How Doula and Hypnobirthing Teacher Poppy Child Impacts Thousands Online

Poppy Child, a certified doula, hypnobirthing teacher, and soon-to-be mother of two, found her calling amidst her own journey to childbirth.

Reflecting on her initial fears during her first pregnancy in 2020, she embarked on a transformative path of self-education and discovery. “I went on a whole journey throughout my pregnancy—educating myself and learning hypnobirthing techniques as well as how to move my body during labour,” she shares. “I became really inspired and started to believe more in my body and its natural capability.”

It was during this transformative period that Child realized her mission extended beyond her own experience. After the positive and empowering birth of her first child, her perspective completely changed. “I knew then that I couldn’t return to my previous career in events management; I was destined for birth work,” she shares.

While most people fear childbirth, Child believes that they can retrain their subconscious minds to have more trust in their bodies’ ability and birth itself. “It’s not about the outcome of the birth, it’s about how you feel going into your birth that matters,” she shares.

In 2022 she launched an online Thinkific course called BirthBox under her business name, Pop That Mumma, to help women overcome the fear of childbirth and connect with the innate wisdom of their body. Since, she’s impacted thousands of people globally.

But Child’s success was slow at first, and came as the result of consistent effort, perseverence, and creativity. Here’s how this London, England-based influencer became a leader in today’s online childbirth education landscape:

1. She started a podcast

At six weeks postpartum, Child wanted to spread the message of how to have an empowering birth experience. She wasn’t thinking about how she would make money from this creative outlet—she simply wanted to connect with people to share her learnings.

She decided to start a podcast to get her message out there. After Googling ‘how to start a podcast,’ she simply followed the steps and began podcasting while breastfeeding—sharing tips and knowledge in a raw and vulnerable way. “I didn’t have my doula or hypnobirthing qualifications yet,” she shares. “I was just sharing experiences mom-to-mom. I think that’s what really resonated with people.”

Her podcast, Pop That Mumma – The Podcast, became increasingly popular, so she decided to create an Instagram page to continue sharing in another medium. Everyday, her DMs were filled with messages about how her shares were helping people have better births.

Soon, she felt like there was an opportunity to turn her content into a business.

“The idea of an online course started to build in my head. I thought if I could put everything I knew into a program, I could reach more people and impact more lives.”

2. She developed a method—and tested it

However, before launching her BirthBox program, Child dedicated herself to refining her approach. She conducted a live group program over Zoom for over a year, gathering invaluable insights from real participants. This helped her to ensure that BirthBox wasn’t just another course, but a transformative experience.

Drawing on her firsthand interactions, she integrated immersive elements like guided meditations and breathwork into the curriculum that eventually became BirthBox. While there are some videos in the course, the majority of the content is delivered via audio.

3. She grew her sales over time

While many creators have the expectation of overnight success, for most—including Child—this isn’t the reality.

Once BirthBox launched, sales were slow. “I was so confident in what I was doing, but it was really slow for the first year,” she shares.

“I didn’t give up,” she continues. “I never doubted what I was doing and the importance of the work and the impact it could have.”

In June 2023, her momentum began to build—largely due to gaining more traction on social media.

4. She built a TikTok and Instagram following

At the time she launched her program, she had an Instagram following of only 800 people and no TikTok account.

One of the things that helped her brand become widely-known was posting on TikTok. Before using TikTok, she’d only been using Instagram, where she was struggling to grow her audience.

Reluctant at first, she decided to see if she’d have better luck on TikTok. Within a week, her videos were getting ten times more views than on Instagram. Newly energized, she began posting four videos a day to TikTok and getting amazing reach—with some videos going viral.

Her success on TikTok and the non-curated nature of creating on the platform gave her a lot of confidence. “It unleashed something in me and I started having more fun, therefore my content started to get better,” she says.

To create high-quality content, she practiced talking into the camera lens as if she was talking to her best friend.

Once reposting her top-performing posts from TikTok to Instagram, her following quickly increased. Soon, she was able to build her TikTok following to 127.7K and her Instagram following to 189K.

5. She converted her followers to course purchasers

Many creators wonder how to convert their social media followers to online course purchasers. Child was able to do so in three main ways:

First, she focused on producing fun, high-quality content on social media, which was packed with value.

Next, she developed a lead magnet and a funnel; she offered a free birth plan template—something she believes pregnant people really want. Through this process, she’s able to gather people’s email addresses. Then, she nurtures them through an email sequence and funnels them into her monthly flash sales. “That’s been one of my most powerful strategies to date,” she shares.

She also regularly offers free masterclasses. These classes are hour-long courses packed with as much value as possible, with the goal to give people something to take away that they can use during their births. This masterclass gives her a way to get hundreds of people to sign up because it’s free—and then have those hundreds of people spread the word about her work.

The central theme throughout each of these tactics: lead with value.

6. She ensured she had a high-quality product

According to Child, having people spread the word about an online course comes down to producing something high-quality. “You need to believe in what you’re doing and make sure you have a good product, because otherwise people won’t talk about it,” she shares.

One way she made sure her product was high-quality was by looking at her completion rates to see if she needed to make changes. “People should be completing at least 80% of your program,” she recommends.

Gathering social proof can tell you a lot about the quality of your course, according to Child.

Recently, her team built a ‘wall of love’ on her website to show all of the stories, images, and videos that come through every day speaking to the power of BirthBox. These testimonials help prospective purchasers see the impact of her program, increasing her credibility in the childbirth space and positioning her as an expert.

Further, she believes that her pricing represents her credibility; since she wanted to reach the masses, she priced her course to be accessible (£65) yet slightly more expensive than her leading competitor in the UK.

7. She fought the urge to be perfect

While Child believes in the importance of creating high-quality content, she also encourages people to let go of the urge to make their course ‘perfect.’

For example, despite the fact that she has a bigger budget now and could redo her course videos using a production studio, she’s had to resist the urge to fiddle with her content too much. When I look at the course content, I see myself at six weeks postpartum—just wanting to share,” says Child. “I had no plan, I just wanted to create a course that would help people.”

“I created BirthBox in the purest, most authentic way,” she continues. “There is this unreplicable energy around it.”

8. She differentiated herself from other childbirth educators

While most childbirth educators’ branding is represented in calming colours, Child wanted to step outside of the usual childbirth educator box. “In the childbirth world, people are so used to seeing neutral tones. I wanted to disrupt that and do something a bit quirky and different,” she says.

Her brand is full of vibrant colours, like bright pink and purple. To find the right visual style, she worked with a branding expert and went through about 20 iterations before landing on her current aesthetic.

She also chose a fun, quirky business name: Pop That Mumma. This name is the culmination of previous creative projects; At one time, she had a YouTube channel featuring vegetarian cooking called Pop That Veg. Then, she did vlogging as a teacher in China and called that Pop That China. “The name represents a history of me starting up new projects and being creative,” she says.

9. She gave it everything she had

For Child, online courses via Thinkific were pivotal in helping her to share her passion of empowering women through childbirth education.

“Thinkific offers an opportunity to unlock potential, educate people, and change lives,” continues Child. “If you have something amazing that you truly believe in, then gift that to the world.”

For those who are interested in creating an online course, she encourages them to fully commit to it. “Give it everything you’ve got,” she suggests. “Don’t skimp on quality. Put everything into its design and do market research. Understand what your people want.”

Ready to share your expertise with the world through online education? Start your journey with Thinkific today—for free—and join the ranks of those making a meaningful impact like Child.