“BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL DOULA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE…
BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL DOULA HAS EVERYTHING TO DO
WITH THE POWER OF HUMAN CONNECTION.”
About our training
What is a Birth Doula anyway?
From the beginning of time, birthing people have been cared for and nurtured as they become parents. Family, friends and neighbors from the community would rally around the new family to help guide them through their pregnancy, birth and tender early weeks and months with a new baby. Today that can’t always happen, but birthing people still benefit from support during pregnancy and birth. Enter the birth doula. Research shows that people who use a birth doula are: less likely to need Pitocin, less likely to have a cesarean birth, less likely to use any pain medication, and more likely to rate their childbirth experience positively.
Being a birth doula sounds magical and amazing… and IT IS! You get to be with birthing people and families in very powerful and intimate moments. You get to see people at their strongest and at their most vulnerable. You get to hold the door open for new humans to enter the world… It is a gift and an honor to be a doula.
It is also very difficult work. Difficult physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, relationally… difficult in ways you will not be able to imagine. Our goal is to help every woman who wants to become a doula SUCCEED at this work. We not only offer a comprehensive, DONA Approved doula training, we offer support and mentoring to new doulas, ongoing training, and a sliding scale to ensure that our training is accessible to anyone who feels the call to be a doula. PLUS, our workshop is co-led by a midwife and a doula trainer who have almost 50 years of combined experience.
Testimonial
Dedicated, passionate, justice-orientated, hardworking and full of love and light are just a few of the words that describe Penny and Geneva. They have given their whole hearts and lives to helping doulas realize their full potential. Just as they have supported and brought forth the power that lays within each of the birthers they have served, they do the same for aspiring doulas. I have never had a mentor that believed in me more than Penny and Geneva. They tirelessly devote their time to me and countless others. While I feel like I’m the most important person in the world when Penny refers to me as her “dearest doula” I know they do the same for so many others. There are many options to further your education as a doula but you won’t find another team as passionate, knowledgeable and dedicated to the cause as these two.
Research shows that birthing people who have doula support are:
50% less likely to deliver prematurely
36% less likely to deliver low birthweight babies
33% more likely to initiate breastfeeding
In addition to the benefits above, studies show that when a doula is present:
partners participate with more confidence,
birthing people have less pre- and postnatal stress,
and parents are less likely to have postpartum mood disorders.
“Although birth is only one day in the life of a woman,
it has an imprint on her for the rest of her life.”
