Do You Need a Doula UK Approved Course?
- Kicki Hansard
- 1 day ago
- 13 min read
If you are researching how to become a doula in the UK, you have probably come across the phrase Doula UK Approved Course. Perhaps you have noticed that The BirthBliss Doula Academy is no longer one of them. It is one of the questions I am asked most often and I understand why.
For many years, aspiring doulas were led to believe that approval by Doula UK was an important indication of quality.
It became something that prospective students looked for when comparing doula courses and deciding where to begin their journey. It is therefore completely understandable that people now ask why I made the decision to leave and the answer deserves more than a few sentences. It also deserves honesty.
This article is not written to criticise Doula UK, nor is it intended to persuade anyone else to make the same decision that I made. Every doula must decide which organisations they wish to belong to and every training provider must decide where their own values lie. This is simply my story, the story of someone who helped establish the organisation in its earliest days, volunteered for many years because I believed passionately in what it could become and ultimately reached the conclusion that I could no longer remain associated with it.
More importantly, it is an opportunity to explain something I believe every aspiring doula should understand. Approval by any organisation does not, in itself, determine the quality of a doula course. The experience of the educators, the philosophy behind the training, the support offered after qualification and the values that shape every aspect of the learning experience matter far more than any badge displayed on a website.
That may not have been true twenty years ago. I believe it is true today.
My journey with Doula UK began in 2002
I trained as a birth doula in 2002 and looking back now it is difficult to remember how different the profession was then. The word doula was unfamiliar to most people. Very few maternity professionals had worked alongside one and there were only a handful of training courses available across the United Kingdom. Those of us who were drawn to this work shared a simple belief, that women deserved continuous emotional, physical and informational support throughout pregnancy, birth and the early weeks of parenthood. We knew that compassionate, non-judgemental support could transform a family's experience, even when birth itself did not unfold as expected.
It was an exciting time. The profession was growing and there was a genuine sense that we were building something important together. That was why I became a founding member of Doula UK in 2002. I believed wholeheartedly in its purpose and in the role it could play in helping doulas become recognised, respected and better understood within maternity care.
Over the years, I gave countless hours of my time as a volunteer. I served in several roles including website administrator, Head of External Communications and Chair. I helped organise the first Doula UK conference, represented the organisation at meetings with external bodies and worked alongside many dedicated volunteers who cared deeply about improving support for women and families. I do not regret those years. In fact, I remain grateful for them.
Many wonderful people have volunteered their time through Doula UK over the years. Many lifelong friendships have been formed and many families have benefited from the dedication of doulas who have supported them with compassion, kindness and professionalism. None of that changes because I chose to leave and in many ways, acknowledging those positive experiences is an important part of telling this story honestly.
Why leaving was such a difficult decision
People sometimes assume that walking away from an organisation is easy. It rarely is and it is even harder when you have invested years of your life helping to build it.
When you have watched something grow from its earliest beginnings, there is a natural desire to remain hopeful. You remember why you joined, the people who inspired you and the shared purpose that brought everyone together in the first place.
There is also another reality that is rarely spoken about openly.
Remaining associated with an established organisation often makes good commercial sense. For someone searching for the best doula course in the UK, an approval logo can appear reassuring and can make comparing doula training providers feel simpler. As an educator, it would undoubtedly have been easier to retain that approval and continue benefiting from the assumptions that many prospective students make when they see it.
I understood that choosing to leave would almost certainly make my own work harder. I knew some people would question the decision and I knew some prospective students might choose another doula course simply because they believed approval by one organisation automatically meant higher standards.
From a business perspective, remaining an Approved Course Provider would have been the easier path. There comes a point, though, when commercial considerations can no longer outweigh professional integrity.
Throughout my career I have always believed that trust is the foundation of good doula business. Families trust us with some of the most intimate moments of their lives and that trust cannot be taken lightly. The same principle applies to education.
Every person who enrols on a BirthBliss doula course places an enormous amount of trust in me and in my team. They are trusting us not only to provide high-quality birth doula training or postnatal doula training, but also to introduce them to the profession they are about to enter and that responsibility extends far beyond the final day of a course.
As educators, we influence where newly qualified doulas seek support, how they understand professional relationships and which organisations they choose to become part of as they develop their careers. For many years, recommending Doula UK felt entirely consistent with my own values. Gradually, that changed.
The concerns that led me to leave were not the result of one disagreement or one isolated event. They developed over time as I reflected on the direction of the organisation and whether it continued to represent the principles that I believe should underpin any professional body.
I spent many months asking myself whether those concerns could be resolved. I hoped they could and I raised questions privately because I believed that was the appropriate thing to do.
Eventually I reached a point where I had to ask myself a simple question: could I continue encouraging the doulas who had placed their trust in me to join an organisation that I no longer felt reflected the standards of governance, accountability and professional culture that I wanted associated with my own work?
For me, the answer became no.
