Getting started with your page
A quick tour of everything you can do from your dashboard.
Once you sign in, your dashboard is home base. Everything you need to build and manage your page is in the navigation bar across the top. Here's what each section does and a few tips for getting the most out of it.
Nothing is permanent and nothing is required. Fill things out at your own pace — your page will be here whenever you're ready.
Tell your story
This is the heart of your page. We ask you questions instead of handing you a blank text box — things like "What brought you to this work?" and "How do you support families?" Your answers become your bio.
A few things worth knowing
- You don't have to fill everything out at once. Start with whatever feels natural and come back later.
- A photo helps families feel connected to you before they reach out, but it's completely optional.
- Your location, certifications, and languages spoken help families find the right fit.
What you offer
Add the services you provide — birth support, postpartum care, lactation consulting, whatever your practice includes. You can set price ranges or leave pricing off entirely.
A few things worth knowing
- You can pick from common service types (birth doula, postpartum, etc.) and also create your own custom services with descriptions and pricing.
- Families appreciate knowing the ballpark, but "contact for pricing" is fine too.
- If your services vary by situation, a short description is more helpful than a rigid price list.
Make it feel like you
Pick a theme and color palette that match your practice's personality. We have palettes designed specifically for birth work — warm, calming, professional. You can also adjust fonts, toggle dark mode, fine-tune background shading, and choose how your hero section is laid out.
A few things worth knowing
- The live preview shows exactly what families will see. Take a minute to scroll through it.
- Color palettes come in light and dark variants — pick whatever feels right for your practice.
- Three hero layouts: Portrait (centered photo, classic), Editorial (side-by-side, magazine feel), and Quote (a client's words lead). Try each — the preview updates instantly.
- You can always change your style later. Nothing is permanent.
Let families speak for you
Client testimonials are some of the most powerful content on your page. Add them here, and they'll show up in a dedicated section that families can browse.
A few things worth knowing
- Testimonials start as drafts so you can get the wording right before publishing.
- If a story touches on loss, trauma, or a difficult birth, you can add a content warning. Families will see a gentle note before the full text.
- Even one or two testimonials make a real difference. You don't need a dozen.
Classes, workshops, and meet-ups
Teaching a childbirth class? Hosting a breastfeeding support group? Running a meet-and-greet? Add your events here and they'll appear on your page with dates, times, and a description.
A few things worth knowing
- Past events automatically move out of the spotlight, so you don't need to clean them up.
- Events support rich text — you can format descriptions, add links, and highlight what to bring.
- If something gets canceled or rescheduled, just update it. No need to delete and re-create.
Let families know when you're free
Mark dates when you're not available — vacation, another birth, personal time. Families can see at a glance whether your schedule might work for their due date.
A few things worth knowing
- You're just marking dates you're unavailable. No need to manage a full calendar.
- This helps set expectations upfront so families don't reach out and then wait for a "sorry, I'm booked."
- You can add or remove dates anytime.
Your inbox
When a family fills out the contact form on your page, their message lands here. You can track which ones you've read, replied to, or archived.
A few things worth knowing
- New messages show up as "unread" — you'll see the count on your dashboard.
- Marking a message as "replied" helps you keep track, but we don't send the reply for you. Respond however you normally would — email, phone, text.
- Archived messages aren't deleted, just tucked away. You can always find them again.
Letting families gift your care
Gift certificates let someone buy your care for a person they love — a sister expecting her first, a friend just home from the hospital, a partner who deserves a nap. We don't touch the money. You pick how buyers pay you (Venmo, Zelle, check, whatever you already use), they pay you directly, and we handle everything else — the buyer's confirmation, the recipient's PDF voucher, the code lookup, and the record of what's been used.
A few things worth knowing
- Gift certificates are opt-in. If you leave them off, nothing on your page changes. Most doulas turn them on; some never do. Your call.
- The first time you enable them, we'll show you the messaging your buyers and recipients will see. Our defaults are warm and trauma-informed — tweak them to sound like you, or leave them as-is and move on.
- Issuing a code is a two-step moment. We email you a confirmation link before the code goes out, and if you've set up two-factor we ask for that too. Gift certificates are real money owed to a real person, and we want a clean story if anything is ever disputed.
