Pregnancy & Postnatal Entrepreneurs Collective Podcast

Charging and pricing are some of the most loaded topics in the birth worker business — and in this panel episode of the Pregnancy and Postnatal Entrepreneurs Collective, we're finally talking about it out loud, no holds barred. Niamh is joined by three birth workers at different stages of their business journeys: Natalie Abouchai (Natnat Your Doula), Emma Fitzsimons (The Marathon Doula), and Audrey McEntee (Hug and Hold Doula Support) for a raw, honest conversation about what it really takes to build a sustainable birth business, why birth workers and doulas keep undercharging, and what the industry needs to change to make this work financially viable long-term.
Whether you're a doula, IBCLC, antenatal educator, or any kind of birth worker trying to figure out what to charge — this one's for you.
In this episode:
How each guest decided what to charge when they started out — and what they'd do differently
The burnout that comes directly from undercharging in your doula business (and why it's not just about the money)
Emma on female altruism being weaponised against birth workers — and why our industry keeps absorbing it
Why "it's a calling" might be the most damaging phrase in birth worker marketing
Natalie's moment: the client who said, post-birth, "I can't believe you were so cheap"
The pricing visibility debate — should your doula rates be on your website or saved for the discovery call?
The societal double standard: €250 for a 15-minute consultant appointment vs. €170 for an hour-and-a-half lactation home visit
What happens to the whole doula/IBCLC pricing landscape when experienced birth workers encourage newcomers to work for free
Why building a sustainable birth business means pricing like you need to actually live
This is the birthworker business conversation that usually only happens in private. It deserves to be out in the open.

About the guests:
Natalie Abuce — Natnat Your Doula Natalie is a woman-centred birth doula supporting women through pregnancy, birth, and the maternity system with confidence and informed choice. Based in the southeast and southwest of England, she's passionate about reminding women that their voice matters, their instincts matter, and they deserve to birth feeling powerful, heard, and respected. 🌐 www.natnatyourdoula.co.uk | 📧 natnatyourdoula@gmail.com | @natnatyourdoula (all socials)

Emma Fitzsimons — The Marathon Doula Emma is a Birth and Postpartum Doula and Fitness Instructor based in Cavan and Meath. Drawing on her own experiences with maternity services, she qualified as a doula in 2023 and brings over a decade of fitness instruction alongside a deeply personal understanding of what women need in birth and postpartum. She also brings the perspective of 15 years as a single mum. 📱 @emmathemarathondoula on Instagram

Audrey McEntee — Hug and Hold Postpartum Doula Support Audrey is a postpartum doula, maternity night nanny, newborn care specialist, and International Certified Infant Massage Instructor based in Ireland. Founder of Hug and Hold Doula Support, she specialises in supporting families through those precious and sometimes overwhelming early days — creating calm, answering questions, and holding space so parents can thrive (not just survive) postpartum. 🌐 hugandholddoula.com | 📧 audreymcentee@gmail.com | @hugandholddoulasupport on Instagram

