The Birth Geeks' Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Birth Geeks' Podcast

The Birth Geeks: Dr. Robin Elise Weiss & Dr. Hillary Melchiors

Business

Education

Frequency: 1 episode/30d. Total Eps: 87

The Birth Geeks is an evidence-based conversation for birth professionals who are in it for the long game. Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors tackle the topics other podcasts avoid — boundaries, burnout, business realities, and what sustainable birth work actually looks like. For doulas, midwives, childbirth educators, and nurses. Find us at thebirthgeeks.com.

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https://www.ssa.gov/cola/
2 shares
https://doulaofficehours.com/doula-fee-calculator/
2 shares
https://www.europeandoulanetwork.org/
2 shares

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Score global : 58%

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Bereavement Skills for Every Doula & Birthworker

Episode 87

Tuesday, May 26, 2026 • Duration 43:22

In this episode, Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors sit down with Dr. Abby Jorgensen, sociologist, bereavement doula, and director of Haven Bereavement Doulas. They discuss the realities of perinatal loss, the need for grief-informed care, and why every birth professional should build bereavement support skills into their practice. The conversation covers how language, culture, and personal experience shape our approach to loss, what it means to truly support clients through devastating situations, and the practical tools doulas need to show up prepared. Whether you've faced loss in your own work or are just starting to think deeply about it, this episode offers honest, thoughtful guidance for sustainable, compassionate care.

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What Happens After Five Years as a Doula

Episode 86

Tuesday, May 19, 2026 • Duration 42:44

In today's episode, Robin Elise Weiss and Hillary Melchiors reflect on what it means to be a doula for five years and beyond. They dig into why so many birth doulas have short careers, what helps professionals stay in the work, and how both personal and professional priorities change over time. You'll hear honest stories about real challenges: from finding backup and setting boundaries, to handling compassion fatigue, burnout, and the shifting landscape of client needs.

Whether you've just finished your training or have decades in the field, this conversation offers candid insights and practical wisdom about staying in birth work for the long haul. If you've ever wondered how your own practice might change over the years, or what it takes to keep showing up for families, you're in the right place.

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Supporting Clients Through Inductions Without Losing Yourself: Hard Lessons Learned

Episode 77

Tuesday, March 17, 2026 • Duration 25:40

We're tackling a tough subject for birth doulas in this week's episode: induction arrival. When do you join your clients and how do you communicate with them before and during an induction? Speaking from our experience as birth doulas, we're talking about approaches we've seen work and some that haven't too. As birth doulas, at some point you will absolutely have a client be induced, and planning ahead can make a world of difference in everyone's experience, including the doula's.

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Hard Truths About Doula Insurance Coverage

Episode 76

Tuesday, March 10, 2026 • Duration 22:21

Insurance coverage for doulas sounds like a win for everyone. More clients, broader access, sustainable practice. But the reality is messier than the headline, and Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors have both lived that reality from opposite sides of the billing process. Robin brings a background in health management system sciences, years of taking insurance as a doula, and experience running an oral surgery practice where insurance claims were part of every single day. Hillary brings the on-the-ground perspective of a doula agency owner who has navigated company benefits, watched payment timelines stretch, and done the math on whether Medicaid reimbursement rates actually pencil out. Together, they unpack what it genuinely means to accept insurance as a birth professional.

This episode covers the credentialing process, the critical distinction between insurance and company benefits like the Walmart employee program, balance billing rights, and the hidden contractual traps that can turn a missed call into a fraud risk if you are not paying attention. FSA and HSA accounts get real attention here as a lower-barrier starting point for most doulas, along with Robin's "open season" approach to client education each fall. The conversation is practical and honest, including a frank look at why insurance-based doula work may make sense as one piece of a mixed caseload rather than the foundation of a sustainable practice.

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When Clients Don't Show Up: Navigating No-Shows in Birth Work

Episode 75

Tuesday, March 3, 2026 • Duration 20:22

No-shows are one of those topics birth professionals talk about in private but rarely address out loud. In this episode, Dr. Robin Elise Weiss and Dr. Hillary Melchiors get into both types of no-shows that doulas actually deal with: the potential client who ghosts a consultation, and the client who goes into labor without ever picking up the phone. They share what they've done to reduce no-shows before they happen, how to respond when they do, and why extending grace doesn't mean abandoning your systems.

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Rethinking Burnout: Moral Injury & Sustainable Care for Birth Workers

Season 1 · Episode 74

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 • Duration 48:31

Dr. Hillary Melchiors sits down with clinical psychologist Dr. Kerry Makin-Byrd for a grounded, experience-led conversation about burnout, moral injury, and the emotional weight of long-term birth and mental health work. Dr. Makin-Byrd reflects on moving from Colorado to New Zealand and how that shift reshaped her clinical practice and her own recovery. Taking apart the myth that burnout is a personal failing, they make the case that systemic factors, not individual shortcomings, drive the exhaustion so many birth workers carry. Covering boundary-setting in a field that rarely rewards it, they directly and practically confront the value of professional support for providers, and what "good enough" care actually looks like when perfection stays just out of reach. This one episode won't define burnout for you, but speaks honestly about what to do when you're in it, why it is not your fault, and what might actually help.

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Interview with Loudmouth Lisa

Episode 73

Monday, January 26, 2026 • Duration 48:57

Lisa Vee, aka Loudmouth Lisa, is a doula business strategist and coach who brings her whole heart to this work with the flare of the dancer and salesperson background that she brings to the table. In this episode we talk about attracting clients, pricing your services, shifting priorities, and more. Enjoy!

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Interview with Maggie Runyon

Episode 72

Monday, January 12, 2026 • Duration 45:05

Maggie Runyon became a nurse to help and found out quickly that saving the entire healthcare system and everyone in it was a fast ticket to burnout. In this interview we discuss her book I Thought I Was Here to Help, along with strategies for advocacy, community, & support for all of us that work as perinatal professionals.

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Interview with Dr. Connie Liu

Season 1 · Episode 71

Friday, October 17, 2025 • Duration 39:36

Rural medicine, Indian Health Service, MD advocacy, and so much more

Doula Power, Payment, and Policy: Insights from Andrea Ford's Anthropological Perspective

Episode 70

Monday, August 4, 2025 • Duration 45:10

The messy magic of being a doula! In this episode of The Birth Geeks, we sit down with Dr. Andrea Ford, anthropologist, doula, and author of Near Birth, to explore the strange, powerful, and often contradictory world of modern birthwork.

What even is a doula today? A sister or a professional? A rebel or a regulated service? A support system or a scapegoat?

We unpack it ALL: The tension between respect and reimbursement 

Why doulas are praised for outcomes they can't control
What happens when community care meets institutional demands 
And how birthwork quietly challenges American values about bodies, power, and autonomy

If you've ever wrestled with your role in the birth space or wondered how being "near birth" is as political as it is personal, this conversation will hit home.
Listen now.

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The Birth Geeks' Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

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The Birth Geeks' Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

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Other17

RSS feed quality and score

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Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

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Apple Podcasts

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Other17

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