- When a recipient redeems their gift, mark it as used in your dashboard. That's the whole accounting — no spreadsheets to sync, just your own honest record.
- If something falls through, refund the code instead of marking it redeemed. Refunding here is a record-keeping update — you return the money to the buyer however they sent it.
- We don't take a cut. One subscription, everything included. The buyer paid you; we just helped you tell them what's next.
Running a birth fund
A birth fund lets your community chip in to subsidize sliding-scale or reduced-cost births. Same shape as gift certificates — we don't touch the money. You pick how donors send it, they send it directly, and we handle the donor's confirmation, the receipt PDF, and a clean record of every donation.
A few things worth knowing
- Birth funds are off by default and entirely opt-in. Most working doulas don't use one, and most collectives fund their sliding-scale work internally from a percentage of fees. Both are normal — leaving this off is a perfectly good answer.
- If you offer reduced-rate or scholarship births out of your own pocket, this is one way for community to help carry that cost. A lot of solo doulas have never thought of it as something they're allowed to ask for. You are. Quietly, on your terms.
- The first time you turn it on, we'll show you what donors and recipients will see. Our defaults say "not tax-deductible" plainly — doulas aren't 501(c)(3)s, and the receipt is a thank-you, not a deductible-donation document. Edit the rest if you like; that disclaimer stays.
- Sending a receipt is a two-step moment, like issuing a gift certificate. We email you a confirmation link before the PDF goes out, plus a TOTP code if you've got two-factor on. Real money, real person, clean story.
- When a donor sends the money, mark the donation received and the receipt PDF goes out the same moment. If a donation falls through, refunding it here is a record-keeping update — you return the money to the donor however they sent it.
- No cut, no celebration banners, no monthly recap emails. Birth funds are quiet by design. Money is heavy, especially in this context, and a feature that nags you about totals would be the wrong shape entirely.
Account and subscription
Your web address (slug), email, subscription status, and account preferences all live here. This is also where you'll find the link to manage your billing through Stripe.
A few things worth knowing
- You can change your web address, but the old one won't redirect — so update your business cards too.
- Your subscription includes everything. No tiers, no upsells, no "premium" features locked behind a paywall.
- If you ever need to cancel, it's one click. No guilt trips, no hoops.
When you're ready to go live
Your page stays private until you publish it. When you feel good about how things look, hit the publish button on your dashboard. We'll run a quick check to make sure the essentials are in place — a bio, a way for families to reach you — and then you're live.
You can preview your page anytime before publishing. And after you go live, you can still edit everything — changes show up immediately.
Want to show a draft to a partner, a colleague, or your co-op before going public? Generate a preview link from your dashboard. It works even while your page is unpublished, and it expires on its own so you don't have to remember to clean it up.
If you need to take your page down for a while, you can unpublish it just as easily. Families will see a friendly "this page isn't live right now" message instead of a broken link.
Need help with the writing part?
Staring at a blank bio field is no fun. We've put together some resources to help.
AI Writing Prompts
Copy-paste prompts you can use with any AI tool to draft your bio, testimonial write-ups, event descriptions, and more. They interview you first, so the result sounds like you.
AI & Your Words
Our approach to AI — we don't have it built in, and that's on purpose. Your voice matters more than convenience. But we're not the AI police either.
Part of a practice or co-op?
If you work with other doulas as a group, you can create a shared group page with its own web address, testimonials, events, and member roster. Each member keeps their individual page too — the group page links to everyone.
You'll find the option to start or join a group in your account menu (top right corner of the dashboard).
Starting a group
One doula starts the group — that's the first admin. Pick a web address (yourgroup.mydoula.page), add a short description of what you do together, and invite your co-op by email. Everyone who accepts becomes a member.
Managing members
Admins can invite new members, approve requests to join, set roles (member or admin), and control who appears on the public roster. A member can be part of several groups at once — nobody has to choose.
Shared content
Group testimonials, events, and inquiries all live in the group dashboard, separate from each member's individual content. If your group hosts a class together or gets a testimonial about the collective, it belongs here.
In Memoriam
Groups can honor members who have passed with tribute pages. The writing prompts page has a section for drafting these with care.