This is a collection of doula training organizations and programs I’ve learned about over the years. If I have any personal knowledge of the program, it’s indicated in the description. Most of them come from referrals from readers. Information may not be up to date.
These listings are not an endorsement of the training–you should do your own research before deciding to enroll in a program. You could ask for contact info for past participants and talk to them directly.
Listed alphabetically:
Aboriginal Doula Training
AMANI Birth Teacher and Doula Training
Ancient Song Doula Services
Association for Wholistic Maternal and Newborn Care
Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings
Birth Arts International
BirthWell Partners
Birth Workers International Doula School
Birthing from Within
Childbirth International
Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA)
Commonsense Childbirth Doula Training (the JJ Way)
Cornerstone Doula Trainings
Doula Caribe
Doulas of North America (DONA)
Doula Trainings International
EnCircle Doula Workshops
International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA)
Intuitive Doula
Mamatoto Village
MBC Doula School
Mothering the Mother Inc
Our Earth, LLC
Paradigm Doulas
Shanti Uganda Birth Arts International
Simkin Center
Sista Midwife Productions, LLC
Sumi’s Touch
Tewa Women United
The Birth Warrior Project
Tiny Love Doula Certification
toLabor
Ubuntu Birth Workers Collective
Uzazi Village
Know of other doula trainings? Fill out this form with more information.
Heard about this one on Facebook. Hosted by the First Nations Health Council. Specifically for First Nations people in British Columbia, Canada. Details here. All costs covered by the program.
AMANI Birth Teacher and Doula Training:
“AMANISM Birth is an Islamically based childbirth education and doula certification program designed to prepare professionals in the field of natural birth. Our primary goal is to teach trust in Allah first and foremost and that birth is a form of worship. We do not provide medical advice or services and recommend that all expectant parents seek out proper attendance for their birth.” More info here, trainings available across the US and internationally.
Known for being centered on doulas of color, Ancient Song is based in Brooklyn, NY. “Ancient Song Doula is a Social Profit organization which functions to serve the community at large on a low cost/ free basis all earnings go right back to the organization. Donate and help us to reach more Women of Color and lower the Infant Mortality Rate.” Information about their birth and postpartum doula trainings is here.
Association for Wholistic Maternal and Newborn Care:
“This course is a starting point for people who are seeking careers in Certified Lactation Counseling, Certified Birth Doula Support, Certified Postpartum Doula Support, obstetric nursing, maternity nursing, midwifery, or public health education with a specialization in maternal child health. A two-part, 36-hour, 5 day course in lactation education and counseling, childbirth education and labor doula and postpartum doula support.” More info here.
Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings:
“BADT is a Black-owned, queer-run doula training organization whose mission is to be socially conscious, culturally appropriate, diverse, and action-oriented. We train our students to serve their clients using the best practices available while preparing them to be active partners in the movement to change birth and reproductive health culture locally, nationally and globally.
Our 12-week online Full Spectrum Doula Training provides doula education for all stages of a birthing person’s life. We also include education around topics and issues facing our communities and birth world, such as the black maternal health crisis, food insecurity, and queer and trans birth and family building. This training is available for new doulas as well as experienced doulas.”
Cost: $700
Contact: info@birthingadvocacy.org
Also don’t know much about this group, it was forwarded along. From their site:
Birth Arts International was originally founded in 2000 by Demetria Clark as the Green Mountain Doula Guild. Since then the organization has expanded and grown into Birth Arts. We have gone from a regional body to one that is working on a national level, offering extensive doula, postpartum doula and advanced doula trainings.
They have distance learning and workshops. More info here.
A group in Alabama that provides DONA doula training twice a year, with scholarships for prospective doulas who can’t afford the training. More info here.
Birth Workers International Doula School: “Fertility, Birth, and Postpartum Doula certification courses, Placenta Specialist certification course, Childbirth Educator certification course, Herbs During Childbearing Years certification course, Reiki During Childbearing Years certification course, Doula Business Basics course. Holistic Birth Worker complete certification course is also available, and includes each course.”
