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 | 📧 [email protected] | @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 | 📧 [email protected] | @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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Bron Watson on burnout, cancer, and why self-care has to come before the sales funnel

What happens when you do everything right in business — the funnels, the followers, the retreats, the courses — and it still costs you everything?

That's exactly what happened to Bron Watson. Nurse, educator, entrepreneur, and mother of five, Bron built a thriving online business from the ground up. But behind the success, her cup was running empty. In 2017, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Five years later, an incurable blood cancer.

In this episode, Bron and I talk about what those diagnoses forced her to face — and what she wishes she'd known before building a business that nearly broke her.

We cover:

• Why high-achieving caregivers are especially vulnerable to burnout
• The moment Bron realised her business had become a sabre-tooth tiger she couldn't get off
• What self-care actually means (hint: it's not serums and massages)
• Why filling your cup isn't selfish — it's the foundation of sustainable work
• How birth workers and perinatal professionals can protect themselves before adversity forces them to stop

This one is for every birth worker, doula, lactation consultant, and perinatal professional who gives everything to their clients and has nothing left for themselves.

About Bron Watson
Bron Watson is a nurse, educator, entrepreneur, and founder of The Serenity Project — a space where science meets soul for people living through cancer and navigating uncertainty.

Connect with Bron:
Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn

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Self-employment isn't natural.

That's the thread running through this week's episode — and once you see it, you can't unsee it.

In this honest, story-led conversation, Niamh shares the part of her own story she doesn't usually tell on the podcast. The unplanned pregnancy in her early 30s. The friendship group that fell away. The antenatal class her now-husband signed her up for because he could see how lonely she was. The breastfeeding group that gave her her closest friends 13 years on. And the baby link group she set up when nobody else in the room would put their hand up.

From there, the episode traces how the same lesson — sometimes you join a community, sometimes you create one, but you don't get to skip community altogether — shaped her entire business as an antenatal educator, lactation consultant and mentor for birth and postpartum professionals.

Niamh talks honestly about:

• The community she had as a new birthworker — and the missing piece that nobody had figured out yet
• Why she joined a generic, expensive women-in-business membership when she couldn't afford to (and what 30% of it taught her)
• How history shows us self-employment is a relatively new and structurally lonely way of working
• Why birthworkers are more isolated in their work than at any point in human history — even with all the communication tools we have
• Why so many people walk away from birthwork within a year of training (and what keeps the ones who stay)
• The role of "someone a little further along" — at the breastfeeding group, in business, in life

This is the most personal episode of the podcast so far. And the one that explains, more clearly than anything else has, why the work Niamh does the way she does it.

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Marketing for doulas, lactation consultants and antenatal educators needs to different. 

Most marketing advice was written for people selling software, shoes, or supplements, not for the care that you provide. And if you've ever read a marketing tip and thought I literally cannot do that, this episode is for you.

In this episode I'm breaking down five reasons why marketing in birthwork is genuinely different and why the tactics that work elsewhere can feel completely wrong in our industry. That friction you're feeling isn't a sign you're doing it wrong.

In this episode:

• Why your professional ethics rule out tactics most marketers use without a second thought
• The level of connection clients need before they'll ever consider booking you
• Why your window to reach potential clients is shorter than almost any other industry
• The buying competition you're up against before families have even heard of you
• The cultural reason spending money on women's support feels hard for your clients and for you

If you've ever felt like you're playing the marketing game with one hand tied behind your back, this one will make a lot of sense.

If this episode resonated, please leave a review wherever you listen — it helps other birthworkers find the podcast.

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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From PhD chemist to birth alchemist - Tina-Marie Bruton on burnout, late autism identification, identity and finding her power in being herself.

What happens when everything you built your identity around stops fitting?

In this episode Niamh Cassidy is joined by Tina-Marie Bruton, antenatal educator, birth and postpartum doula, pregnancy Relax Stretch & Breathe instructor and founder of The Birth Alchemist for one of the most honest and moving conversations this podcast has had.

Tina-Marie is also one of Niamh's longest-standing clients. She was part of Niamh's very first coaching programme, went on to join The NEST group coaching programme, and continues to be supported inside the Your Birth Biz Besties membership. So this isn't just a guest episode it's a conversation between two people who have walked a significant part of this journey together.

