How to Become a Doula

Learning how to become a doula and training can range from online reading assignments to considerable coursework and on-the-job training requirements.

Depending on the doula education program you choose, doula training may involve more than simply labor and delivery.  Trained doulas help mothers in prenatal care, post-partum concerns and everything in between.

Many doulas say their first training was their own pregnancies and births.  Much of a doula's emphasis is on empathy and emotional support of the mother, so life experience, personality and communication skills play a major role in being an effective doula.

What's Included in Doula Training
Some specific aspects of doula training include:

• Prenatal care, nutrition and health of the mother.
• Natural childbirth techniques.
• The different types of birth plans and which one is best for each family.
• Possible complications that can arise in labor and delivery and how to advise the parents.
• Physiology and basic medical aspects of the birth process
• Early postpartum experiences.
• Breastfeeding and lactation consultation.

What a Trained Doula Can Offer
Doulas are traditionally associated with natural childbirth. However, a trained doula is versed in the ways of coping with extreme pain of childbirth and the medication and treatment that will bring about the least stressful labor and delivery for both mother and baby.

Doulas are particularly valuable when an obstetrician and medical staff are not able to give the expectant mother the time and attention she needs. Doulas well versed in the birth process can help answer questions, give reassurance and calm the fears of a mother.
 
Many doula training programs involve the practical experience of assisting in a birth, sometimes alongside a more experienced doula. The more experience a doula has during training, the more effective she'll be in helping mothers through the birth process.