Doula Training with Life Cycle Doulas
Supporting Families in a Complex System
We’ve learned what works- the hard way, so now you don’t have to.
At Life Cycle Doulas, we prepare you for the realities of this work.
You’ve been called to a meaningful role. Supporting families as they navigate the transformation to parenthood and expanding their families is powerful. This alone is compelling and significant. Add a complicated system that is full of difficult choices to navigate during a time when choice can seem diminished, not offered, or even eliminated, the significance of this support is unparalleled.
The traditional doula role of offering comfort and emotional support is no longer enough. Today, doulas help improve birth outcomes, dismantle biases, and bridge the gaps in maternal care. We don’t just provide support—we educate, advocate, and empower.
We have been tasked to go beyond comfort measures and emotional support, and are also called to be our clients trusted guide, informing and educating, guiding choice with evidence based information, and helping families navigate the complex maze of our maternal systems. We train doulas to navigate different birth settings, collaborate with medical teams, advocate for informed choice, and build strong support systems for families.
This calling isn’t for the faint of heart. But you’ve found the right place to start.
Why Train With Life Cycle Doulas?
Our training builds confident and prepared birth and postpartum professionals with a program designed for real-world success.
Hands-On, In-Person Workshops
Participate in immersive, practical training led by experienced doulas.
Supplemental Learning
Expand your knowledge with specialized courses on childbirth education and infant feeding.
Personal & Business Mentorship
Get guidance on building your doula practice and professional development.
Doula Collective & Client Connections
Join a thriving network of doulas and connect with families who need your support.
Ongoing Learning & Retreats
Continue your education with doula retreats and advanced training at our serene lakeside location in Western NY and our Southern Texas spaces.
Approved by Medicaid & Insurance
Our program meets the requirements for reimbursement, expanding access to families and career opportunities for doulas.
How does it work?
Step 1
Pre-Reading
To prepare for your in-person workshops, we will send you a reading list we have found helpful as prerequisites to our weekend together
Step 2
Two Preparatory Classes
(via Zoom)
These Zoom classes are required for doulas that wish to certify (not everyone does!) and are offered by our Life Cycle team. You can choose to take these included classes before or after your in-person weekend:
Infant Feeding for Birth & Postpartum Doulas
Learn how to support families in their feeding choices with evidence-based information.
Childbirth Education for Birth Doulas
Gain a solid understanding of labor stages, interventions, and how to support different birth experiences.
Step 3
In-Person Weekend Workshop
Our comprehensive 3-day training prepares both new and experienced doulas with evidence-based techniques, advocacy strategies, and practical hands-on skills.
These classes offer an understanding of pregnancy and birth anatomy and focus on the role of the doula during this process. Our postpartum workshop will give you the knowledge to provide families with first-rate postpartum care and holistic support. You will be prepared to be hired and to begin doula work with families after attending your weekend.
Our experienced team will prepare you for the extraordinary role of doula support, offering hands-on tips, tools, and evidence based information to equip you for the traditional doula role providing emotional support and comfort measures. Our intimate in-person weekend will help build your confidence in that role, help you find community, and uncover your unique power as a doula.
Birth Doula Workshop Includes:
- Doula roles in various birth settings (hospital, home, birthing center)
- Medical vs. midwifery models of care (scope of practice, professional ethics, removing judgement and bias, standards and code of ethics)
- Informed consent, advocacy, and dismantling bias
- Comfort measures and hands-on labor support (comfort measures, tools for providing emotional support, holding space, communication, and empowering choice)
- Navigating medical interventions and physiological birth
- Supporting clients through trauma or loss
- Communication skills (learning therapeutic listening to become a “g.i.v.e.r.”)
