Education | Inspiration | Support
COURSE CURRICULUM
What will I actually learn on a doula course?
The BirthBliss course brings birth and postnatal doula training together in one programme.
You will learn about birth physiology, postnatal recovery, infant feeding, communication, trauma awareness and professional practice. Alongside that, we spend time on something that is harder to put into a syllabus: how you are with people.
Knowing what to do matters. Knowing when to listen, when to offer something and when to leave space matters too.
Both our in-person and online courses follow the same core curriculum and lead to the BirthBliss Diploma in Birth and Postnatal Doula Support.
Birth and postnatal
One course covering both areas of doula support.
Same core curriculum
Choose to learn in-person or online.
A recognised Diploma
The BirthBliss Diploma in Birth and Postnatal Doula Support.
WHO YOU WILL LEARN WITH
A course built from experience
I founded The BirthBliss Doula Academy in 2012. I have worked as a doula since 2002 and have been teaching doulas since 2005.
The course has grown out of more than twenty years of working with families, doulas, maternity professionals and educators. More than 1,500 doulas have now trained with me.
Accredited by FEDANT, the Federation of Antenatal Educators
Recognised by The Doula Association of Ireland
Member of the European Doula Network
EIGHT AREAS OF LEARNING
What you will explore
The course brings birth and postnatal doula training together in one programme, giving you a broad foundation from which to begin supporting families.
01
Understanding doula support
The history and evidence behind doula support, the boundaries of the role and how to work respectfully alongside maternity professionals, recognising what sits within a doula's responsibilities and what doesn't.
03
Comfort, pain and when birth changes
Labour pain, comfort measures, pain-management options, epidural support and caesarean birth. We also look at how to stay calm and supportive when labour takes an unexpected direction.
05
Infant feeding
Breast anatomy, lactation and milk production, positioning and attachment, feeding difficulties, breastfeeding and bottle-feeding support. You will also learn to recognise when specialist help is needed.
07
Loss and difficult experiences
How to approach pregnancy loss, stillbirth, neonatal loss and difficult diagnoses with sensitivity, while understanding the limits of doula support and when specialist care is needed.
02
Pregnancy, labour and birth
Birth physiology and anatomy, hormones, the stages of labour, birth settings, the third stage and the first hours after birth, so you can support families with knowledge and awareness.
04
Postnatal doula support
Recovery and wellbeing in the early weeks, newborn care and the practical and emotional support a doula can offer parents, partners and the wider family.
06
Communication, relationships and trauma awareness
Listening, language, difficult conversations and relationships. You will become more aware of how past experiences can affect someone and how to offer support without fixing, directing or taking over.
08
Beginning your doula business
Self-employment, fees and packages, contracts, insurance, DBS checks, record-keeping, on-call arrangements, back-up support and finding clients, so you can build a doula practice that works for you.
THE FOUR DAYS
How the four days are structured
Whether you train in-person or online, you cover the same subjects. This is how they are laid out across the four in-person days, Monday to Thursday. If you study online, you work through the same material in your own time, with live Zoom Doula Days along the way.
DAY ONE
Understanding birth
We begin with the foundations of doula work and what is happening during labour and birth.
The history of doulas
Birth completion session
Birth physiology and anatomy
The path to birth
Recognising labour and progress
Arriving at hospital, or the midwife arriving at home
The third stage of labour
Immediately after birth
Communicating with healthcare professionals
DAY TWO
Supporting birth and the postnatal period
Day Two moves further into the practical and emotional side of doula support, including pain, caesarean birth and the move into the postnatal period.
Understanding pain and contractions
Pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical pain management
Challenging situations and the role of the doula
Caesarean birth
Enabling self-sufficiency in parents
The postnatal period and fourth trimester
Perinatal and postnatal illness
Listening and communication skills
Working as a postnatal doula
DAY THREE
Infant feeding
Day Three focuses on infant feeding and gives you a foundation for supporting families through the early days and weeks.
The role of hormones in lactation
Breast anatomy and early priming
The different stages of lactation
The impact of formula
Positioning and attachment
Effective and ineffective attachment
Barriers to breastfeeding
Insufficient milk intake and production
How companies market infant feeding products
Preparing formula safely
DAY FOUR
Working as a doula
On Day Four we bring the learning into the practical world of starting work as a doula.