Working alone in clients' homes comes with risks most birth workers aren't prepared for. Niamh created this free guide to share the 8 safety protocols she learned over two decade of home visits (first in social care services, then in birth work) from what to ask on your intake form to positioning yourself for safety. It takes 2 minutes to read and might be the one thing that matters.
Download free: yourbirthbiz.com/safet
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There's a difference between standing up for what you believe in and courting controversy for clicks. In this solo episode, Niamh explores why fear-based content might get you reach—but it won't get you booked—and how the most ethical choice is also the most profitable one for your birth business.
If you're feeling pressure to be louder, more provocative, or more controversial to succeed as a doula, lactation consultant, or antenatal educator, this one's for you.
We talk about:
Why controversy in birth work is almost always fear-based (and what that costs your clients)
The difference between reach and actual clients
How ordinary pregnant and postpartum people choose birth workers
Why a sustainable birth business doesn't need to scare anyone
Real examples of how this plays out in our industry
Working alone in clients' homes comes with risks most birth workers aren't prepared for. Niamh created this free guide to share the 8 safety protocols she learned over two decade of home visits (first in social care services, then in birth work) from what to ask on your intake form to positioning yourself for safety. It takes 2 minutes to read and might be the one thing that matters.
Download free: yourbirthbiz.com/safet
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If marketing your birthworker business makes you cringe, this one's for you. Postpartum doula turned marketing mentor Patricia Grenseman joins Niamh to talk about calm, low-lift visibility, doula and IBCLC marketing that doesn't cost you your evenings, and how to use AI as a collaborator instead of a ghostwriter — so you can build a sustainable birth business without the burnout.
Patricia started out as a postpartum doula and sleep consultant on a Navy base in Japan, took her work online the year before the pandemic, and slowly realised more people were asking her for help with their websites and captions than their babies. In this conversation she and Niamh get honest about why marketing feels performative when the actual work feels so intimate — and what closes that gap.
Inside the episode:
Why the "professional version of you" isn't fake — and how showing up in public slowly makes it real
The permission slip to do less: choosing the one or two channels that actually fit your life
Why Facebook group posts can out-earn your Instagram (and why your grid still matters)
Social media as a practice ground — how low engagement is a feature, not a failure
Using AI as a second brain and a collaborator, not an intern you hand things off to and give up on
Why "using AI is cheating" is the same tired story as "an epidural is cheating"
Whether you're a doula, IBCLC, antenatal educator or sleep consultant, you'll leave with a calmer, more doable way to be visible.
Connect with Patricia: Website PatriciaGrenseman.com · Instagram @ai.marketing.engine · Grab her Calm Marketing System for low-lift visibility.
Want help building the business behind the marketing? Niamh coaches birth workers on creating a sustainable business without the burnout — details and how to work together are linked below.
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Ever felt like your work or business just... doesn't fit you anymore?
Maybe it did once. Maybe you built it from real passion — but somewhere along the way it started to feel heavy, off, not quite you. This week Niamh is joined by Lety Martínez, a Soul-Led Business Mentor and Akashic Records Practitioner based in Mexico, who spent over 25 years building and leading businesses (including directing 250+ franchisees) before walking away from all of it the moment it stopped feeling coherent with who she'd become.
Lety's whole philosophy is that business is inner work as much as it is strategy and systems — and that when your business isn't working, the answer usually isn't more. More marketing, more hustle, more followers, another new strategy. It's often that the foundation underneath it all needs realigning with the person you actually are now.
This is a beautiful conversation for any birthworker who followed their heart into this work, fell in love with supporting families, and then found themselves running a business they were never really taught how to build.
In this episode:
Why Lety left a 25-year career the moment it stopped feeling "coherent" — and how she navigated the transition
The "house with no walls" problem: why a new strategy can't hold if your foundation is unstable
What the Akashic Records actually are, explained simply — and how root-cause patterns quietly run our businesses
Lety's New Era Values Framework: swapping inherited values like hustle, control and competition for ease, conscious growth and collaboration
The trap of constantly chasing the next strategy instead of realigning what's already there
Why thousands of followers doesn't equal a business — and how marketing dissonance keeps us pushing in ways that don't feel authentic
The systems that free you from the hustle (and the simple daily planning ritual both Niamh and Lety swear by)
Using AI as a trained "VA" — for communication, systems and finally getting eyes on your numbers
Niamh's honest confession about pulling her own stats (relatable if you also "fall off the wagon")
About Lety:
Lety Martínez is a Soul-Led Business Mentor and Akashic Records Practitioner based in Mexico. She helps entrepreneurs whose lives have changed — through inner growth, transition, or simply becoming someone new — realign their business with the person they've actually become. Her work lives at the intersection of real business strategy and deep soul work, so clients leave with clarity on what actually needs to change, and why more hustle usually isn't the answer.
Find Lety:
Website: letymartinez.com 
Quiz: letymartinez.com/quiz
Instagram: @lety.martinez.urrea
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The school summer holidays are a pressure point that self-employed birthworkers rarely talk about openly — but if you're a doula, IBCLC, antenatal educator or postpartum worker with your own kids at home, your capacity changes for eight weeks and your business needs a plan for that.
In this episode Niamh shares her own framework for getting through summer without burning out or dropping the ball — and without trying to hustle, launch, or "maximise" anything. This is about survival with your business, health and family intact, not productivity for its own sake.
She covers:
How to figure out your "minimum viable summer" — the baseline income, client numbers and one non-negotiable marketing activity you need to keep ticking over
Why summer is the wrong time to launch, start something new, or add offers
How to map your actual working hours around childcare, camps and family support before the summer starts
Sorting childcare for client-facing work versus the deep-focus time you need to work on your business
Setting boundaries with older kids who are home during work hours (including Niamh's "office door open or closed" system)
Why batching and time-blocking matter even more when your time is short
Managing client expectations and communicating your summer availability to your community
The guilt that comes with self-employed parenting — and why running at 60% capacity over summer doesn't make you a bad business owner or a bad parent
If you want help getting your content sorted before summer hits, Niamh mentions her workshop on batching eight weeks of social media content in three hours — link in the show notes.
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