I could not, with a clear conscience, continue making that recommendation and that was the moment I knew I had to step away. It was not the easiest decision I have made during my twenty-four years as a doula and doula educator, but it remains one of the most important.
When confidence begins to change
People sometimes ask me if there was one particular event that made me resign. The truthful answer is no. Decisions like this rarely happen overnight.
For me, it was a gradual process of reflection that took place over many months. Individual concerns, which on their own might have seemed manageable, slowly became part of a much bigger picture and I found myself questioning whether the organisation still reflected the principles that had inspired me to become a founding member all those years ago.
As doulas, we spend much of our working lives encouraging women to trust their instincts. We remind them that they have the right to ask questions, to seek information, to think critically and to make decisions that feel right for them. I realised that I needed to apply exactly the same principles to my own professional life.
The values that I teach every week within The BirthBliss Doula Academy are not simply ideas that belong in a classroom. They shape the way I try to lead, the way I work with colleagues and the decisions I make as an educator.
They include curiosity, openness, accountability, compassion, honesty and respectful reflection and they also include the willingness to ask difficult questions when something no longer feels right.
Over time, I became increasingly concerned about governance, transparency and accountability. I found myself losing confidence that questions and concerns raised by members were being handled in the way I believe healthy professional organisations should handle them. That does not mean every volunteer or every committee member shared responsibility for those concerns.
Throughout my years with Doula UK, I worked alongside many generous, committed and thoughtful people who gave their time because they genuinely cared about supporting doulas and families and I remain grateful for the work they did. My concerns were never about those individuals. They were about leadership, organisational culture and the direction in which the organisation was moving.
What I believe healthy professional organisations do
I am not going to describe specific incidents or name individuals. That would not be fair and it is not the purpose of this article. What I can share is what I came to expect and what I believe aspiring doulas should look for when they evaluate any professional body, not only Doula UK.
Healthy organisations welcome questions without treating scrutiny as disloyalty. They communicate decisions clearly, including when things have not gone as planned. They create space for respectful disagreement, recognising that challenge often comes from people who care deeply. They take accountability seriously rather than deflecting concern and they reflect openly on what is working and what could be done differently.
Surely professional organisations should be willing to do what we ask doulas to do after every birth? Reflect on what went well, what they would approach differently next time and what they have learnt from the experience.
When I could no longer see those qualities reflected in the way I needed them to be, my confidence gradually changed.
The responsibility we have to newly qualified doulas
The decision that weighed most heavily on me was not whether I should remain a member. It was whether I could continue encouraging my graduates to join.
Every year, people choose The BirthBliss Doula Academy because they want high-quality doula training in the UK. Some are leaving long-established careers. Others are returning to work after raising children. Many are investing significant savings because they believe becoming a birth doula or postnatal doula is the work they are meant to do and they place enormous trust in us.
As educators, we do more than teach physiology, communication skills and professional boundaries. We also introduce people to the profession itself. When someone asks me which books to read, I recommend the authors I trust. When someone asks me to suggest further education, I recommend educators whose work I respect. When someone asks which organisations might support them after qualification, that recommendation carries exactly the same weight. It is not a casual suggestion, it is an endorsement.
Gradually, I realised I could not make that endorsement honestly. I could not encourage newly qualified doulas to join an organisation unless I genuinely believed it reflected the standards that I wanted them to experience throughout their professional lives and that was an uncomfortable conclusion to reach. It would have been far easier to say nothing.
Remaining an Approved Course Provider would undoubtedly have benefited my own business, avoided difficult conversations and probably made marketing our doula courses much simpler.
Instead, I accepted that stepping away might mean losing prospective students who believed that one approval logo was the most important measure of quality. Integrity sometimes comes at a cost and I have never believed that integrity should be sacrificed for convenience.
Professional boundaries exist for a reason
Another area that gave me pause was the increasingly close relationship between Doula UK and the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
I have always believed in respectful, collaborative relationships between doulas, midwives, obstetricians and the wider maternity team. Women and families benefit when each profession understands and respects the role of the others. My concerns were never about collaboration itself.
They were about what that collaboration appeared to say about the role of a doula.
In a publicly available video produced by Doula UK in collaboration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, a representative of Doula UK agreed to the role of a doula as being to psychologically reinforce what the midwife is saying. I found that deeply uncomfortable. It does not reflect the philosophy I have taught throughout my career.
A doula's role is not to reinforce the views of a midwife, our role is to support the woman. We help her understand information, encourage her to ask questions and remain beside her as she makes her own decisions. Our responsibility is to the woman and her family, not to any professional group.
I also watched another Zoom recording in which a police officer spoke about gathering evidence relating to doulas acting beyond the boundaries of their role. I have always believed that anyone falsely claiming to be a midwife or providing clinical care without the appropriate qualifications should be investigated, but to actively try to encourage others to 'report' doulas felt like a witch-hunt.
What concerned me was the overall message these events conveyed. Rather than helping maternity professionals understand the valuable contribution trained doulas make, the conversation appeared increasingly focused on the risks associated with doulas.
