A collective is Cradled's model for a group practice — several doulas working together with a shared owner. It's what powers backup coverage, the team roll-up, and a standardized care checklist across everyone's clients. If you're a solo practitioner, you don't need a collective; most of Cradled works exactly the same without one.
Owner, member, solo
- Owner — runs the collective. Gets the web Team dashboard: a roll-up of every doula's clients, a coverage view, a shared standard-steps checklist, and team reports.
- Member — a doula in the collective. Works their own clients as usual, names a backup for coverage, and follows the collective's standard steps. Members inherit the owner's care flow.
- Solo — not in a collective. You still get your own client flow (standard steps) to author for yourself; you just don't have a team roll-up or backups.
What the owner sees
The web Team page (owner-only, under the Collective nav group) opens on "your collective at a glance" — headline counts for doulas, active clients, and prenatal/postpartum mix — with tabs for Clients, Checklist (the shared standard steps), Team (the roster and roles), Coverage (who backs up whom), and Reports.
How coverage and standard steps fit in
- Coverage — every member names a backup; urgent contacts escalate to that backup, then to the owner. See On-call coverage.
- Standard steps — the owner defines one checklist that applies to every client in the collective, so care is consistent no matter who's assigned. See Standard steps.
Starting a collective
You can turn your solo account into a collective yourself, without losing anything. Go to Account → Start a collective, enter a name, and click Start. You become the owner in place — you keep all your existing clients — and you're taken straight to the Team dashboard. Creating the collective is free; there's no charge until you add your first teammate.
The collective plan
A collective is one flat subscription that covers your whole team:
- $49/mo for the collective, up to 10 doulas — one bill, no per-seat math.
- Every member gets Unlimited (no active-client limits) for as long as the plan is active. Your doulas don't pay separately or manage their own subscription while they're on your team.
- You subscribe from the Team dashboard (the owner sees a subscribe prompt until the plan is active). Cancel anytime; a promo code, if you have one, applies at checkout.
- More than 10 doulas? Email us and we'll sort it out.
If a member already pays for her own Cradled subscription, that's left alone — the collective simply covers her while she's on the team. If the plan ever lapses or a doula leaves, nothing is deleted; she just returns to the Free plan (1 active client).
Adding doulas
From the Team dashboard → Team tab, use Add a doula to add a teammate by email. They need to have created their own Cradled care-provider account first; then you add them by that email address. Only the collective owner can add members.
Adding a teammate requires an active collective plan — so if you haven't subscribed yet, you'll be prompted to before the second doula joins (being the sole member of your own collective stays free). Your plan covers up to 10 doulas.
To remove a doula or wind a collective down, reach out and we'll help.