Bliss Baby Yoga

This comprehensive Birth Doula Training has the foundation of our combined birth and doula wisdom, over 50 years of practical experience in this specialist field, with backgrounds in Childbirth Education, Doula Training & Mentoring, Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga Teacher Training and Women’s Health and Wellbeing. Many of the students who choose to train with us are interested in the mother-centred holistic approach, as well as the sacred birthing wisdom offered in the training. The major difference in our training is the combination of educational, experiential, creative and hands-on skills, plus the personal discovery aspects, which we believe are essential when working in this intimate and sensitive area with pregnant women and their partners.

If you are interested in knowing more about birth and perhaps not quite ready to start practicing as a doula yet, you can complete this Birth Doula Training course alone. You may also just love learning about birth and want to enrich what you already know, then this is the course for you! If you plan to start practicing as a doula soon, we highly recommend enrolling in the Certification Mentoring Module as you launch your doula career and begin to attend births. This additional mentoring module includes three live video calls to support your attendance at the required 3 births as a Student Doula and participation in a Childbirth Education Course. You can always purchase the Certification Module later when you are ready to start practicing as a doula.

No previous qualifications are necessary to join the training, apart from a desire to support and empower women in their choices for a fulfilling birth experience. You can train as a Birth Doula to begin a new career path, or to expand your existing knowledge and services in the area of pregnancy and birth. This course is a perfect complement to many other professions, such as Prenatal Yoga Teaching, Naturopathy, Massage Therapy, Women's Health etc.

We suggest that for safe practice and insurance reasons, if you plan to be a practicing Doula you complete the full certification stream so that you have one on one mentoring with our senior doula trainers who can help guide you through your first births.

A Certificate of Attendance is issued on completion of the Birth Doula Training. If you choose the Certification module you will receive an additional Certificate of Completion once you have completed all the requirements, including attendance at 3 births as a student doula and participation in a childbirth education class. If you are a Prenatal Yoga Teacher you will be able to register 12 hours of this course as CEP points with Yoga Alliance or Yoga Australia (and possibly other local Yoga Organisations, we suggest you check within your community).

Of course, it's different for everyone but we estimate it will take you approximately 30 hours to complete this course, give or take. Plus, the recommended reading you choose from the comprehensive list given, personal exploration and any further research you wish to undertake. You will have 12 months to access and complete this core course although the materials are yours to download forever. If you enrol in the full Certification Stream bundle you will have 18 months to complete both elements of the training. (NB Extensions are available for a small fee). It’s impossible to estimate how long you will spend in birth preparation sessions and attending births as a student doula (as we know the labour and birthing process may be l-o-n-g, or sometimes very fast!). However, please know that every hour you spend with pregnant and birthing families is invaluable in building your body of knowledge and hands-on experience as a birth doula.

At the present time Doula as a profession is not regulated in any countries around the world. There is no national or international body that recognizes a standard of training for Doulas. Rest assured that our trainers are fully recognised as experts in their field and the training curriculum meets all the requirements for you to confidently work as a Birth Doula. The Celebration of Birth Academy/Bliss Baby Yoga Certificate is in-line with other doula training organisations, such as Childbirth International or DONA. From a legal perspective a doula is not practicing as a medical professional and, as long as you are working under the guidelines covered in the training, has no legal liability to clients.

We have two active private Facebook Groups for Celebration of Birth Doulas and Bliss Baby Yoga members to share experience, ideas and ask questions relating to doula work of the more experienced doulas in the group. As a student you can be added to either of these groups by sending a ‘request to join’ – links to the groups are provided on enrolment.