Tina-Marie spent 12 years in the pharmaceutical industry, earned a PhD in chemistry, and built what looked like a very successful career. Then burnout hit. Her blood pressure went through the roof. She was at risk of heart attack or stroke. And everything she thought she knew about herself (and who she was supposed to be) started to come undone.

What emerged from that chrysalis was something she hadn't expected. A later-in-life autism and ADHD identification. A complete identity shift. And a birthwork business built entirely on her own terms.

This is the story of how she got there.

In this episode Niamh and Tina-Marie cover:

— Tina-Marie's journey from PhD chemist and pharma trainer to antenatal educator, doula and pregnancy yoga instructor — Why burnout was the turning point — and what it physically cost her before she listened to it — The identity crisis that came with leaving a career she had worked so hard to build — What it felt like to have her entire belief system challenged during antenatal educator training — and why that was both terrifying and transformative — Her later-in-life autism and ADHD identification — and why she uses the language "later in life identified" rather than "late diagnosed" — How understanding her neurology gave her permission to do things her own way — and why that turned out to benefit everyone she works with — The word "should" — and how recognising it as someone else's expectations changed everything — The chrysalis metaphor — what it means to become mush before you reform into something new — The weaving metaphor — how the threads of her life were always pointing here, even when she couldn't see it — What she would tell anyone who is still dipping their toe into something and wondering whether to take the leap — Why she believes we can do anything when we are properly supported

If you're at the beginning of your own journey and wondering what's possible this episode is a really good place to start. 

About Tina-Marie:

Tina-Marie Bruton is an antenatal educator with Antenatal Ireland, birth and postpartum doula, birth reflections facilitator, and pregnancy Relax Stretch & Breathe instructor based in Cork. She is a later-in-life identified AuDHD mum to two neurodivergent kids and founder of The Birth Alchemist. Find her on Instagram @the_birth_alchemist and at antenatalireland.ie for upcoming workshops.

Links mentioned:

🌸 Tina-Marie on Instagram: @the_birth_alchemist 

🌸 Antenatal Ireland workshops: antenatalireland.ie 

🌸 Cuidiu — National Parent Support Charity: cuidiu.ie

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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What Actually Makes a Business Work — with Louise O'Brien 

Two business owners get honest about mentorship, investment, structure and building a business that actually works 

What does it actually take to build a business that works — and keeps working?

In this episode Niamh Cassidy sits down with Louise O'Brien, women's wellness coach and business mentor at Badass Coaching, for a genuinely honest conversation between two business owners about what makes the difference. Not the polished version. The real one.

Louise closed her physical gym, started from scratch with €5k in the bank, invested all of it in a business mentor and made it back within two months. Since then she has built a thriving online coaching business that she has runs entirely on her own terms, and grown almost exclusively through referrals. 

This episode covers the business decisions, mindset shifts, systems and support structures that actually move a business forward — and why most business owners stay stuck without them.

In this episode Niamh and Louise cover:

— Why Louise invested her last €5k in a business mentor — and what happened within two months — The difference between working in your business and working on your business — and why getting stuck in one kills growth — Why AI is a useful tool but will never replace the value of a mentor or community who truly gets your work — The GPS analogy for mentorship that will change how you think about getting support in your business — How Louise structured her business to work from Thailand for six weeks while signing eight new clients — without running a single ad — The role of accountability in keeping a self-employed business owner moving forward consistently — Why surrounding yourself with the right people is one of the most powerful business growth strategies available — What Louise would tell any service-based business owner who is just starting out

Who this episode is for:

This episode is for any self-employed birthworker, doula, lactation consultant, antenatal educator or service-based business owner who:

— Is trying to build a business without any real support structure around them — Has wondered whether investing in a business mentor or coaching programme is actually worth it — Wants to build a business that gives them genuine freedom — not just a different kind of busy — Is struggling to find time to work on the business rather than just in it — Needs to hear an honest account from someone who has built something from nothing

About Louise:

Louise O'Brien is a women's wellness coach and business mentor at Badass Coaching. She works with women all over the world on health, fitness, mindset and business growth. Find her on Instagram @louise_badasscoaching 

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

Get the Easy Content Creation - Summer Edition training

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