Re: Stress, secondary trauma and burn out

[Guest guest]

Mickey, what an interesting topicAbout 5 years ago I had two miscarriages following two nomal pregnancies. I had been an LLL leader for 5-6 years at the time and was working as a pp doula. After the second miscarriage, I really needed a break from anything to do with babies. I stepped back from my LLL responsibilities for about 6 months and doula work all together. Sent from my iPhone

Hello ladies,

I really hope it is okay to post this. I am sure the moderators will let me know if I am out of line. Gently...

I am currently working on a book for Hale publishing on stress, secondary stress/trauma and burn out in mother-baby professionals (doulas, midwives, lactation consultants, etc) and would love to hear from you guys on your experiences. My aim is to provide a resource to prevent or minimize stress and trauma to us and help us learn to recognize burn out and recover from it if it happens. I just hate seeing so many of us (including myself) unhappy, stressed, sick and tired. And too many of us quit too soon!

If you are willing to share your thoughts and experiences, I would love to hear them. Please let me know if I can share your story. I can use your name, or keep your identity private.

Here are some questions to get you thinking:

Do you (or have you) felt stressed or burned out? If so, do you think it just comes with the job or has to do with factors in your life/work?

Did you ever choose to "step away" for a while or make changes to your practice to make things better?

How do you keep from getting stressed, depressed or burned out?

You can answer on the group (I think this is something we should discuss) or email me privately. Please email me privately too so I can follow up with you if I have additional questions or need to interview you about your story. I would also be interested in those who have both hospital and pp experience and the unique stressors of each environment.

Thank you so much for helping me and helping ALL of us who are helping moms and babies.

Micky , BS, CLD, CD(DONA), HCHI, IBCLC

9 Months & Beyond, LLC

Author - Feeling the Burn - Self-care and Burnout among mother-baby professionals

micky @ ninemonthsandbeyond.com (no spaces)