- Creating safe “sacred” spaces for birth and postpartum support (spiritual, intuitive, non biased, culturally sensitive)
- Doula role in supporting infant feeding
- Frontloading (education, options, prenatals)
- Postpartum care (hearing client’s story, offering support and resources, scope of birth and postpartum doulas)
- Doula business tools and options (learning first steps, building a business, discussing professionalism and identifying career goals)
Postpartum Doula Workshop Includes:
- Understanding the significance of the postpartum period and the importance of supporting the entire family (partner, siblings, extended family)
- Newborn care and the fourth trimester (understanding how birth process effects infant and how we respect, care for, and support this new person and educate caregivers)
- 100 days (supporting postpartum, creating a “sacred” postpartum, and doula role in protecting and empowering this time)
- Communication skills and emotionally supporting families (hearing birth stories, holding space for loss, caring for whole family, empowering next steps)
- Understanding infant needs and applying practical methods and tools to meet stages of development (frontloading postpartum, informational support, offering recommendations vs. advice, evaluating information we share to be sure it’s evidence based, relevant, accurate, and timely
- Postpartum disorders and mental health awareness (understanding postpartum disorders and how to support)
- Infant feeding support and education (the doula role in feeding support including breast/chest, formula, and pumping)
- Doula contracts, business development, and career guidance (Doula in the field: days, nights, weeks, and full scope of a doula contract for postpartum care)
- Doula business practices (professional development, first steps, certification requirements for Life Cycle Doulas)
Certification Cost & Requirements
Once certified, you’ll be eligible to accept Medicaid, FSA/HSA payments, and work with clients across the country and worldwide.
Once you have attended a workshop, you can schedule your two hour mentor call with a Life Cycle Team Mentor to guide you through the certification process, answer your individual questions for career development, and begin to support next steps.
You’ll also have the opportunity to continue with additional mentoring and to join your local Doula Collective offering bi-monthly support meetings and an agency to connect you with birth and postpartum doula clients
Certification Cost
Total Cost: $800
Our comprehensive 3-day training prepares both new and experienced doulas with evidence-based techniques, advocacy strategies, and practical hands-on skills.(This includes training materials, 16 hour weekend workshop with breakfast and snacks, all supplemental Zoom classes, a 2 hour mentoring call, and an invitation to join bi-monthly doula support meetings and your community of doulas through the Doula Collective.)
Our small-group, hands-on approach builds confidence and ensures you leave prepared to support families with skill and professionalism.
Certification Requirements
Newborn Feeding Support Class
(one for birth and one for postpartum) These two-hour Zoom classes are designed for the birth and postpartum doula role. They include the information to support clients with resources and information for infant feeding and the doula’s role. You can take these Zoom classes before or after each 16 hour weekend workshop.
Childbirth Education
(birth workshop) This prerequisite Zoom class offers you a unique opportunity to explore the childbirth education curriculum and stages of labor with the focus exclusively on the doula role: managing medical interventions, supporting physiological birth, an understanding of the stages of labor and how doulas support in different settings.
Two Hour Mentoring Call
This optional call is an opportunity to speak with an agency owner to answer questions that come up (and they always do!) after your weekend workshop. It also helps you navigate your options moving forward, offering a one on one chance to get feedback from a Life Cycle team member.
For Birth Doulas
- Complete the required coursework and workshops
- Support three birth clients and submit evaluations
- Sign the code of ethics and scope of practice
For Postpartum Doulas
- Provide at least 15 hours of postpartum care for three families and submit evaluations
- Complete infant CPR training
- That’s it! You are now ready to support families in birth or postpartum anywhere you choose and are welcomed into a community of empowered, professional birth workers.
Mentorship & Community
Beyond Certification
Your training doesn’t end with certification. You’ll have access to a Doula Collective to build community, begin taking clients, and access to free doula support.
Join advanced training and retreats offering opportunities for growth, self care, and connection.
Add professional support with our experienced mentors offering one-on-one coaching.
All you need to help:
- Build a sustainable doula practice
- Get guidance on real-life client situations
- Find your place in the doula community
You’ll have access to our advanced weekend doula retreats offering opportunities for deeper learning, self care and connection.