diff --git a/scripts/init_db.sh b/scripts/init_db.sh
index cc1df04..c32c8f4 100755
--- a/scripts/init_db.sh
+++ b/scripts/init_db.sh
@@ -3,17 +3,26 @@ set -x
 set -eo pipefail
 
 # Check if a custom user has been set, otherwise default to 'postgres'
-DB_USER=${POSTGRES_USER:=postgres}
+DB_USER="${POSTGRES_USER:=postgres}"
 # Check if a custom password has been set, otherwise default to 'password'
 DB_PASSWORD="${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:=password}"
 # Check if a custom password has been set, otherwise default to 'newsletter'
 DB_NAME="${POSTGRES_DB:=newsletter}"
 # Check if a custom port has been set, otherwise default to '5432'
 DB_PORT="${POSTGRES_PORT:=5432}"
+# Check if a custom host has been set, otherwise default to 'localhost'
+DB_HOST="${POSTGRES_HOST:=localhost}"
 
 # Allow to skip Docker if a dockerized Postgres database is already running
 if [[ -z "${SKIP_DOCKER}" ]]
 then
+  # if a postgres container is running, print instructions to kill it and exit
+  RUNNING_POSTGRES_CONTAINER=$(docker ps --filter 'name=postgres' --format '{{.ID}}')
+  if [[ -n $RUNNING_POSTGRES_CONTAINER ]]; then
+    echo >&2 "there is a postgres container already running, kill it with"
+    echo >&2 "    docker kill ${RUNNING_POSTGRES_CONTAINER}"
+    exit 1
+  fi
   # Launch postgres using Docker
   docker run \
       -e POSTGRES_USER=${DB_USER} \
@@ -21,12 +30,13 @@ then
       -e POSTGRES_DB=${DB_NAME} \
       -p "${DB_PORT}":5432 \
       -d postgres \
+      --name "postgres_$(date '+%s')" \
       postgres -N 1000
       # ^ Increased maximum number of connections for testing purposes
 fi
 
 # Keep pinging Postgres until it's ready to accept commands
-until PGPASSWORD="${DB_PASSWORD}" psql -h "localhost" -U "${DB_USER}" -p "${DB_PORT}" -d "postgres" -c '\q'; do
+until PGPASSWORD="${DB_PASSWORD}" psql -h "${DB_HOST}" -U "${DB_USER}" -p "${DB_PORT}" -d "postgres" -c '\q'; do
   >&2 echo "Postgres is still unavailable - sleeping"
   sleep 1
 done