Basic Education

A number of education establishments provide doula education courses by face-to-face teaching or by correspondence. It is important to choose a good quality course that not only has educational standing but will provide the doula with up to date knowledge that will allow her to confidently work in the role of the professional doula. Since many doula courses have not been reviewed by independent authorities they have no accreditation status and the quality is therefore unknown. Because of this the student needs to take care in selecting a course as all courses will not provide quality training and will not automatically allow entry into the doula register. As a rule of thumb, courses that have been accredited by an independent body are the best courses to select. While these courses may cost a little more their quality is assured.

Before enrolling in a course it is also worth asking if the course was written by people with educational expertise and if it includes sections written or contributed to by specialists involved in birth care like midwives and obstetricians. It probably goes without saying that a course that is written and delivered by a single person is not likely to be as good as one that has been developed by a team of experts. You may therefore need to ask about the education team and ask about the qualifications of those who teach the course. In particular find out if they have recent clinical experience as a midwife or doula. This will give you some sound insight into the quality of the course. Following completion of a course, the new doula should have an understanding of the physical, mechanical, and emotional aspects of the natural birthing process and should also be able to understand and support normal births and medically managed births.

This is of particular importance for women who need induction of labour, forceps delivery or caesarean section because the emotional experience of these births can seem quite negative for some women. The doula knows that every birth is a supreme achievement of the woman, no matter what the manner of ‘delivery’ and she supports this. The aim of the doula is therefore to enhance the physical and emotional wellbeing of the mother by enhancing the experience of birth…….especially if that birth is medically managed.