At the same time, the Nursing and Midwifery Council itself has faced significant public scrutiny following independent reviews into its culture and regulation. Taken together, these developments led me to reflect on whether this was the direction I wanted the doula profession to take but also something The BirthBliss Doula Academy wanted to be associated with.
How to choose doula training in the UK
Leaving one organisation did not mean walking away from the profession. In many ways, I believe the profession has never been stronger. There is more choice, more visibility and more understanding of what doulas offer than when I trained in 2002 but it also means that choosing a doula course requires more thought, not less.
If you are comparing birth doula training or postnatal doula training providers, I would encourage you to look beyond logos and approval badges, to ask questions, to trust your instincts and to consider the following:
Who is teaching and what is their experience? Look for educators who have worked as doulas themselves, not only as trainers. How long have they been a doula? Do they continue to support families or have they moved entirely away from doula work? What is their reputation among doulas and maternity professionals? Experience in the room matters and so does the ability to teach with humility, honesty and warmth.
What is the philosophy behind the course? Every doula course has a philosophy, whether it is stated openly or not. Some emphasise a particular model of birth, others focus on business skills above all else. Others still aim to produce a uniform type of doula. Ask yourself whether the approach aligns with your own values. Do you want to be moulded into a template or supported to find your authentic way of working? At The BirthBliss Doula Academy, our starting point is that people are often already drawn to this work, our role is to offer education, inspiration and support rather than to manufacture a single type of doula and that philosophy shapes everything we teach.
What support exists after qualification? Training is not where the journey ends. Find out what happens once the course finishes. Is there a community? Mentoring or coaching? Continued learning? Help with setting up a business? The early months as a newly trained doula can feel vulnerable and good post-qualification support makes an enormous difference to your confidence, your boundaries and the families you serve.
Are professional boundaries taught clearly? A responsible doula course will teach you what doulas do and what they do not do. You should leave training with a clear understanding that doulas are not medical professionals, that scope and boundaries protect everyone and that collaborative relationships with midwives and other healthcare professionals matter. If a course blurs those lines or encourages you to see yourself as filling a clinical gap, that is worth paying attention to.
Do the educator's recommendations align with your values? Remember that your training provider will influence which books you read, which further courses you consider and which professional organisations you join. Pay attention to what they endorse, what they avoid and whether their reasoning feels transparent and considered rather than simply convenient.
Does the course feel like a fit for you as a person? Finally, trust yourself. Speak to the educators if you can. Read testimonials. Notice how you feel when you explore their website or attend an introductory session. Becoming a doula is deeply personal work and the right course should feel like a place where you can be honest, ask questions and grow, not somewhere you need to perform certainty you do not yet feel.
What a Doula UK Approved Course does and does not tell you
Approval by Doula UK or any other organisation can indicate that a course meets certain criteria set by that body and for some students that provides reassurance. I am not suggesting you should ignore it entirely. What I am suggesting is that approval is one factor among many and that it is not a substitute for doing your own research.
A badge on a website cannot tell you whether the educators inspire and support you, whether the philosophy aligns with how you want to work, whether you will feel held after qualification, whether the course teaches clear professional boundaries or whether the training provider's values match your own.
Those questions can only be answered by looking more closely and by trusting your own judgement alongside the information you gather.
Where BirthBliss stands today
The BirthBliss Doula Academy is no longer a Doula UK Approved Course. That was a deliberate decision made after long reflection and at personal and professional cost.
What has not changed is our commitment to offering thorough, human-centred doula training in the UK for birth doulas and postnatal doulas, grounded in the values we have held since The BirthBliss Doula Academy began in 2012.
We continue to offer education through a comprehensive course covering antenatal, birth and postnatal support, communication, boundaries, loss and the practical side of self-employment. We offer inspiration, space to discover your authentic doula, not a copy of someone else's. And we offer support through a community, optional certification with a Doula Coach and six months' listing on The Doula Directory for graduates.
We do not claim to be the only good doula course in the UK. We do claim to teach with integrity, to be honest about what doula work involves and to take seriously the trust that every student places in us.
If our values resonate with you, I would love you to explore further.
A final word
Choosing how to become a doula in the UK is one of the most important decisions you will make at the start of this path. You may decide that membership of Doula UK matters to you. You may choose a different professional organisation. You may prefer to work independently. All of those are valid choices made thoughtfully and in your own time.
What I hope this article has offered is clarity, not a single right answer.
Approval by one organisation does not, on its own, determine the quality of a doula course.
The educators, the philosophy, the post-qualification support and the values behind the training matter more. Ask questions. Look closely. Trust your instincts. That is what I would say to any woman considering doula work and it is also what I eventually had to say to myself.
Further reading on choosing doula training
If you would like to go deeper on practical questions, these articles may help:
When you are ready to explore BirthBliss specifically, you can visit our training overview or book a free taster session.
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