How will taking this training help me become a labor doula?
You will learn how to value yourself when you invest in yourself, to create a career that you not only can make money at but also help change peoples lives.
You will learn how to effectively support a family through labor and birth. From inductions, epidurals, homebirths, to cesarean birth and more.
What to carry in your birth bag.
What you need to know about mental health for yourself and your clients.
How systemic racism plays a huge part in our societies maternal and infant mortality rate.
Common challenges and how to work through them. You will be able to help clients navigate stages of labor and common interventions with informed choice and what their rights are.
You will know how to start your own business with basic first steps.
You will understand how to emotionally support the new family and guide them to the services they need in a safe and comfortable environment.
How to have fun and connect with other birthworkers with lots of laughter and maybe some tears as you learn how to change the world one step at a time.
Ready to join us?
What is needed for this training:
You just need to have a passion for birth and want to help families through this crucial time in their life. There are no prerequisites and no requirements of college or background in birth.
Where and how long is this training:
Depending on which training you sign up for this training can be in person, Live via zoom, or prerecorded and done at your pace online. We are based out of Florida however, we travel and train in person all over the country! From Alaska, to Hawaii, Florida , California and the northeast! If you don’t see a location close to you or that you want to travel to, message us to find out how we can come to you.
The In person training is 16 hours, the virtual ones vary depending on class size and if you are doing it at your own pace!
What is included in this training:
This training will include a Manual, handouts and a goodie bag of things that will help you in your practice.
What does this class cover?
Module One
Where to Start
You will learn Ethics and scope of practice for the birth professional. So that you know what you can and cannot do or say. We will go over Helpful hints for test taking and certification. And understand why Inclusivity matters. You’ll understand the importance of labor doulas and the benefits we offer new families and the society as a whole.
Module Two
Labor Basics
Basics! Just the basics! Understanding the stages and phases of labor. How it effects the parents and how to help them work through any struggles.
Module Three
Effective Comfort Measures
Get up and practice! For in person classes we will get up and practice as we work through stages of labor so you have a good understanding of when and what comfort measures work at different stages. We discuss why we would do certain ones and think out side of the box to be the most effective. As well as How to involve partners and support people effectively. A big deal to most new families.
Module Four
We will discuss the emotional side of birth and the impact our mental state can effect labor and birth. We will go over benefits and risks of interventions, medications, Cesarean and VBAC. Breastfeeding basics what your role is as a doula in this process. As well as Culture and how it can affect the pregnant families. We will talk about Challenging outcomes and birth trauma. It is important to know how to best guide people when they have things happen that are challenging.
Module Five
Rights & Responsibilities
One of the most important things to cover, Informed choice and denial. What about Inherent rights of pregnant people? and Racial disparities? Learn the how and why these are such an issue for our society and what we can do to help create change.
You will also learn the importance of teaching evidence based information and how it impacts the families in our communities.
Module Six
Doula bag of tricks
In our bag of tricks we have many options. Learn what you would want to keep in your doula bag and how it will be most helpful to you and your client. Some of it is even for self care. Learn how to take care of your client and yourself at the same time to be more effective.
Module Seven
Contracts and visits
We will discuss what you would discuss in prenatal appointments with clients, how many to have and what those should look like. We discuss on call life and how to manage the challenges of that.
And what about postpartum? We will go over that as well, what you need to know and how to make those happen. Including, Postpartum depression and the warning signs.
Module Eight
Labor Doula Business Matters
Now you have taken the class and going to pass the test! Officially a doula and ready to move into the world and make change for those new parents who need you while making money at the same time!
We will discuss contracts and how to create them, understanding the back workings of running your own business vs working for an agency or others. Find out what is going to work best for you to move forward in your business and help change the lives of so many families.
Frequently Asked Questions
about labor doula training, birthwork, & more
Questions about the labor doula training:
The labor doula training is 16 hours at minimum when doing an in person training. Virtual and at your own pace will depend on the participants.
This training teaches you the basics about how to be a labor doula. When you leave the class you will know about the stages of labor and how to help clients through it, and the first steps in starting a business. Once you are done with the class you can immediately start working as a trained labor doula.
Being on call can be challenging but manageable.
There is always a way to work through the challenges.
If you are drawn to this work and can be empathetic, you are already going to be good at it. Building skills take a while.
This is an amazing addition to any of the other classes to have an understanding of what a new parent experiences through labor and how to handle it.
We offer both Private mentoring and online virtual mentoring. Virtual mentoring is a go at
your own pace set of modules that are added to every year. Private mentoring can be purchased in packages and are based on the time that Ruth has available. Enquire directly with us to find out costs and availability.
Absolutely. I often have people who aren’t sure if they will even be able to do this work and if it is a good time for them. You can reach out and let us know your concerns and we will help brainstorm with you and make sure you understand everything. It is important you feel safe and understood when signing up for such an important workshop.
General questions about trainings:
Once your registration is complete, if you haven’t paid online you will be contacted to pay how it works for you. Once paid, you will get a welcome letter with details about the course within a week as well as what you need to know before the course.
We travel and train all over the country. We have gone to Alaska, California, Hawaii, Montana, Georgia, Illinois, Arizona, Florida, Virginia, Connecticut and New York! We are always looking to expand!
You can check the schedule if there is something close to you, if there isn’t and you want to bring a training to your area, reach out to the office and let them know what training you are looking at, your location and if you have an idea when you would like the training to come to you.
Yes. Currently, we offer four different options to take the training.
1) In person at different locations around the country
2) Virtual training done via Zoom
3) Prerecorded trainings where you watch videos at your own pace
4) Private training where you schedule with the trainer virtually or in person when it works for both of you.
Questions about the investment:
Community Calling Inc is a non-profit 501 (c )3 that when funding is available offers full or partial scholarships. Sometimes we have funding specific for BIPOC, Military, Location based etc.
If we don’t have funding at the time, you are put on a waiting list until some arrives. If you are in need, you can go to www.communitycallinginc.org.
Yes we do. You can apply with Paypal for financing, as well as Affirm and Klarna. If you need a specific payment plan, please reach out. Take note, ALL payment plans must be paid before the beginning of class.
We offer 25% off for all BIPOC in any location of any workshop type who need the discount.
We frequently run specials around holidays, refer a friend, sign up for more than one class at a time, early bird options and more. If you have questions please check in with us to see if we have any specials at the time.
Questions about certification:
Certification with us is as easy as taking a test. That is all that is required. After each workshop, you are sent a link for the test which is done online. You have to pass with an 80% or higher for certification. If you fail, you can retake the test for a small fee.
We believe that getting out there and getting hands on experience is the best way to learn about this work. So the sooner you start working, the more you will learn. We offer mentoring to help you along the way and a group online to ask questions in a safe place.
At this time, we do not require recertification. Once you are certified you keep the certification unless you have a grievance filed with us and we find you were out of line. Unless regulation becomes mandated and I am required to change that rule, it will stay this way.
We do however highly recommend that you do Continuing education to stay up to date in the profession and your line of work.
Absolutely. If you are trained or certified with another organization, you can cross certify with any of our programs at 50% off (proof of prior training required).
What do I do if I have more questions?
Always reach out and ask. It is important to us that you are comfortable with us and you know your voice matters and is heard when taking any of our workshops.