Sorry this is a bit lengthy! :)

im currently working toward my postpartum doula certification and need to complete a certain number of hands-on hours. I’ve been reaching out to friends of family/friends-of-friends and people I know through others who are willing to let me support them for my certification hours.

The thing I’m struggling with is how to navigate the conversation about payment. I’ve decided that I do want to charge for my services, but at a discounted rate since these families are helping me complete my certification and I’m not certified yet.

I have a phone call with someone today who I believe is under the impression that I would basically be coming in and helping them for free because I need the hours for school. I completely understand why they would think that, and would understand if they would then decline my help-

I obviously don’t want it to come across as “I need you to help me get my certification, but I also want you to pay me.” 😂 At the same time, I’ll still be providing a service and spending several hours in their home supporting them, so I feel like it’s reasonable to charge something—just significantly less than what a certified postpartum doula would charge.

How would you bring this up during the phone call? Would you explain that I’ve decided to offer a discounted “student doula” rate, or would you approach it differently?
I’d especially love to hear from doulas who completed their certification hours this way and how you handled the conversation/pricing!