical for charging for skilled labor.

A 2022 report from the Canadian Women’s Foundation showed that women dominated care professions earn significantly less than male dominated industries with comparable training requirements. That is not an accident – we could rant about the patriarchy alllllll damn day, but let’s press on. 

When doulas undercharge, it does not make care more accessible. It makes being a doula unsustainable. People think we are cheap or should be free. 

If you are offering sliding scale, do it intentionally. Have a plan and please listen to these instructions to make that happen. And you do not need to be offering sliding scale, FYI! 

Strategy four: Build referral systems – this is a doula business machine!

OK, this will be really helpful y’all… ready? You do not need to go viral to make money as a doula.

Most doula clients come from referrals rather than blowing up on social media. Friends. Past clients. Midwives. Therapists. Childbirth educators.

If you want steady and consistent income, build relationships offline. Yes, offline!

How?

• Reach out to pelvic floor physios
• Introduce yourself to lactation consultants
• Connect with community health centers
• Partner with childbirth educators
• Send emails. Have coffee. Have them know how awesome you are! A small referral network will do more for your income than chasing algorithms ever will.
• Here is a great YouTube tutorial about this! 

PIN IT

Strategy five: Teach what you know

One of the most overlooked income streams for new doulas is education.

You do not need twenty years of experience to teach something useful. There are awesome things that you know about that would be wildly helpful to other people. Interestingly, sometimes our super powers are not valued because they come so easy to us!

You can teach:

• Birth prep workshops
• Postpartum planning sessions
• Comfort measures classes
• Partner support basics
• Queer affirming birth education
• How to parent on a budget
• DIY products and nursery set up

Teaching builds authority and trust and it also introduces people to you before they are ready to hire a doula. When Bianca, our founder, was first starting out, she did a birth 101 crash course and would help partners remember everything to support their spouse in labor. Well, at the end of each 2 hour class at least half the class would ask her to be their doula! This is a great hack and many of our students book doula clients directly from classes they teach.

Strategy six: Diversify your income early

Relying on only birth support income is one of the fastest paths to burnout.

Why is this? Well, birth work is unpredictable and babies come when they come. After a while you might need a time out from being on call. Trust us, most experienced doulas go through phases like this.

Diversifying your income protects you. We have been talking about this for years and you can find out more about doing this here.

Some options that work well for new grads:

• Postpartum support
• Digital offerings
• Virtual consults
• Workshops
• Graphics for other birthworkers
• Copywriting for birth and postpartum businesses
• Digital guides
• Community memberships
• On call backup work

You do not need to do all of these. You need one or two that fit your life and interests and abilities.

Your doula certification gives you credibility across many formats while your previous jobs and education and passions can create awesome services and products you may have not considered. Use that.

Strategy seven: Learn business alongside care

This part matters more than most people admit.

You can be an incredible doula and still struggle financially if you do not understand basic business skills.

You need to learn:

• How clients find you
• How they decide to book
• How to communicate your value
• How to follow up
• How to set boundaries

Business skills are critical to doing this work, because you may love to doula AND you are not a proud small business owner. This is why we talk so openly about business training alongside doula certification in Canada and the US and we go region specific like in Ontario or New York or North Carolina. Care work without sustainability is a dead end. And fast!

Strategy eight: Community is not optional

Isolation kills doula businesses. We teach parents not to do this alone by hiring a doula… well, you also need care and community and companionship on this journey. 

When you are alone, every slow month feels like failure and every potential client who says ‘no’ feels personal. When you are in community, you normalize the ups and downs. You share referrals. You learn faster which means you stay longer.

Income grows so much faster and more consistently when you are not doing this alone.

Find peers and join communities. Be in rooms where people talk honestly about money and care and systems.

We have a FREE Community Care Co-op that you can join here. 

 A note about Ontario and Canada specifically

If you are working toward doula certification in Ontario or elsewhere in Canada, your context matters.

Healthcare systems
Insurance gaps
Laws and regulations
Regional demand
Cost of living

You cannot copy and paste pricing or business advice from somewhere else and expect it to work where you are.

Build locally and learn your region. Talk to doulas who are actually working where you live.

Your doula certification is a foundation and the structure you build on top of it needs to fit your reality.

Clients will ask you questions about procedures and guidelines or ask for verification of what their provider has told them – you need to have the accurate information. 

You are not failing if this feels hard

Let us say this clearly. Like, really clearly. 

If you are certified and not making money yet, you are not behind and you are not bad at this. You simply need to gain some additional skills. 

Also, as a woman or queer person, you are navigating a system that undervalues care while asking you to give endlessly.

Turning your doula certification into income is possible because we have done it and we see it happen every day. But it does not happen by accident.It happens through strategy, boundaries, and support. And all of these things done consistently.

You deserve to be paid for your work. And the field needs you to stay – like, we really need you now more than ever. 

If you want help building income that aligns with your values, your capacity, and your life, keep learning and come hang out with us more! Care work is powerful – but only if the people doing it can survive.

Note: If you feel disappointed by your doula training organization, check out our certification transfer program. We would love to give you the care you did not get from the start!