Sending contracts for signature

Premium and Business providers can send clients a contract, service agreement, or consent form and have it signed online. The family signs from a link we email them, with no Bornbir account needed, and you both get the signed PDF. In your portal these are called Documents, since not all of them are contracts.

Where documents live

Documents belong to a client. Click Clients in your portal sidebar, open the family, and choose the Documents tab. It lists everything you've drafted or sent to them with its status, and New document starts another. The family has to be on your Clients list first. See "Managing your clients".

Contracts & e-signature is part of Premium and Business. On a free account, the Clients page explains the feature and offers the upgrade. See "Bornbir Premium and Business plans and pricing".
Documents are signed in the account owner's name, so on a Business account only the owner can write and send them. Team logins see "Documents are for the account owner" on the tab.
A New marker sits beside Clients in the sidebar, and on the Documents tab, until you start your first document.

Starting a document

Click New document. You can start from:

Blank document: write it yourself and add fields and signature spots as you go.
Upload your PDF: keep the document you already use (see below).
Your templates: the ones you've saved or customized, when you have any.
Bornbir templates: Postpartum doula service agreement, Birth doula contract, Newborn care agreement, Client authorization to release health information, Photography consent form, Text communication consent, and Privacy practice agreement. Filter them by provider type, click one to preview it with the family's details filled in, then click Use this template.

The family's name, due date, and contact details fill in from their client profile automatically. Bornbir templates are a starting point, not legal advice. Read each one through and make sure it fits your practice and your state's rules before you send it.

Editing a draft

The formatting bar above the page has Text, Heading, and Subheading styles, bold, italic, underline, Text color (purple, red, orange, green, or gray), Link, bulleted and numbered lists, Table, and undo/redo. On a narrow screen, buttons that don't fit move into More options.
Font and Text size (under Details): Poppins, Arimo (like Arial), Tinos (like Times New Roman), or Merriweather, at 10, 11, or 12 pt. The family's page and the PDF use the same font and size.
Fill in before sending: templates leave orange blanks for things like your rates and hours. Anything left blank stays highlighted until you fill it in.
Insert a field: click into the document where it goes, then pick a field: details from the family's profile (name, partner name, due date, address, email, phone), from yours (your name, business name, today's date), or ones for the family to complete when signing (Client signature, Client initials, Date signed, Text box, Checkbox).
Click a text box or checkbox in the document to name it and mark it required (the family must fill it in to sign) or optional. Text boxes start out required and checkboxes optional; an asterisk marks a required field.

The draft saves as you type, and Save draft saves it on demand. Preview as [Name] shows the exact page the family's link will open. Save as a template keeps your edits for future clients without this family's details. Delete this draft removes a draft you no longer need.

Uploading your own PDF

Choose Upload your PDF to send a contract you already have. The file can be up to 10 MB and 60 pages, and can't be password-protected. The family reads your PDF as it is, then types or draws their signature on a page Bornbir adds at the end. To change the wording, edit your file and upload it again. An uploaded PDF can't take fill-in fields and can't be saved as a template.

Your document templates

Open Account settings → Document templates → Manage document templates to keep your own versions. Click Customize on a Bornbir template to make an editable copy (the original stays available), or New template to start blank. Each template can set Your usual values for its blanks, such as your rate, and you can still change them per client. Duplicate and Archive are beside each one; archiving doesn't affect documents you already started from it.

Sending for signature

Click Send to [Name] at the top of the draft. In the window that opens:

Who signs: the email from the family's client profile. Change it here if they want it sent elsewhere.
How it reaches [Name]: the signing link always goes by email. If you're messaging the family on Bornbir, you can also post a card in your conversation so it's easy to find later.
Note to [Name]: a short message that appears in the email. Edit the suggested one or clear it.
Your signature: choose Type (your account name in a signature style) or Draw (with your finger or mouse). Leave "Sign now" ticked so the family sees it already signed by you, or untick it to sign after they do.
Reminders and expiry: automatic email reminders are on unless you untick them. The link expires in 30 days.

If any blanks are still empty, the window lists them, since the family would see blank lines. Click Send for signature. The family gets an email titled "[Your name] sent you a document to sign: [document name]" with a Review and sign button. Signing requests go by email (and the conversation card if you chose it), not by text message.

Tracking a document

Each document in the Documents tab shows one of these statuses: Draft, Awaiting signature, Needs your signature, Signed, Declined, Link expired, or Voided. Click one to open its page, which shows:

Status: a timeline of when it was sent, opened, reminded, and signed, with the IP address each open and signature came from.
Signers: where you and the family each stand.
Record: the Document ID (CT- followed by 8 characters), the address it was sent to, reminders, and when the link expires.
While it's waiting for a signature, the signing link with a Copy link button, in case the family asks for it another way. Anyone with the link can read and sign the document, so share it only with them.

Reminders

With reminders on, we email the family about 3 days after you send the document, then weekly, until they sign or decline, you void it, or the link expires. The subject is "Reminder from [Your name]: [document name] is ready to sign". To nudge them yourself, click Send a reminder on the document's page, or Send a reminder now on the Documents tab. If you sent one by hand in the last day, the automatic reminder is skipped. You can send a reminder at most once an hour; a second click sooner asks you to try again later.

Adding your signature after the family signs

If you didn't sign when sending, the document shows Needs your signature once the family signs, and your email about their signature has an Add your signature button. On the document's page, click Sign as [Your name], type or draw your signature, and click Sign. The family then gets the completed copy by email, titled "[Your name] signed [document name]".

The signed PDF

When the family signs, they get an email titled "You signed [document name]" and you get one titled "[Client name] signed [document name]". Both have the PDF attached.
If you signed when sending, that copy is complete. If not, the family gets the final copy once you add your signature.
Click Download signed PDF on the document's page any time. Before both of you have signed, Download PDF gives the document as sent, with the record so far.
The PDF ends with a Signature record: who signed and when, a fingerprint of the exact text agreed to, and the history of sends, opens, reminders, and signatures with their IP addresses.
Once both of you have signed, Bornbir keeps that exact PDF, so every later download and email is the same file. Email a copy to [Name] in the ⋮ menu sends it to the family again.

Contract PDFs, both the ones you upload and the signed copies, are kept in private storage, not at a public web address. Bornbir checks who's asking before each download and hands over a link that works for only a few minutes. The family reaches their copy through their signing link, which is why their email asks them not to forward it.

Changing, voiding, or deleting a document

Only a draft can be edited or deleted. Once a document is sent it's a record: you can't edit or delete it, but you can replace it.

Void this document (in the ⋮ menu while it's waiting for a signature) turns off the family's link. Their page then says you withdrew it.
Send a new version appears on a declined, voided, or expired document and opens a new draft with the same text, ready to change and send.
Start a copy in the ⋮ menu does the same for any other sent document.
If the link expired before the family signed, Email a copy to [Name] sends them a fresh link that works for another 30 days.
If the family declines, we email you "[Client name] declined [document name]". Ask what they'd like changed, then send a new version.

Checking what the family sees

Use Preview as [Name] on a draft, or View as [Name] in the ⋮ menu once it's sent. If you open the family's signing link while you're logged in to Bornbir, it also shows as a preview, and you can't sign or decline on their behalf.

Questions? Email support@bornbir.com.