There Is No “Top Dog”: Building a Better Newborn Care & Postpartum Industry

Aug 20

The postpartum and newborn care industry has grown tremendously over the last decade.

More families understand what postpartum doulas do. Newborn Care Specialists are becoming increasingly mainstream. Agencies are growing. New training organizations are entering the space. Lactation professionals, sleep consultants, doulas, NCSs, nannies, educators and other professionals are finding new ways to support families during one of the most vulnerable transitions of their lives. That growth is exciting.
For a relatively young and largely unregulated industry, we have to be willing to ask difficult questions about education, credentials, leadership, accountability and professional culture.And perhaps most importantly, we have to move away from the idea that there is one organization, one certification, one educator, one agency or one methodology that sits at the top of the industry.
There isn't.
And there shouldn't be.

So, How Does This Industry Actually Work?

One of the first things new caregivers should understand is that postpartum and newborn care is not governed like nursing, teaching, social work or other licensed professions.

There is no single governing body determining who may call themselves a Newborn Care Specialist or postpartum doula.

There is also no universal certification that every professional must obtain.

Instead, there are numerous independent education companies, certification organizations, agencies, educators and professional associations offering training and continuing education.

That can make entering the industry confusing.

A new caregiver may encounter an organization that appears incredibly prominent online and understandably assume:

“This must be the certification.”

Usually, that isn't the case.

A training organization may be respected. It may have educated thousands of caregivers. It may offer excellent curriculum.

But that does not make it the governing authority over an entire profession.

There are many paths into this work.

And I think that's a good thing.

Recommended Newborn Care Specialist Trainings

There are several organizations offering newborn care education, and professionals should research their options before deciding where to invest their money.

Some programs and educational resources worth exploring include organizations such as Newborn Care Training Academy, CACHE-certified newborn care programs, Gentle Ventures, NewbornIQ, International Nanny Institute, as well as other reputable independent educators and continuing-education providers.

When evaluating an NCS training program, I recommend looking beyond the popularity of the name.

Ask:

What does the curriculum actually cover?

Who created it?

What experience do the instructors have?

Is the information evidence-informed and regularly updated?

Does the program teach safe sleep?

Does it cover infant feeding, newborn development, soothing, parental support, multiples, premature infants and common newborn concerns?

Does it clearly explain an NCS's scope of practice?

Are there continuing-education opportunities?

What does certification actually require beyond purchasing and completing a course?

And perhaps most importantly:

Does the organization encourage professionals to continue learning elsewhere?

A strong educator should never be threatened by another good educator.

Education should expand someone's knowledge — not their allegiance.

Your Education Should Be a Foundation, Not an Identity

This is something I wish more people entering our industry understood.

You can appreciate the organization that trained you without making that organization part of your professional identity.

You can learn from one educator and later disagree with them.

You can take courses from competing organizations.

You can change your methodology when better information becomes available.

You can recommend another educator.

You can work with agencies whose philosophies aren't identical to yours.

None of those things make you disloyal.

They make you a professional.

Imagine if physicians refused to read research produced outside the medical school they attended.

Imagine if attorneys only respected attorneys from their own law school.

It would be absurd.

Yet small industries can easily develop ecosystems where educational organizations become tribes.

And once that happens, professional disagreement can become personal.

That is where industries become unhealthy.

“Know Better, Do Better” Has to Apply to Leadership Too

One phrase we hear constantly in caregiving spaces is:

When we know better, we do better.

I love that philosophy.

But it cannot only apply to caregivers.

It has to apply to educators.

It has to apply to agency owners.

It has to apply to training organizations.

It has to apply to consultants.

It has to apply to founders.

And yes, it applies to me too.

Industry leaders should actually face more scrutiny, not less.

When you have influence over thousands of professionals, your words carry more weight.

Your recommendations affect careers.

Your conflicts can create industry-wide divisions.

Your behavior establishes what younger professionals believe is normal.

And your mistakes can have larger consequences.

Accountability isn't an attack on leadership.

Accountability is part of leadership.

I've been building Harmony Baby Concierge for years, and there are absolutely things I would handle differently today than I did when I first started.

That's growth.

I don't expect anyone to pretend those mistakes didn't happen simply because I've built a successful company.

The standard should be:

Acknowledge it.

Learn from it.

Fix what needs fixing.

And do better going forward.

No founder, educator, agency or organization should become so influential that questioning them becomes professionally dangerous.

Gossip Is Not Professional Accountability

There is another distinction our industry desperately needs to understand.