Cost: Each course varies from $250-$650, or $3400 for all courses together (includes 20% discount when purchased together), scholarships available
Contact: Carrissa Smith, 435-574-4226, herbandoula@bwidoulaschool.com
From their website, sent in by a reader:
Most doula programs and doulas focus primarily on techniques for caring for the parents in labor and postpartum. But our program begins with YOU. We believe it is important to begin with an exploration of what motivates you to begin this work (and our program). We consider things such as past experiences that have shaped your beliefs and attitudes about birth, what you hope to accomplish by attending parents in birth, your relationship with the medical model, and most importantly, your relationship to yourself as a doula.
Doulas are teachers. You are in a primary position to teach parents how to prepare for labor, ask questions and cope with pain (before and during labor), and how to prepare for the postpartum transition. So, learning communication skills and how to teach pain-coping practices will strengthen your effectiveness as a doula, and give you more satisfaction with your work.
After the excitement of the workshop wears off, doulas can feel a little lost. New doulas develop confidence and skill when given extended support from peers and experienced doulas (especially after attending a difficult labor). So we created a one-of-a-kind HomeStudy Program that includes self-directed study and ongoing support to see you through to certification and beyond.
I got an email from a reader about this group. Looks like their courses are offered remotely, so could be a good option for those who can’t attend an in-person workshop. From their website:
Childbirth International is a unique organization. With a global outlook and a strong belief in the “education is power” philosophy, we provide training for doula and childbirth educator students all over the world. We are committed to establishing the international standard for Childbirth Education programs and doula training.
Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association (CAPPA):
I just came across the organization, so I can’t vouch for them. They have a doula training program, as well as certification. You can read about the organization here, and about their vision of childbirth here.
Commonsense Childbirth Doula Training (the JJ Way):
I met Jennie Joseph, the woman behind the Commonsense Childbirth school, a few years ago. She’s amazing. A British midwife of African descent, Jennie brings a passion and a vision for childbirth care to her practice in Florida. She focuses on working with low-income and high-risk women and has done incredible things with reducing interventions and improving outcomes. I don’t know anything about her doula training, but all of the information about the training is available here.
Cornerstone Doula Trainings: “Cornerstone’s mission is to help families start their lives together in the most gentle and loving way. Our trainings will provide you with the knowledge, confidence and hands-on skills to start attending births immediately. Our methods combine traditional tools and wisdoms with current and progressive information about the physiology and psychology of childbirth.” Full details here, the offer workshops as well as certification programs.
Their website explains that they offer birth and postpartum doula trainings in Spanish, in Puerto Rico. Full details here (website in Spanish). Not a group I’ve worked with.
Doulas of North America (DONA):
This is the largest doula organization in the US, which also does international work. They hold the largest number of doula trainings. Go here to find a doula training in your area.
Doula Trainings International:
“DTI’s Power of Two Doula Training is a new model of certification for doulas. DTI’s foundation is built on three main tenets: mentorship, business, and a recognition that a tribe of doulas supporting doulas is key to us thriving as professionals. These core values are all taught and explored within the framework of the challenges of working as a doula in today’s birth climate.
Our DTI2 trainings certify both birth and postpartum doulas. This allows women who certify to have flexibility within their private practice. DTI doulas may choose to work solely as a birth doula but have the education behind them to prepare their birth clients for the transition to parenthood in a much more informed way. The opposite is also true. DTI doulas who practice postpartum doula work are better prepared to support families and integrate the birth experience. Still, many of our doulas will work as both a birth doula and a postpartum doula either at the same time or on and off throughout their career as a doula. DTI feels strongly that as business women, who are often also mothers, the more flexible our choices are with our work, the better we can serve families.
DTI stands firm on the importance of autonomy for doulas and for women. Our woman-centered organization supports you in choosing a career and unique path that feels right for YOU. Our curriculum is robust and also allows space for your own zone of genius to shine through. Your Trainer and Mentor is committed to spending time one-on-one with you to help inspire and educate you about sustainable options when thinking about building your practice. We love innovative and creative thinking. Our model supports you so that your vision can be realized without having to navigate this field alone.”
