To charge or not to charge.

When working in a caring industry there appears to be an assumption that, as the practitioner does the job they love it, they should not be rewarded for their labour.  Well, this is going to be a tiny blog post  as I am going to point you towards some people who have said exactly what I want to say.  (stop laughing at the back.  I can be succinct!)  You remember how lazy I am don't you?  Why reinvent the wheel?

So let's hear from my best birth buddy Maisie Hill: The Birth Woman and her fabulous blog What do doulas charge?

There have been times when I've been asked why I charge what I charge and some have even asked at the outset if I think that I ought to charge as much.  Pre-birth I hear how expensive a doula is, post-birth I too have been told many times that I don't charge enough.  It is a topic of debate amongst some doulas, as it should be.  I stand with my best birth buddy and make no apology for my charges.  I spent a long time worrying about it, but when I thought about it and stripped what I do to the bare bones and then looked at what it meant for my time with my family, friends and myself, I realised that I was not putting a true value to what I do.  Yes, I know, it's an amazing privilege to be with women as they birth their babies and my heart fills with joy as I see them embrace motherhood, but the cost of this is to my family.  I work because I love it and I want to do it.