Be a doula!

British Doulas, 49 Harrington Gardens, London SW7 4JU, 020 7244 6053, www.britishdoulas.co.uk

Being a doula

Pru Guthrie is a full-time mother in east London with two teenage children. She has been a doula for two years, working exclusively through British Doulas. 'If you want to stay at home and be with the children there are very few jobs that allow that,' she says, 'but being a doula means I have the flexibility to work around the children. The hours fit in beautifully.'

Pru works as a post-birth doula, although she would like to do some birth doula work when the children are older - her youngest child is 13 and still needs her around. She works through half-term holidays but takes time off when the children are around at Easter and in the summer. 'I love the work,' she says. 'I love the variety and meeting different mothers and I'm addicted to babies now! I like going to different places and having different experiences with families. As the jobs don't usually last more than a few months each I feel I can go to each job fresh. Also, I enjoy family life myself so I like other people's family lives. It's a very fulfilling and satisfying thing to do.'

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