Cost: $1597
Scholarships available
Locations: CA, NY, TX, GA, FL, MT, CO
EnCircle Birth Doula Workshops:
From their website: “enCircle Doula Workshops are a unique format for preparing you to be a doula. The small-group format allows for in-depth discussion of topics and more individualized attention than a large class can offer. You will literally ‘sit in circle’ and be enCircled as we explore the significance of birth, modern birth practices, the doula’s role, and much more.” Operates in the greater Seattle area.
International Childbirth Education Association (ICEA):
Check their website for trainings around the country.
Not a group I’m very familiar with, but one reader recommended their training, which is done long-distance.
Carla Stange and Marilyn Lemos have developed a distance learning doula training course that explores the instinctive and intuitive role of the birth and postpartum doula.
Our Intention
- Intuitive Doula invites you to join us in the efforts to transform the world, one birth at a time, through enabling positive birth experiences.
- Intuitive Doula intends to support the doula’s basic role, that is, to provide an atmosphere of support and loving guidance throughout the birth process.
- We intentionally honor the birthing rights of all women.
- We aspire to enhance the art and instinctive and intuitive nature of the doula’s role.
- We work to guide a doula’s understanding and recognition of birth as a transformational life experience and a rite of passage.
- We believe in the doula’s purpose to support women in their physical, emotional, spiritual, and social needs during pregnancy, birth and postpartum.
- Our ultimate aim is to teach aspiring doulas to support women in birth thereby decreasing the amount and frequency of interventions and unnecessary procedures used in hospitals.
- Above all we protect the desire of women and believe and trust in the beauty and strength of their bodies to bring forth life.
More information available on their website.
“The Perinatal Community Health Worker Training Program (PCHWP) operates from a reproductive justice framework and prepares women to serve as paraprofessionals in their own communities, by offering enhanced knowledge and practical experience.
PCHWs create a bridge between health care providers and underserved, hard to reach populations; providing individual education, referrals to health and social services and social support. PCHWs also advocate for systemic changes and are trained to advocate for the respect of and adherence to the reproductive and patient rights of the mother in the hospital (or other birthing facility) during her prenatal, birth, and postpartum experience.
By investing in the training, support and action of Perinatal Community Health Workers, Mamatoto Village programs create sustainable community resource persons to effect change from within communities. As members of the targeted communities, PCHWs often have first-hand experience with the barriers that prevent access to culturally empathetic information and services. PCHWs are recruited from the target population, enabling them to connect easily with the families they serve.”
Location: Washington, DC
Cost: $1500 (scholarships available)
Contact: (202) 248-3434, info@mamatotovillage.org
MBC Doula School prepares students to work as holistic doulas. It is a unique and comprehensive program that offers classroom learning, hands-on experience and mentorship. Students are given the opportunity to shadow an experienced doula through a doula care experience, and then to volunteer their services, while being mentored. Students are expected to volunteer with Montreal Birth Companions, which is a volunteer organization that provides free doula services to those in need.
Our program is based on the belief that hands-on experience is the best teacher, but that all students need a mentor or a guide. I believe in the value of self-directed learning and self-exploration. The doula skills that are taught are skills that can be applied to all caring professions, including midwifery, medicine, alternative practitioners, and of course doulas.
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Cost: Level one is $400, level teo $500, and there are varied prices for workshops and classes from $50 to $600.
Contact: Rivka Cymbalist, mbcdoulaschool@gmail.com
“Mothering the Mother Inc is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to improving pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood experiences for all women regardless of income. Our local organization provides prenatal care coordination, childbirth and new parent education, doulas, lactation support, and more to all women on a sliding scale.
In addition to serving expectant and new mothers we also believe very strongly in women supporting women through all aspects of life. For this reason we currently offer doula trainings to assist women along life’s journey to being able to Mother the Mother.
We offer a distance doula training program with the option of certification. Within our program doulas complete not only an online training program, but then also go through a mentoring process with a more experienced doula before finishing their certification. We believe the mentoring portion of our program is the most important part because there is nothing like applying what you have learned while learning from a more experienced doula.
Mothering the Mother believes so strongly in giving back to the community that we offer trainings for free through our lottery program in addition to having paid training programs. Please visit the website for details on the various types of programs available.”
