Filling My Plate

[kalley]

I am a full time pre-nursing student and a mother of two. I have wanted to become a midwife for 10+ years. I hope to get into our nursing program beginning next fall. Hopefully, I will have my regular classes done by then and will be able to focus on my nursing classes. My plan is to graduate in , work for a year and then apply to frontier's RN-CNM with the bridge.

In the mean time I am considering becoming a doula. I was going to wait until my workload was a bit less than it is this semester, with 2 lab sciences, but I know people who are in their first trimester of pregnancy and I could probably use them as my births toward becoming a doula so right now is a better time. Do you think this will be too much on my plate?

Is becoming a certified doula a good idea with regards to becoming a CNM? I would love to get involved in the birthing process ASAP as it is all I can think about since I have started down this path. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[bebeleche]

I think becoming a doula is a great way to get onto the OB units and see what its all about. You'd be doing a great service for moms, to boot. You do sound quite busy, but "doula-ing" can be as part-time as you like it. I trained to be a doula in NP school, and loved the training courses and the readings as relaxtion breaks from my studies. I went on to get a FT job and have 2 kids, so I never considered establishing a doula practice (the on-call hours didn't work.) But having the training and skills made me a great support person for pregnant friends and family members, I still assist at a few births a year. Another option for a busy mom/student is that some bigger hospitals have volunteer doula services available for mothers requesting additional support. You could sign up for only as many shifts as you can realistically handle.

Then later, when applying for an L&D job and your CNM program you have that valuable experience as an asset. It's also a good way to get your birth "fix" while you plug away at school. Good luck!