Earn what you deserve: hypnobirthing teacher and doula salary expectations
Let's have a real frank conversation. Birth workers don't often enter the field expecting to make a boat load of money. A lot of us left other higher-paying jobs for a variety of reasons. The prospect of doing something you love always feels exciting. Better yet, something that can make a positive impact. But you have to balance that with the value of your time and what you can realistically expect your hypnobirthing salary and doula salary to be, and what you can expect from yourself if you decide to do the work for free. So let's explore how much money you can make as a hypnobirthing teacher and see how it stacks up with the other sources of income you might have.
How much money you can make as a hypnobirthing teacher of course has to do with how much you're willing to charge
So the good news is that hypnobirthing classes in general are popular and the going rate for a childbirth class series teaching hypnobirthing techniques is $450. We're going to base our calculations on that figure. You might find that your local market can bear a little more or a little less. But we suggest starting at $450 and see where it takes you.
How many classes can you fill?
Let's say you are only able to fill 3 classes within the first 8 months of certifying to teach hypnobirthing classes. It sounds small but it's probably realistic. We also recommend considering a "full" class to be a minimum of 3 participants/couples/families. As a new educator you might find the idea of teaching more people daunting, but one of our best tips is not to shy away from that fear when you're new. Because what we've found is that it's actually easier to teach a bigger group! That's because there's more talking, questions and participation and less pressure on you to do all the talking. Ideally you are teaching 4 participants/couples/families at a minimum. So let's do the math. $450 x4 = $1,800. You could do two classes with two families in each class, but that's double the work!
Now your expenses. Where will you teach and is there a cost?
First you'll need to purchase your materials from HelloBirth, which is $60 per set. Then you'll need to find a place to teach. Whether that's over Zoom or in a chiropractor's office, expect that most likely one of your four fees will be wiped from your total, which is approximately $690. Your take home pay is a little over $1,000 per class. That's a decent rate properly compensating you for your time and expertise.
So you can see the incentive for getting a little busier with classes to help supplement your income.
As a birth doula, I don't take very many clients. I attend about 10 births every year. So around $15K before expenses. And then if I teach 15 hypnobirthing classes every year (which is a lot, but not unheard of), well, now I'm talking about a fairly decent living wage / annual salary as a hypnobirthing teacher.
With the HelloBirth hypnobirthing professional membership model, we support one another as we are figuring out our individual businesses and how to make a bigger impact in the world. Won't you consider joining us? If you've wondered how much money you can make as a hypnobirthing teacher, you're not alone. And together we are a strong community with a lot of experience and encouragement to share!