We were lucky to catch up with Susan Van Daal recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Susan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?
In many ways, my practice began long before it officially existed. It started the moment I first heard the word “doula.” Something in me lit up immediately. It wasn’t a logical decision—it was recognition. I knew, deep in my body, this is what I am meant to do.
At that point, I was already a certified Ayurvedic practitioner and had been supporting friends through pregnancy and the postpartum period informally. So when I decided to do formal doula training, the transition felt natural, almost inevitable. It wasn’t so much starting something new as it was giving a name and structure to work I was already doing.
I truly believe we are called into certain roles at different moments in life. When that calling comes from deep within—and when we have the courage to follow it—life has a way of reorganizing itself around that mission.
Practically speaking, the early steps were simple but intentional. I had just moved to Los Angeles and was starting completely from scratch, without a network or reputation in that city. I built a basic website, began sharing my work and philosophy on Instagram, and trusted that the right people would find me. And somehow, they did. Clients seemed to arrive organically, as if guided.
That’s not to say it was never challenging. In the beginning, there were moments of doubt, financial uncertainty, and a lot of inner work around trust. I had to continually choose faith over fear—faith that if I focused on what I genuinely loved doing, on serving women with integrity and presence, the practice would grow. And it did.
One of the biggest challenges was learning to balance devotion with self-care: honoring the sacredness of birth work while also building a practice that could sustain my own health. It is easy as a doula to overextend yourself, to give endlessly in the service of others, especially when you are on call or tending to a new family. Early on, this overextension led to burnout—and forced me to look deeply at my own life story. I realized that some of my patterns were rooted in my own birth experience and subconscious desire to “save” my mother.
This realization sparked a shift in my approach. I began exploring the subconscious mind and hypnosis techniques as tools to heal deep-seated patterns—both for myself, my birth and postpartum clients and in how I guide other doulas. This work became the foundation for the Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula Training I developed, which blends practical skills with deep subconscious preparation. It’s designed to help doulas show up fully, without repeating the past, or at least approaching the now with more awareness around the past. And to trust the power of simply being present.
Looking back, I wish I had embraced this subconscious work sooner. Leaning into intuition and inner guidance from the very start would have made the journey smoother, yet every challenge taught me something. Therefore I don’t really believe in challenges anymore I see it as invitations to learn something new.
For a young professional considering starting their own practice, my advice is simple: listen deeply. Not to trends, not to fear, not even to well-meaning advice—but to the voice within. Build from what you truly love, and allow your practice to grow organically. Skills can be learned, strategies refined—but an aligned calling everything. When you follow your calling, support appears in ways you cannot always anticipate.
Susan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am an Ayurvedic practitioner and full-spectrum doula, and my work is deeply rooted in the belief that motherhood is a sacred rite of passage—a journey that deserves connection, presence, and nourishment for both the mother and those who support her. My path into this work began naturally: having supported friends during birth and postpartum and trained in Ayurveda, I gravitated toward doula work, realizing I wanted to create a space where women could be truly held during one of the most transformative moments of their lives.
Today, I offer the Certified Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula Training, a program designed to reconnect birth workers with holistic and Ayurvedic practices while honoring the sacred continuum of motherhood. This training goes beyond techniques—it’s about cultivating presence, intuition, and deep listening, and reconnecting with the feminine principles many of us have lost. In this program, participants learn how to trust the answers that are stored within, valuing intuition over rigid science, and serving from a place of nourishment rather than depletion.
Through the Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula Training, we explore birth imprints, subconscious patterns, and the energetics of healing, ensuring doulas step into their role fully aligned, present, and empowered. Participants also gain a strong foundation in Ayurvedic postpartum healing, including nutrition and herbal medicine (Dravyaguna), and the four core therapies: Pinda Sweda, Womb Moxa, Abhyanga massage, and Vastru Bandhana (belly binding). While these techniques are essential, the subconscious and energetic work is what sets this training apart, helping doulas break generational patterns and show up for mothers from a place of deep presence and self-awareness.
Through this work, I help birth workers build their practices the feminine way—rooted in service, intuition, and holistic care—contributing to the long-term well-being of new mothers and their families. I am most proud of creating a space where doulas can trust their inner knowing, integrate Ayurvedic wisdom, and step fully into their power, ultimately transforming the birth and postpartum experience for the mothers they serve.
For anyone considering this work, the Ayurvedic Postpartum Doula Training is more than a certification—it’s an invitation to step into a new paradigm of postpartum care. This program reawakens mothers and doulas to their innate power, nourishes the body, mind, and spirit, and honors the sacred, transformative nature of motherhood.
Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?
In my experience, what makes doulas truly succeed in their practice isn’t just training or knowledge—it’s devotion. It’s the deep love you feel for your clients, your students, and the sacred process of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. A thriving doula practice grows from the heart, not from financial motivation.
This work is not about chasing income or building a business solely for profit. It’s about showing up fully, with presence, care, and intuition, and being of service in one of the most transformative experiences of a family’s life. The doulas I’ve seen sustain and flourish in this profession are the ones who are genuinely called to it—they love it so deeply that the work itself fuels their growth.
It might sound idealistic, but it’s true: if your heart isn’t fully in it, the emotional and physical demands of this work can make it unsustainable. I’ve supported many doula students, and the ones primarily focused on potential earnings rarely continue in the long term. Success in this profession comes from wholehearted dedication, authenticity, and a deep love for new life.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One of the most important lessons I had to unlearn as a doula was the belief that sacrificing myself was necessary to be fully of service. Early in my career, I thought that overextending—putting everyone else’s needs above my own—was the mark of a good doula. Over time, I realized this approach was unsustainable and even counterproductive. That’s what led me into hypnosis and subconscious work: untangling patterns and beliefs that weren’t from the present moment, but were echoes from my own early life. Through this process, I retrained my belief to something simple yet profound: if I take good care of myself, I can serve my clients more deeply and sustainably.
Another lesson I had to unlearn was relying solely on external information—data, studies, and research—while overlooking the power of intuition. In the beginning, I was collecting knowledge obsessively, thinking that the right answer had to come from somewhere outside myself. But I discovered that while external information can be valuable, it can also be manipulated or misinterpreted. The true answers that guide us and our clients come from within—the intuition and wisdom that cannot be taken away or altered. Today, I trust those inner answers as much as, if not more than, any external data. And I have seen my clients benefiting from it as well. You will see a lot of postpartum mothers being disappointed about their birth experience because decisions made based on medical advice. If a mother feels more empowered in the decision process during birth or pregnancy there are less regrets. It is more empowering when decisions come from within.
These lessons transformed not only the way I practice, but also the way I teach and support other doulas. I now emphasize self-care, intuitive guidance, and presence, creating a practice and a training that honors both the doula and the mother.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.inannacare.com
- Instagram: inannacare
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/susanvandaal
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-daal-van-0ba6a58/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@inannacare
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/inanna-care-santa-monica
Image Credits
Joshua Gobbels