Eden Design Studio

Posted by Emily Fontes
May - 27 - 2010

Mobile Technology for Birth Professionals

The SmartPhone

Whether you have an iPhone, Blackberry, Android or another iteration… SmartPhone owners know that this technology can make day to day business operations much more mobile. With a plethora of new apps released daily, living the mobile birth professional lifestyle has never been easier. The ability to sync contacts, emails, calendars more instantly helps keep all your important information right at hand.

How to leverage your SmartPhone as a birth professional:

1. First, and most importantly, if you are going to keep client information and/or communications on a mobile device it is imperative to use a screen locking feature. HIPPA laws still apply to mobile information services and you must provide your best effort at protecting confidential client information. Screen locking means that if someone were to pick up your phone, in order to access the main menu a password must be entered first.

2. Apps for Birth Professionals

The phrase “There’s an app for that.” has become quite ubiquitous in the last year and rightly so. There are mini applications available for everything from calculating due dates to contraction timers to full blown week by week pregnancy calendars. Then of course we have social media apps to manage Facebook, Twitter and everything in between. Not to mention generic business applications that handle credit card or pay pal processing, expense reporting, to-do list tracking and much more. Here is a collection of some pregnancy/birth/breastfeeding apps that you might find handy:

3. Communications Management
All smart phones integrate phone calls, voicemail, text messaging and email. This offers a lot of possibilities for birth professionals. Let me describe how this has affected my doula business. Whenever someone emails me from my website, the email comes directly to my cell phone. I can reply to them immediately and add them quickly to the contacts database on my phone. I also do online appointment booking, so whenever someone makes an appointment with me the notification gets sent via text message and I can add the information directly to my calendar. Also because I have a mobile syncing program, all of this data is updated automatically on my computer without even having to plug my phone into it.

The iPad or Netbook

I used to tote my laptop with me everywhere. It was nice to be able to get a bit of work done here and there or browse the internet. But, man, it was a pain to lug it around plus the power cord and mouse. Enter the super mobile computer. Now I can take my large-ish purse to my local coffee store, whip out my iPad and browse the internet, read a book, check email and tons more. Super portable, super convenient. I find myself dragging my laptop around less and less.

Business Tips Featured3 Headline Marketing & Advertising Social Media

About Me

Emily Fontes, ICCE, CD(DONA) As a doula and childbirth educator, I know how hard it is to juggle a birth business and everyday life. Before I discovered my birth passion I worked for a large web design company and personally managed over 700 client websites. Since that time I have had the pleasure of doing freelance design work while being a mommy and wife. One of my passions is to see birth professionals bring their marketing into the mainstream. Even if we are \"alternative\" in our philosophies, it doesn\'t mean we can\'t have professional and eye-catching websites that appeal to every pregnant woman. I feel that it is my personal mission to make creating marketing materials for your birth business easy and inexpensive. After years of experience, I know that a professional website and print materials will bring you more clients. It is easily the best investment you will ever make.

Portfolio