“This course aims to equip learners with the knowledge of supporting women and birthing individuals during the childbearing years. The approach taken is one that is client-centered, culturally sensitive, and community-oriented, with a strong emphasis on respecting the experiences of clients and their families. Throughout this course, learners will gain an in-depth understanding of the role and significance of extended family, cultural practices, traditional approaches, and evidence-based practices during preconception, pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting stages. This course facilitates the integration of research, traditional beliefs and customs, clinical experience, multicultural readings, and oral histories.”
Location: New Mexico
Cost: $1600 for the asynchronous training including a loaded Community Birth and Postpartum Attendant bag. We are currently fundraising to offer scholarships to both our asynchronous and synchronous classes. Our 2023 Cohort was 100% covered for the synchronous training, in person retreat, and CBPA (doula) bags. Please inquire about costs for our synchronous program at tintawi@ourearthcbpa.com
“The Certified Perinatal Coach™ program combines birth and postpartum doula training, with a focus on community health work.”
Location: Virtual
Cost: $450-$1000
Scholarships available
Contact: Yenny James (682) 703-0721
Shanti Uganda & Birth Arts International:
“The Shanti Uganda Birth Arts International Doula Training Retreat is a 10 day, life changing experience on the grounds of the Shanti Uganda Birth House in Luwero, Uganda. Become a BAI Certified Doula, learn about Shanti Uganda’s successful model of care and experience one of the most beautiful and friendly countries in the world. The retreat includes a comprehensive training, accommodation and freshly prepared meals, a rhino safari and the opportunity to connect to an amazing community.” Location: Kasana, Uganda. Cost: $2675 CAD. Scholarships available. Contact: kate@shantiuganda.org
The Simkin Center at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington and San Diego, California offers a four-day birth doula course, and a four-day postpartum doula course. Each costs $629. From their website:
“If you dream of serving women and families, Simkin Center delivers knowledge, tools and skills you can immediately use in your community. Simkin Center has educated, prepared and inspired more than 5,700 birth and postpartum doulas, childbirth educators and lactation educators since its inception. It can be argued that no other organization has educated more doulas, or advanced the concept and the doula profession more successfully, than the Simkin Center.”
More information here.
Sista Midwife Productions, LLC:
“The Sista Midwife Productions’ (SMP) Doula Training is taught by a Certified Nurse Midwife and experienced labor nurse with over 20 years working with birthing families. This training is full of medical insight and wisdom obtained from working directly on “the inside.” Based on the model of a community doula, the SMP Community Birth Sister training takes a multicultural approach and combines the physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects of pregnancy and birth. This high energy, interactive, 40 hour training can serve as a wonderful introduction to birth work and can be used as continuing education for those who have already been trained. Based in New Orleans, willing to travel.”
Cost: Full registration is $550. Payment plans and discounts are provided on a case by case basis.
Contact: sistamidwife@gmail.com
Sumi’s Touch: “Sumi’s Touch offers services and trainings for the Birth & Postpartum period. We provide emotional, spiritual, educational and physical support from conception to postpartum.”
Cost: $750, scholarships available.
Contact: sumistouch.com
“Community Doula Training: Located in the ancestral Tewa homelands of Northern New Mexico, Tewa Women United is a multicultural and multiracial organization founded and led by Native women, whose mission is to provide safe spaces for Indigenous Women to uncover the power, strength, and skills they possess to become positive forces for social change in their families and communities. This Doula Training was created as a comprehensive and family centered experience that is rooted within Tewa Women United teachings, values and beliefs. Doulas who train with us will be able to work with families by providing culturally relevant care, advocacy and support from preconception through birth to early parenting. Our training weekends have been designed to provide students with valuable evidence-based information and hands-on experiences so that they feel ready to work with expectant parents. Each weekend will be taught by our staff, doulas and local community experts.”
Cost: “We believe in making our training accessible to anyone who wants to take it. For the last pilot program, TWU waived all costs for our students. We asked instead in the spirit and practice of reciprocity that all doulas who participate, committed to give back what they received by providing doula services to three families, for no cost.”