Accountability and gossip are not the same thing.

Accountability sounds like:

“This happened. Here is the information. Here is why I believe it was problematic. Here is what I think should change.”

Gossip sounds like:

“Did you hear what she supposedly did?”

Those are very different conversations.

Professional disagreements should be based on facts, direct experiences and substantive differences in philosophy or practice.

Not screenshots passed through five group chats.

Not someone's interpretation of somebody else's conflict.

Not deciding a caregiver is problematic because an influential person doesn't like them.

Not assuming an agency is unethical because a competitor said so.

Not deciding an educator is infallible because they trained you.

Adults are allowed to disagree.

You can have an excellent experience with someone who another person dislikes.

You can dislike someone's personality while acknowledging that they're knowledgeable.

You can disagree with someone's business practices while recognizing their contributions to the industry.

You can even decide you don't want a relationship with someone.

Collaboration does not require friendship.

Agencies Aren't the Enemy. Caregivers Aren't the Enemy. Educators Aren't the Enemy.

One of the strangest dynamics I've watched develop in this industry is the tendency to pit different parts of the ecosystem against one another.

Caregivers versus agencies.

Agencies versus educators.

Postpartum doulas versus Newborn Care Specialists.

Sleep consultants versus doulas.

Independent caregivers versus agency caregivers.

One training organization versus another.

Why?

We are serving the same families.

A healthy postpartum ecosystem might involve an OB-GYN, midwife, lactation consultant, postpartum doula, Newborn Care Specialist, nanny, pediatrician, sleep consultant, mental-health professional, household employee agency and educational organization.

Those professionals should be able to communicate, refer to one another and recognize where someone else's expertise begins.

No single professional needs to be everything.

And no single organization needs to own the industry.

Competition and Collaboration Can Exist at the Same Time

Harmony Baby Concierge competes with other newborn care agencies.

Of course we do.

That's business.

But another agency succeeding does not inherently hurt us.

In fact, strong agencies operating ethically and providing excellent service make newborn care more legitimate.

Excellent educators create better caregivers.

Better caregivers create better family experiences.

Better family experiences create more demand for postpartum support.

More demand creates opportunities for caregivers, agencies, educators and other professionals.

A rising tide really can lift all boats.

Competition becomes destructive when success requires someone else to fail.

I don't want that kind of industry.

I want an industry with dozens of incredible agencies.

Dozens of excellent training programs.

Thousands of highly educated caregivers.

Educators publishing new ideas.

Professionals challenging outdated practices.

Agencies sharing referrals when they're full.

Caregivers recommending other caregivers.

Postpartum doulas learning newborn care.

NCSs learning more about lactation and maternal recovery.

Everyone continuing to learn.

That is how a profession matures.

How You Can Help Create a Healthier Industry

Culture isn't something that simply happens at the top.

Every person participating in an industry contributes to it.

Before repeating something about another professional, ask whether you actually know it to be true.

When someone shares a negative experience, listen without automatically adopting their conflict as your own.

Take courses from different educators.

Read research yourself.

Ask questions.

Refer professionals whose work you respect.

Give credit when you learn something from someone else.

Congratulate competitors.

Challenge misinformation respectfully.

Allow people to change.

Allow people to apologize.

Allow people to grow.

And when someone with influence behaves poorly, don't convince yourself that accountability is somehow damaging to the industry.

Silence doesn't protect an industry.

Healthy standards do.

There Is Room for All of Us

The newborn care and postpartum world is still evolving.

That means we have an incredible opportunity to decide what kind of professional culture we want to create.

I hope it's one where education is abundant rather than controlled.

Where professionals can disagree without becoming enemies.

Where caregivers aren't afraid that questioning an educator could affect their careers.

Where agencies collaborate.

Where educators celebrate other educators.

Where leaders are accountable.

Where evidence matters more than popularity.

Where someone's training is part of their professional development rather than their professional identity.

And where people genuinely practice the philosophy we so often teach:

When you know better, do better.

Not just when it's convenient.

Not just when we're talking about infant care.

Not just when we're correcting someone with less influence than us.

All of us.

Caregivers. Educators. Agencies. Founders. Consultants. Industry leaders.

There is no “top dog” here.

There shouldn't be.

There is simply an industry filled with people who have different experiences, different areas of expertise, different philosophies and a shared responsibility to leave this profession healthier than we found it.

And I think it works a whole lot better when we stop trying to own the table and start making it bigger.

Harmony Baby Concierge