Certificate, Business Cards & Insurance

Today has been full of good surprises. I've literally been stalking my mailbox for days waiting for these items to come. I know I was "official" before but now I feel SUPER official. :)

First of all, my doula certificate arrived. I've been waiting on it for about two weeks. Best of all, they backdated it to the date when I submitted my final assignment. I had assumed it would be dated when I received my final grade. So, technically, I've been a certified doula for more than a month. Sweet!

Along with my certificate, came my official name badge. I'm not sure if I will actually wear it to a hospital birth but I will certainly keep it clipped to the outside of my bag. It's small but I worry about it getting in the way. Doulas use our hands and arms quite a bit and we are usually in close quarters with mom or dad. I'm just thinking it would rub somebody the wrong way. Literally. Figuratively, I have to think that it could cause some tension among the hospital staff if I bust up in there looking all "official" but I'm not part of their staff. Really, I could care less what they think, but my ideal is to be an extension of the parents and blend into their surroundings. I'm probably putting too much thought into the perception of a name tag, but I know it happens. My job is to help create peace and community, not awkwardness and conflict. So, on my bag it will most likely stay.

Then, there was another package with my business cards. I love how they turned out. I used the same header concept I have on my website for the front and my info on the back. Speaking of, have you noticed that I now have a custom URL (www.nurturingYOUnaturally.com)? Cool, huh?! Anyway, I'm ready to start passing these cards around. If you need some, let me know.

Finally, I had applied for an NPI # and my approval showed up in my email today. This is really exciting because it means that my clients can submit my services to their insurance company for reimbursement. It totally depends on the insurance whether they will pay or not but I'm hearing that it is happening more and more. I believe that every woman should have access to a doula and this is certainly a step in the right direction. We can certainly help to hold down medical costs so I don't know whey they wouldn't pay. Ah, that's a debate for another day.

See?! Lots of good surprises today. I'm thrilled to be super official.