Help ALACE grow and get paid.

As you know, even though ALACE (including its previous incarnation as Informed Birth/Informed Birth and Parenting) is the oldest labor assistant/birth doula training organization in the country, we are not the most well known. We'll never be the biggest--we choose to hire only a handful of instructors nationwide so that we can maintain the quality of our workshops, even if it means having fewer workshops. However, we would like ALACE birth professionals and the ALACE name to be more widely recognized.

Over the past year we have taken several steps to make this happen. We revised and updated the Childbirth Educator Training manual, and with the help of a volunteer consulting team from the Harvard Business School, developed a marketing plan for the Childbirth Educator Training Program. We have also begun to attend national birth conferences and had a booth at the DONA (Doulas of North America) conference in July.

We have increased the number of Labor Assistant/Birth Doula Training Workshops we hold each year from 20 in 2000 to 28 this year (2005). We want to continue to increase the number of workshops we hold each year; however we need sponsors--women willing to bring the workshop to their community. We're looking for help from you, our members.

Some of the responsibilities of the sponsor include helping ALACE find a workshop location, helping us know the best places to advertise (local parents' papers, alternative health publications and weekly or daily papers), and helping to set up the workshop space. In addition, the sponsor's name and phone number is listed for interested people to contact.

The sponsor is often the first, and sometimes the only, person to speak with a potential participant. Therefore, the enthusiasm of the sponsor can really influence enrollment in the workshop. That is why those of you who have already attended a workshop and know what a valuable experience it is are the best people to be on the phone with women who are trying to determine if the workshop is right for them. ALACE Childbirth Educators who are familiar with and value the ALACE philosophy of birth also make excellent sponsors.

Usually, in exchange for sponsoring a workshop, the sponsor attends the workshop at no charge (a savings of $425). We also have additional incentives for existing ALACE members who choose to help us bring a workshop to their area.

ALACE trained labor assistants will receive the following:

* Free workshop attendance

* Free Membership Renewal ($50 value) and

* Either a $200 cash stipend ($300 if at least 15 people register) or

* $300 ALACE credit (can be used in our bookstore or towards payment for the Child birth Educator Training Program)

ALACE childbirth educators will receive the following:

* Free workshop attendance

* Free Membership Renewal ($50 value) and

* $100 cash stipend ($150 if at least 15 people register)

Other Benefits:

In addition to the above benefits, sponsoring a workshop also provides networking opportunities that can be invaluable as you launch or continue to grow your own labor assistant practice or begin teaching childbirth classes. In our experience, communities with the greatest numbers of labor assistants tend to have greater acceptance of the profession and support higher fees. If you are feeling like it is an uphill battle to find clients or gain acceptance within local hospitals, sponsoring an ALACE workshop is a great way to begin changing your local birth culture. The more people in your area talk about the value of professional labor support, the more parents and hospitals start to listen, and we have seen several communities transformed in this way. Also, the ALACE name will become more widely recognized if there are 15 ALACE trained doulas in your community, all from the workshop you sponsored!

If you would like to sponsor a workshop in your area or have any questions about sponsoring please contact Gina Forbes, the Workshop Coordinator at ALACE at 888-222-5223 or [e-mail]. You can also go to www.alace.org and read more about sponsoring.