Contact: paula@tewawomenunited.org
“We are ushering in a new paradigm for pregnancy, birth and mothering where the WOMAN is the center of her experience and her chosen support (doula) is smart, intuitive, fearless and brave. The Birth Warrior Training: 120 Day Doula Training & Transformation is a potent, comprehensive 4 month long course created by experienced midwives, for people that won’t compromise truly serving WOMEN (not the system!) as a kick-ass doula. This program uniquely integrates traditional birth and midwifery wisdom, clinical experience, and amazing, unique-only-to-Indie Birth proprietary material and birth videos to promote inner growth, outer knowledge and the confidence to support women in a way that will change our culture. The course emphasizes a whole-woman and truly whole-LIFE approach to acting as a doula, taking into consideration body, mind, and spirit.”
Cost: $1800, with scholarships for all doulas of color
Contact: margo@indiebirth.org
Tiny Love Doula Certification:
“The Tiny Love Doula Training was created by two doula/midwives with decades of experience, with the intention of making a high quality education that is approachable, affordable and accessible to many who can not attend a 3 day class. The assignments and activities provide networking and hands-on learning to launch your doula business. Ongoing mentoring and support helps doulas feel confident and guided through the process from signing up through graduation and continued support for all alumni.”
Cost: $460.00 “Regular promotions with discounts several times per year. There are no additional fees; no fees for certification, membership, renewal, or application. The program includes all of those aspects for one price.”
Contact: tinylovedoula@gmail.com
toLabor: The Organization of Labor Assistants and Birth Options:
“The intention of toLabor is to educate and certify professional birth doulas. We believe that all women benefit from support and resources that will help them be aware of, and educated about, the options and choices that are available so that they may make informed decisions concerning their birth experience. We embrace the evidence that a woman who actively participates in her birth will have a healthier birth for her baby, herself and her family; physically and emotionally. We believe that in every birth, there is room for compassion and respect for the process. We believe this a civil right, a human right. We believe in creating and fostering a community of change.”
This group was born out of the group formerly known as ALACE. I do not have any experience with toLabor (or ALACE) but there workshop sounds really interesting from the website description. The tuition is about $425 (with various discounts for certain things). From their website:
toLabor’s doula training program is unique among all the other doula training organizations in North America for several reasons:
-advocates for the midwifery model of care, regardless of care provider (midwife or doctor), or place of birth (hospital, birth center, or home).
-encourages trust in the birth process, respects it as a woman-centered passage, and is dedicated to supporting women’s birth choices.
-respects obstetric procedures as beneficial in some circumstances but potentially detrimental when applied routinely. We emphasize evidence-based practices, informed consent and prevention of medically unnecessary interventions.
-help increase parents’ confidence in the natural process of birth. We teach relaxation and coping tools to work with pain and discomfort, rather than techniques for avoiding sensation.
-has long been recognized for its holistic approach to childbirth. Our instructors are respected for their incorporation of psychological aspects and mind-body integration in their classes.
-offers the most rigorous doula training program, providing you with a solid base of knowledge about the physiology of the body and how it works during labor and birth, allowing you to become aware of what kind of physical support your client needs.
-training gives you the skills and confidence necessary to provide the emotional and psychological support your clients need.
Tuition includes the entire training and certification process: the training workshop, processing your work, the exam, the certificate itself, and the first year of membership in toLabor.
Ubuntu Birth Workers Collective:
UBWCI provides Holistic Doula Training Retreats. Our retreats are a hands on kick off to the 14 week program that will lead you to completing your certification process.
The foundation of UBWCI is to focus on the whole woman meaning we acknowledge that the conception, pregnancy, birth and postpartum healing are not just a physical journey. It is a journey of the mind, body and spirit. Locations: Gaithersburg, Maryland; Charlotte, North Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia. Cost: $475 – $800. Scholarships available. Contact: Omitola Ogunsina, info@ubwci.com
Uzazi Village: Uzazi Village Perinatal Doula Training is a community- based training with a focus on African American infant and maternal mortality prevention. It was created and is taught by Mama Hakima Payne, an RN and student midwife, and lactation consultant (IBCLC). The Sister Doula model looks at insurance reimbursement for pregnancy, intrapartum, and postpartum doula care. Locations: Kansas City, St. Louis, Missouri. Cost: $850. Scholarships available. Contact: Mariah@uzazivillage.org
Radical Doula 