Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Heidi Mills. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Heidi, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

When I went back to college in my early-mid twenties I felt like I really didn’t have a lot of room to screw around with my career path. I was married, had bills to pay, and was starting a family. My husband had a degree and a good job but life expenses, especially when you decide to get married and move across the country shortly after high school, stack up quickly. This is one of the aspects that led me towards pursuing a business degree. I was interested in the field but more interested in the security and range of opportunity a business degree gave me. So when I found myself graduating in Spring 2020, right in the height of a global pandemic with a one-year old on my hip, I felt very scared of the mysteries ahead.

As I started applying for jobs, nothing felt right. Interviews were over zoom, and I’d be most likely jumping into a remote position right out of graduation. If i did get a job, I would have to try and find safe childcare for my daughter. It all felt very overwhelming. I had always wanted to start my own business focusing on parenting support but way down the line, after I gathered the “experience” in the field I thought I needed. I was frozen, stuck in a holding pattern with no clear (or comfortable) path forward.

I remember clearly a discussion between me and my husband out in the backyard one afternoon (our place of escape during the worst of quarantine). He asked me if I would ever consider getting my doula certification, just to add to my list of credentials. He knew I loved birth and supporting parents, and thought it would be a good hobby for me while I was waiting to figure out what my next steps would be after graduation. If I’m being honest, I thought it was kind of a stupid idea. I wasn’t super “crunchy” (which is a term we use in the parenting world to mean holistic, natural, etc. based parenting), and I felt like doulas mainly just worked with rich families who were wanting this super aesthetically pleasing home birth experience (not that there is anything wrong with this but just wasn’t what I wanted to devote my career towards). In that discussion my husband said two things that stuck with me… one, that not everything I tried out had to be this big part of the master plan (ha, he knows my type A personality well), and two, that if I did decide to pursue being a doula, it could look like whatever I wanted it to look like, as I always have been someone who is confident enough to forge my own path.

As I found a training organization I aligned with and delved into my certification, I realized how much doulas are and can be doing that I didn’t see in the aesthetically-pleasing, home birth photos that cluttered birth Instagram accounts. Doulas can help parents pick the right doctor and hospital based on their values, they can hook them up with local resources when they’re struggling with health care costs, they know how to help their clients change positions frequently after they get an epidural to keep labor progressing smoothly, and they can advocate for their clients when they see injustices against them in our maternal health system.

I became so passionate about what I saw in the doula role that I felt like wasn’t being fulfilled in practice. Where most doulas probably doing these things? Yes! But I didn’t see them being marketed as something beneficial for the majority of families who were having a hospital birth and utilizing an epidural or other medication for pain relief. My business knowledge knew that while there was plenty of doulas in the Kansas City Metro, there was a huge untapped clientele that didn’t even know how beneficial doula care could be to their pregnancy and birth experience.

I decided to take the jump and dump this new knowledge into my own business. Deciding I was going to use social media and my website to market to a group of parents who were possibly not even searching for doula care, because they had similar limited views on it that I did, but instead were just searching for support and guidance through their new parenting journey. It took me time, and lots of content generation, to establish my brand and vision for my take on doula work to my potential clients and other maternal wellness providers, but it has absolutely paid off!

It is so rewarding to see my vision come to life… to have medical providers recommending me to their patients who are so nervous about their birth experience but planning on getting an epidural, or a planned c-section, and them not even knowing that doula care was an option for that type of birth, but me being able to work with them and quell those fears and help them have a positive start to their parenting journey. Or have a soon-to-be-mom find me on social media reach out to work with me virtually on different advocacy and support techniques their partner can use so they can feel like they have someone in their corner with knowledge and know-how during what can be a very intimidating experience for many first time parents!

I also have been able to launch a scholarship program called my “Choose What You Pay” Program. 10% of the income my business generates goes into that fund and it has not only been something my full-paying clients look forward to providing towards for other parents, but something that has allowed me to work with a lot of families who desperately need doula support but can’t afford it.

All of these factors have launched me into expelling the myth that doula care is only for one type of family and one type of birth, and has also led me to a flourishing and growing business that I get to work on my own terms while still being home frequently during the week with my kids.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Heidi, a birth doula and owner of the business Bloc Births LLC in Kansas City, MO; as well as a content creator on Tiktok and Instagram under the handle @whatadoulado.

My business, Bloc Births, is focused on providing non-judgmental birth education and support to pregnant families in the Kansas City Community. I have built my model by focusing on attending hospital births, something I found is commonly done by other doulas but not prioritized or advertised. I wanted to make it my mission to make it clear that every birth deserves an educated support person, like a doula, in attendance. I focus on helping my clients make informed decisions that are right for their family!

My social media accounts are similar in purpose, with a sprinkle of mom life thrown in! I focus on giving out birth tips without a side of judgment or bias. Lots of my birth content is about preparing your body for birth, finding the right medical care provider/birth facility, different comfort measures you can use to have a smoother delivery, as well as partner support tips. I also am a mom to two kids, a preschooler and a baby, and include content about my own life in those accounts… lactation tips and tricks, parenting hacks, baby-wearing education, etc.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Networking! Not only in person but especially over social media. I was shocked at the connections I have been able to make over social media to other providers who work with pregnant people in the Kansas City Metro that have led to profitable clients for my business.

I found social media to be almost like a job interview. Every post is another way for potential clients, or potential connections (who refer you to clients) to get to know you and your approach better. The longer I posted on social media the more providers in my area became comfortable with the advice and education I give to my clients. This has led them to start referring clients to me, as they have been able to watch exactly how I approach birth, and therefore feel confident about the type of care I will give their client or patient.

It also has helped me connect with people in my community I can learn from! It has been a great resource to finding obstetricians, midwives, pelvic floor physical therapists, chiropractors, and lactation consultants in my area that I can collaborate with and learn from; and refer my clients too when their needs are outside my scope of practice!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Consistency of brand. When I first started my business, both my in-person doula business and my online accounts, I didn’t have any sort of specific branding except for “birth doula”. I was happy to attend any types of birth and make connections with anyone in the field. I posted content about all different types of births and things that weren’t necessarily within the realm of my interests. I posted things that I thought was what my audience wanted to see, because it is what the other successful doula accounts were posting, not because it is what I was interested in or wanted to focus on.

As I narrowed into my interests, which is hospital-based birth support for every type of birth experience, I was able to really see my connections in the field blossom. I built a reputation for this type of support, and have slowly become more of the “go-to-gal” for people to refer to within my area when they come across someone who is needing extra birth support but doesn’t think they would resonate with a traditional doula persona.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with the traditional type of doula (more natural/holistic) that a lot of people think of when they consider doula support, there are a lot of people not being pulled into that market who can benefit from a doula. By starting to create my branding, my content, my website… all around the concepts that inspired me into doula work to begin with, I have been able to get the reputation that I desire which has helped me grow my market by finding people who resonate with my message and are willing to spread it!

Contact Info:

• Website: blocbirths.com
• Instagram: whatadoulado
• Facebook: Heidi Mills – Certified Birth Doula (whatadoulado)
• Other: Tiktok: whatadoulado