Registering as self-employed with HMRC
Doula charges and packages
On-call, back-up, shared care and collectives
Advertising
Social media and websites
DBS checks and insurance
Contracts and record keeping
Good business practice and working safely
The interview and antenatal preparation
FEDANT
The BirthBliss Doula Academy Certification Programme
Practical techniques for labour and birth
A FAIR QUESTION
Can a doula course really prepare me to begin?
A doula course can't teach you everything you will ever meet. I would be wary of any course that claimed it could.
What good training can do is give you a strong foundation. It helps you understand birth and the postnatal period, recognise the boundaries of your role, practise listening and communication and begin to see how you respond when things don't go to plan.
It also helps you notice yourself. Your assumptions, your reactions, the urge to fix something or offer an answer when what is needed is time, information or someone prepared to stay alongside.
That is why BirthBliss training combines knowledge with practical learning, discussion and reflection.
BEFORE YOU START
Do I need to know any of this before I begin?
No. You don't need a medical background, maternity qualifications, previous birth experience or children of your own. The course is where that learning begins.
People come to BirthBliss from many different backgrounds. Some are changing direction after years in another career. Some have had experiences of pregnancy or birth that drew them towards this work. Others begin with curiosity and a sense that supporting families may be right for them.
You will bring your own life experience, your questions and the things you have yet to learn. At the start, what matters most is a willingness to listen, reflect, stay curious and understand the responsibilities and boundaries of the doula role.
THE BIRTHBLISS COMPASS
Learning what to do is only part of becoming a doula
Doula work needs knowledge of pregnancy, birth, the postnatal period and the practical ways we support families. It also asks us to think about how we are with someone who is going through something personal, uncertain and often very big for them.
Throughout the course we come back to seven qualities that shape how we support another person: curiosity, openness, mindfulness, presence, awareness, self-reflection and support. Together they form the BirthBliss Compass.
The Compass helps you notice what is happening in you as well as what may be happening for the person you are supporting. It runs through the practical learning, discussions and reflective work. It shapes how you listen, how you communicate and how you use what you know, while respecting that every woman and family has their own needs, experiences and decisions.
It is something you can come back to as you find your own way of doing this work.
YOUR PATH
From course to Diploma and beyond
STEP 1
Training
Complete the BirthBliss birth and postnatal doula curriculum.
STEP 2
Reflection
Complete the required course and reflective work.
STEP 3
Diploma
Receive the BirthBliss Diploma in Birth and Postnatal Doula Support.
STEP 4
Begin working
Start building experience and finding clients when you feel ready.
STEP 5
Certification
If you choose to, continue into the BirthBliss Certification Programme as you gain experience.
BEYOND THE COURSE
Also included with your BirthBliss training
Live Zoom Doula Days
Sessions every two months to keep learning, talk through different parts of doula work and bring your questions.
Doula the Doula sessions
Monthly live Zoom sessions on subjects connected with birth, postnatal support and doula practice.
A one-to-one session with me
Thirty minutes together to talk about your learning, your questions or your next steps.
The BirthBliss community and Portal
Ongoing access to the community, resources and information.
Six months free on The Doula Directory
Create your professional profile so families looking for a doula can start to find you.
TWO WAYS TO LEARN
The curriculum is the same. The way you experience it is different.
IN-PERSON
Four days together
Four days of learning with a small group of no more than eight
Discussion and practical exercises
Hands-on practice with comfort measures
Group reflection and questions as they come up
Printed course manual and notebook
Doula Starter Kit
Access to the online course afterwards
ONLINE
In your own time
-
The same curriculum, studied at your own pace
-
149 lessons using video and written teaching
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Practical learning and reflective exercises
-
Pause and revisit lessons whenever you like
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Lifetime access
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Live Zoom Doula Days
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The BirthBliss community
PRACTICAL DETAILS
What to expect
The in-person course runs Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm. The days are full, with plenty of time for discussion, practical learning, questions and reflection. I want you to understand the knowledge behind doula support and also to explore what that support can look and feel like in practice.
There is some learning to complete before the course and a post-course module afterwards, giving you time to reflect on what you have learnt and bring everything together.
If you have questions before deciding, have a look through my Ultimate Guide to becoming a doula or book a call with me. I'm happy to talk things through and help you work out whether BirthBliss feels right for you.
YOUR NEXT STEP
Could you see yourself doing this work?
You don't need to decide everything today. Have a look at the two ways you can train with BirthBliss and choose the one that fits how you learn and the life you already have.
Not sure which suits you? Compare both courses →
Would it help to meet me first? Join a free taster session