2026-10-15 18:42 UTC
@taedryn@anarres.family
1. Thanks for including those of us who can no longer work.
2. I answered “love my job”, harking back to when I could work.
3. But I feel the need to add a caveat. I was a doula. I loved it. Intensly. It felt like a calling. And I was good at it. Really really good. But doula turn over/burn out is really high. And there is no amount of boundary setting/striving for a healthy work life balance that makes up for the systemic problems doulas face daily.
One of my mentors has stepped away from training new doulas because, “it felt like I was leading lambs to slaughter.” And she is right. It’s hard watching young, enthusiastic, caring, bright newbies train for something that will inevitably suck the life from them.
So yes I loved my job, but even if I didn’t become disabled and unable to work there is a very real possibility the work would have slowly worn me down. The doulas I know who have stepped away did so because they had to - not because they wanted to or didn’t love the work.
Replies (1)
-
@taedryn@anarres.family 2026-10-15 23:20
@dumplnm@lgbtqia.space I'm a trans woman, I'm very aware of exactly how many people aren't able to work right now, either through lack of opportunity or lack of spoons. 😅 That sucks, that doulas are aimed at a meat grinder. I didn't know that, but it certainly squares with my understanding of western medicine in general, and US health care specifically. I'm sorry such a fulfilling profession has to be such a negative experience for no good reason.