Your availability tells our Care Navigator when you can take new clients. Keeping it current is one of the best ways to get referrals that fit your schedule. Learn more about Loula's referral program here.
Important: Only our Care Navigator sees your availability. Families don't. They can still find you in the directory and request you, even during weeks you've marked unavailable. If you don't want any new requests, hide your Loula Profile instead.
How availability works
You set availability in two parts:
Capacity: how open you are to new clients overall.
Weekly availability: the specific weeks you can take a new client.
You set both separately for birth (which includes prenatal care) and postpartum. That way you can be open for one and closed for the other.
Step 1: Set your capacity
Choose one option for birth and one for postpartum:
Want new clients: you're actively looking. Our Care Navigator will consider you for referrals in the weeks you mark available.
Open to the right fit: you're fairly booked, but open to the right client. We'll only send a referral if it's a very close match.
Not taking new clients: you're full. You won't be able to mark any weeks as available.
I don't provide this type of support: for example, if you only offer postpartum care, choose this for birth.
Step 2: Mark your available weeks
Every week starts as unavailable. Mark the weeks you're open, week by week, for up to six months ahead.
What an available week means:
Birth: you can take a client whose estimated due date falls in that week.
Postpartum: you can start and provide postpartum care that week. Postpartum care usually spans several weeks, so keep the weeks after it open too.
Stay open by default
If you're usually available, you don't have to mark every week by hand. Turn on Mark me as Open for birth referrals by default when a new month is added.
With this on, each new month added to your calendar starts as open. Then just block the weeks you know you're booked.
This only applies to new months, beyond the six months already on your calendar. You'll still need to mark weeks in the current six months yourself.
Availability for groups
Group owners can set availability for the whole group. Each member can also set their own. Which works best depends on how your group fills its books:
Use group availability if the owner has a good sense of everyone's schedule.
Set your own if each doula manages their own calendar.
Example: Maya sets her availability
Maya offers both birth and postpartum support. Her March births are full, but she has room in April.
Birth. She sets her capacity to Want new clients and marks the four weeks of April as available. Our Care Navigator can now send her clients due in April.
Postpartum. Maya's postpartum schedule is tighter, so she chooses Open to the right fit. She marks three weeks in a row in May, since postpartum care runs over several weeks. She'll only get a postpartum referral if it's a very close match.
A directory request. A family due in March finds Maya in the directory and requests her. Availability doesn't affect directory requests, so this still reaches her. Maya declines kindly, and the family keeps looking.
Availability guides our Care Navigator's referrals, but families can still reach you through your profile.
FAQ
Can families see my availability? No. Only our Care Navigator sees it. We may show availability to families in the future, but not yet.
I marked a week unavailable. Why did a family still request me? Families can request you through the directory anytime. Availability only guides Care Navigator referrals. To stop all new requests, hide your Loula Profile. Your existing clients and requests won't be affected.
Why can't I mark any weeks as available? Check your capacity. If it's set to Not taking clients, your weeks stay unavailable.
Where does prenatal care fit in? Prenatal care is included with birth.
I only offer postpartum care. What should I choose for birth? Choose I don't provide this type of support.
Does marking a week available guarantee a referral? No. It means you're on our Care Navigator's list for that week. A complete profile also helps.
How often should I update my availability? Whenever your schedule changes. Current availability helps us send referrals that fit.
Questions? Email [email protected].