Shaping Birth Experiences: Shannay Rocker on Home Births, Hospitals, and Building Doula Community
Release Date: 06/16/2025
Bereavement Skills for Every Doula & Birthworker
The Birth Geeks' Podcast
In this episode, Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors sit down with Dr. Abby Jorgensen, sociologist, bereavement doula, and director of Haven Bereavement Doulas. They discuss the realities of perinatal loss, the need for grief-informed care, and why every birth professional should build bereavement support skills into their practice. The conversation covers how language, culture, and personal experience shape our approach to loss, what it means to truly support clients through devastating situations, and the practical tools doulas need to show up prepared. Whether you've faced loss...
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What Happens After Five Years as a Doula
The Birth Geeks' Podcast
In today’s episode, Robin Elise Weiss and Hillary Melchiors reflect on what it means to be a doula for five years and beyond. They dig into why so many birth doulas have short careers, what helps professionals stay in the work, and how both personal and professional priorities change over time. You’ll hear honest stories about real challenges: from finding backup and setting boundaries, to handling compassion fatigue, burnout, and the shifting landscape of client needs. Whether you’ve just finished your training or have decades in the field, this conversation offers candid insights and...
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The Not-So-Magic Doula Bag
The Birth Geeks' Podcast
In this episode, Hillary Melchiors and Robin Elise Weiss unpack the real contents of a doula's birth bag. From the practical to the quirky, you'll hear how the items doulas carry have shifted over the course of their careers, what actually gets used during long hours at births, and why less is often more. They share favorite finds, ways to keep things clean and organized, and surprising tools that have stood the test of time, or failed spectacularly. Whether you're a birth or postpartum doula, or just curious about what actually helps in those high-pressure hours, this is an honest,...
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The Truth About Doula Confidence: Fear of Making Mistakes
The Birth Geeks' Podcast
The pressure to perform is so very real as a doula, and sometimes the fear is holding us back from being even better for our clients. In this episode we're getting real about why it feels so scary and how you can get over this hurdle as a doula.
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Why Doula Burnout Happens and What Actually Keeps You Going
The Birth Geeks' Podcast
Setting yourself up for a sustainable doula career is essential if you want to keep doing this work over the long term. Whether you are a birth or postpartum doula, planning ahead for more than just self-care bubble baths, can help you keep serving more clients. Listen in as we discuss what's help us stay in this work for the long haul.
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Doula and Nurse Relationships and the Reality of Labor Support
The Birth Geeks' Podcast
Dr. Kathryn Konrad on doula and nurse relationships, what nursing textbooks miss about labor support, and how to plug doulas into the maternity workforce.
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Navigating Sleep Disruption and Recovery for On-Call Doulas
The Birth Geeks' Podcast
This one's for the birth doulas who are excited to get the wake up call and haven't yet realized the physiological toll that this will take (as we see in the scientific literature) on your body. We're talking about all the ways we deal with being on call and making sure we're getting our Zzzzzzzs on this week's episode. Birth doula work gets described as thrilling—the middle-of-the-night call, the quick scramble, the arrival at a birth. But what’s left out of that story is the reality of sleep deprivation, the impact of disrupted schedules, and the ongoing challenge of protecting...
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The Scarcity Mindset: How Doulas Treat Each Other (And How to Do It Better)
The Birth Geeks' Podcast
The doula community talks about abundance mindset constantly, but the actual behavior in many local communities tells a different story. In this episode, Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors dig into the professional dynamics that shape how doulas treat each other across the experience spectrum. They name what a scarcity mindset actually looks like in practice, why it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and why newer doulas often misread what established doulas can and should offer them. This is a direct, honest conversation about the professional culture that determines whether...
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Getting Hired as a Doula: Tactics That Actually Work for Growing Your Client List
The Birth Geeks' Podcast
Everyone who comes through doula training asks the same question: how do I actually find my first clients? In this episode, Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors cut through the anxiety around getting started and offer practical, grounded strategies for new birth and postpartum doulas who are ready to build a practice. The conversation covers everything from the psychology of feeling "ready" to the concrete mechanics of networking, social media, pricing, and contracts, and it does so in a way that will resonate with trainers and agency owners who field this question constantly. ...
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Geek Out with Dr. Jennifer Lincoln
The Birth Geeks' Podcast
In this episode of The Birth Geeks, Dr. Jennifer Lincoln, OB-GYN hospitalist, IBCLC, and author, joins Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors to talk about the hospitalist model and what it means for doulas and clients, how to show up during a home birth transfer, obstetric violence and why the term matters, misinformation on social media, informed consent as a human rights issue, and what a well-prepared patient looks like from the perspective of someone meeting people for the first time in active labor. Dr. Lincoln also discusses her new book, written for birthing people and...
info_outlineToday on The Birth Geeks, we dove into the inspiring journey of Shanay Rocker, a fashion-industry pro turned Berlin-based doula. From her adventures moving from Australia to New York and finally Berlin, Shanay shared how motherhood transformed her life and led her to birth work. We explored what it’s really like to give birth and be a doula in Germany, the power of supportive communities, and building resilience as a parent and entrepreneur. Sinead’s story is proof that growth, adaptability, and following your passion can open doors you never imagined—wherever you are in the world.