We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ann Morris. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ann below.
Alright, Ann thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
In order to fully understand the mission behind Ann Morris Doula Services, I feel compelled to share a bit about my first pregnancy and postpartum experience-because this season of my life essentially birthed my passion for becoming a doula. When I became pregnant for the first time, I found myself completely overwhelmed by all of the questions I had surrounding preparing for birth, postpartum, and motherhood. The amount of information readily available to me at my fingertips online was a myriad of clashing opinions and non-evidence based viewpoints.
What I really needed as a first time mom was someone who could literally and figuratively walk alongside me throughout my pregnancy, birth, and the immediate postpartum period – someone who was knowledgeable about preparing for birth and postpartum, someone who could help me release my fears and prevent unwanted outcomes, and someone who could teach me about my options and could help me make evidence-based and informed decisions. Enter… a doula. :)
I learned about doulas for the first time during the final weeks of my pregnancy in 2018 at an in-person childbirth education class. The instructor explained that doulas are professional birth coaches who provide emotional, informational, physical, and mental support to expecting families during the prenatal, birth, and postpartum periods. She also noted that numerous studies have revealed that the presence of a doula can decrease the rate of cesareans by 50%, epidural use by 60%, the overall length of labor by 25%, and the use of artificial oxytocin by 40%. It was then, during my third trimester, that I knew I needed to hire a doula to assist me during my upcoming transition of becoming a mother.
As I reflect back on my first birth and journey through postpartum, I am so deeply thankful that I chose to utilize doula support – as she helped instill in me the confidence that I needed in order to birth and mother my baby, my way. I did not walk away from my birth traumatized or disappointed, as so many new mothers do. Rather, I was deeply empowered and proud of the transformational experience I had journeyed through and was ready to confidently transition to postpartum. During those early days of postpartum, I came to the realization that I wanted my life’s mission to be to help other women experience their own metamorphic transformations through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Ann Morris, I am thirty years old and I reside outside of Atlanta, Georgia. I have been married for eight years, and my husband and I have two little boys together, ages 5 and 1. As a family, we enjoy going for bike rides, playing games, and exploring new areas together in and around Atlanta.
I became a certified Birth and Postpartum Doula through DONA International in 2018 after walking through my own transformational journey through my first pregnancy, birth, and postpartum experience. To do so, I was required to attend a 3 day in-person workshop, where I learned about the physiological birth process, evidence-based information about the benefits of birth and postpartum doula support, introductions to topics like lactation, newborn feeding, and basic childbirth education, practical hands-on training on how to perform various comfort measures, and the initial steps on how launch a doula business.
From 2018 to 2022, I supported over 100 families in-person and virtually in hospitals, birth centers, and even in private home birth settings. My support often began with an initial intake phone call, where the first point of contact was established and preliminary questions were answered from both the prospective client and myself. If the initial phone call went well, we would then schedule a followup zoom call-often lovingly referred to as a “meet and greet,” where I would meet the expecting couple face to face and answer any remaining questions they may have had surrounding the in’s and out’s of doula support. Couples would often share that by having their questions answered and feelings validated by me during these conversations-it would almost immediately release any doubts or fears that they were experiencing.
Once the client was booked and their due date was officially on my calendar, we would have two prenatal meetings, the first of which we would go over birth planning. Couples would be educated on their numerous options for their upcoming birth, common interventions, how to make informed decisions, and how to write the perfect birth and postpartum plan. During the second prenatal meeting, I would meet with my clients in their homes to conduct a hands-on childbirth education course that consisted of lessons on the three stages of birth, normal and abnormal labor progression, induction and augmentation options, sharing fears aloud, comfort measures and medical pain relief options, and routine newborn tests and procedures. This was by far my favorite meeting we would have, because after all was said and done, they no longer felt like clients, but friends.
The next time I would see my new friends would be when labor begins, whether in their home, at a birth center, or in the hospital. My in-person support would begin whenever my clients felt like they needed me, however, I always made myself available by phone 24/7 to answer any questions they may have had. My in-person support varied client to client, because every laboring mama’s needs look different. At any given birth, you could normally find me helping to create a calm atmosphere by closing blinds or dimming lights, turning on soothing music, and diffusing refreshing essential oils. Once the mood was set, I would assess how the laboring mom was doing and what her immediate needs were. Did she need some counterpressure? A drink of water? A reassuring word of encouragement? A change of positioning? All of the above? Whatever she needed, I would swiftly take action and meet the needs-of both her and her partner.
Yes, as a doula, I even support dads, too! A commonly held misconception about doulas is that we will somehow or another replace the role of the father during the birth-and this could not be further from the truth! When doulas and partners work together, they create a support system that combines the knowledge of pregnancy, birth, newborns, and breastfeeding with an intimate understanding of the new mom and her needs, emotional responses, and communication style. Not only do doulas not replace partners, but they help dads-to-bed support their laboring loved ones even more effectively than they could on their own.
I am currently offering in-person doula support services for clients seeking to have either a home birth or a birth center intended birth within Atlanta, GA, virtual doula services for anyone in the world, one-on-one mentoring for new and aspiring doulas, and online childbirth education classes.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I decided to start taking social media seriously when I launched my business in 2018. I had a couple hundred followers at the time that mostly consisted of close friends and family members. I began asking myself questions like:
“What kind of content would my ideal client want to consume during the time they spend scrolling?” and “How can I turn my social media followers into clients?”
I quickly narrowed down my niche, and came to the conclusion that my ideal audience is women typically between the ages of 20-40 who are either trying to conceive, currently pregnant, or newly postpartum. With this knowledge, I started creating content that catered to this demographic – such as educational posts about the differences between OBGYN’s vs. midwives, motivational posts encouraging new families in their parenting struggles, and feel-good content of photos of newborn babies on their mama’s chests. For each post, I utilized relevant, local hashtags that would help clients find my posts, and therefore my profile. An example of some of the types of hashtags I would use when I first started sharing on social media are: #sarasotadoula, #momlife, and #sarasotamoms.
If you just recently launched a new business and are wanting to utilize social media as a means to advertise and reach new clients, or you have a seasoned business and are looking to take advantage of selling your products using social media, I recommend thinking through the kind of content that your ideal clients are looking to consume on a regular basis and posting accordingly.
Also – just start posting! Try not to overthink it too much. Your initial posts as a business owner are likely not going to be great, but you have to get through those initial posts in order to refine your skills and get in your groove! And one last piece of advice, consider batching your content a few times a month to save time. Whenever you have an idea for a social media post throughout the month, write it down! Then, when you sit down to batch content, you will have a whole list of ideas to pull content from!
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
Currently, I sell virtual services via my Wix website, like my doula mentoring services, one on one birth planning, as well as virtual doula support. It was a fairly seamless process to setup, and I have found that the Wix booking features are easy to navigate for my clients. I am in the process of creating my first physical product, a Labor Position deck of cards, that I plan to also sell on my Wix site.
I also work as an Amazon Influencer. I create themed lists on Amazon of all of my favorite products and have unique links for each individual product. Currently, I have lists entitled, “Doula/Birth Products,” “Pregnancy Products,” “Postpartum Products,” “Baby Products 0-12M,” “Toddler – Meals,” and “Home.” Whenever a client or a follower asks for a product recommendation, I can easily send them my unique link from Amazon. If they decide to make a purchase using my link, I make a commission from that sale.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.annmorris-doula.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annmorrisdoula/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarasotamanateedoulas/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/ann-morris-doula-services-sarasota
Image Credits
Beckah Lee Photography Wilder Photo