Welcome!
We the Board of Directors, would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the CDA! Our membership is a collective of birth doulas, postpartum doulas, and other professionals working in the realm of family support during the childbearing years. We welcome members from all across Alberta, as well as members who live in other places across Canada. We hope you will find much value in being a member of our association. Community is so important in this wonderful world of doula work and we are happy to have you as part of our community and continue on this journey together.
Membership within the CDA has many benefits, and as a member you have the opportunity to participate in our exclusive offers. We gather from September to May every second Wednesday of the month for a general membership meeting via Zoom or in person; this is great way to participate in the Calgary doula culture. We often host a guest speaker(s) in the birth community who can bring another resource and perspective to your practice. Ultimately, the Association is a way to network with other doulas, and to find guidance through our collective experience and knowledge. Our membership is made up of passionate and highly trained doulas that want to share success and create awareness for the wonderful work we do.
As a member, you can request to be added to our Facebook group; which serves as an online support tool and a safe and secure place to share our experiences and connect with fellow doulas. This is a private group and exclusive only to members of the CDA.
Another main benefit of joining the CDA is access to many discounted training opportunities throughout the year. Some examples of sessions we have hosted in the past are; Social Media Workshop for Small Businesses, Pregnancy and Infant Loss for Doulas and When Survivors Give Birth. Trainings are a great way to add more skills to your toolbox and further strengthen your doula career.
For our doulas that have been trained by DONA International and CAPPA, the largest doula organizations in the world, we offer more exclusive benefits;
Access to our Referral List is a main benefit for increasing your opportunities to meet with families looking for support. The Referral List was moved to an online format via our website in 2019, which is connected to a Doula Match account. You must set up in order for it to be connected through our group profile.
Note: According to our Bylaws, you must attend at least 2 of our monthly meetings or 1 meeting and 1 volunteer opportunity to stay in Good Standing as a CDA Doula.
Becoming a “BLUE SHIRT” DOULA. The CDA offers a signature BLUE SHIRT for purchase with our CDA logo on the back and CDA Doula on the front that can be personalized with your name and credentials. These shirts easily and quickly label our doulas as trained professionals whenever we support clients in Calgary or the surrounding areas. We will subsidize $10 towards the cost of your first BLUE shirt.
“Meet Your Doula” is an event we host multiple times a year where doulas get to meet with multiple expectant parents in a face-to-face setting for a short amount of time. It can be described as “Doula Speed Dating” This is an excellent way to sharpen your interviewing skills and increase your business.
As our association keeps growing and evolving, so will the benefits of joining the CDA. We see the CDA as a way to build community and raise awareness about our work. We try to reach as many families as possible by attending trade shows and advertising online. As a member of the CDA, you are now part of this reach to new families in our area. It is our hope that together we can grow and continue to support one another as well as spread awareness about the benefits of doula support to our local community.
If you would like more information about your membership, you can contact our Client & Member Connection Team at connection@calgarydoulas.ca
Welcome to the wonderful world of doula work and to the CDA community! We look forward to meeting you and getting to know you. Please reach out to us at anytime. We are happy to listen to concerns and offer any support we can to help you along your way.
Regards,
The CDA Board of Directors
info@calgarydoulas.ca