Postpartum Doula Core Training: In Person

Certification Requirements must be completed and submitted within 2 years of your training at Natural Resources.

If you are an “Established Doula” (have worked for 25 families within the last five years) click here to learn more about becoming a certified doula via our International Established Doula Certification Program.

1. Attendance
(A) Core Training of 16 hours

One session may be missed and attended (within 1 year) at a future training. If you miss more than one session, you must enroll in a new training to receive a Certificate of Completion or Certification

(B) Attend 2 supplemental classes: Postpartum Nutrition and Newborn Sleep

2. Reading Requirements
Core Reading – Select 1 book from each Category listed below (readings may not be duplicated for multiple Doula Certifications). 

Submit a 1 page personal response of each book. What is your reaction to the material? Do you agree/disagree? Why?

Category 1: Postpartum Doulas

1) Nurturing Beginnings: Guide to Postpartum Care for Doulas and Community Outreach Workers by Pascali-Bonaro, Arnold, Ringel 

2) Nurturing the Family: A Doula’s Guide to Supporting New Parents by Jacqueline Kelleher

3) The Doula Business Guide: How to Succeed as a Birth, Postpartum, or End-of-Life Doula by Patty Brennan

Category 2: Postpartum

1) A Taste of Our Own Medicine: 3 Vital Keys To Ending Postnatal Depletion, Nurturing Mothers And Improving Communities by Danett Bean 

2) The First Forty Days: The Essential Art to Nourishing the New Mother by Ou, Greeven, and Belger

3) Mothering the New Mother by Sally Placksin 

4) Mother Nurture by Rick Hanson, Jan Hanson, Ricki Pollycove 

5) The Fourth Trimester: A Postpartum Guide to Healing Your Body, Balancing Your  Emotions, and Restoring Your Vitality by Kimberly Ann Johnson

Category 3: Postpartum Mood Disorders

1) This Isn’t What I Expected: Overcoming Postpartum Depression by Kleiman and Raskin

2) Beyond the Blues by Bennett and Indman 

3) Overcoming Postpartum Depression and Anxiety by Linda Sebastian 

4) The Pregnancy and Postpartum Depression and Anxiety Workbook by Wiegartz and  Gyoerkoe

Category 4: The Newborn

1) Your Amazing Newborn by Klaus and Klaus 

2) The Happiest Baby on the Block by Harvey Karp 

3) Your Baby is Speaking to You by Kevin Nugent 

4) The Wonder Weeks by Plas-Plooij, Plooij, and van de Rijt

5) The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley 

6) Sweet Sleep by Wiessinger, West, Smith, and Pitman 

7) Safe Infant Sleep by James McKenna

Category 5: Lactation

1) Nursing Mother’s Companion by Kathleen Huggins 

2) The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Wiessenger, West and Pitman (2010 or newer)

3) Breastfeeding Made Simple by Nancy Mohrbacher 

4) The Black Woman’s Guide to Breastfeeding: The Definitive Guide to Nursing for African American Mothers by Katherine Barber 

5) Latch: A Handbook for Breastfeeding with Confidence at Every Stage by Robin Kaplan

6) The Big Letdown: How Medicine, Big Business, and Feminism Undermine Breastfeeding by Kimberly Seals Allers

Category 6: Reproductive Justice & Cultural Competency

1) Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts 

2) Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Angela Garbes 

3) Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth by Dana-Ain Davis

4) Reproductive Justice: An Introduction by Ross & Solinger 

5) Birth in Eight Cultures by Davis-Floyd & Cheyney 

6) Where’s the Mother? Stories from a Transgender Dad by Trevor MacDonald 

7) Journey to Same-Sex Parenthood by Eric Rosswood 

8) Red Medicine: Traditional Indigenous Rites of Birth and Healing by Patrisia Gonzales

9) Battling Over Birth: Black Women and the Maternal Health Care Crisis by Oparah, Arega, Hudson, Jones, Oseguera 

3. Proof of current Adult and Infant/Child CPR certification

4. Observe a Lactation Class or Lactation Support Group

Submit a Class Observation Report

5. Support 6 families in the early postpartum period (first 6 weeks) occurring during or after the training.

At least 2 shifts of 2 hours each.

-Submit a Postpartum Doula Support Form describing your experience with each family, including specific ways you provided guidance 

-Natural Resources Evaluation of Postpartum Support

-Questionnaire completed by the birthing person of each family supported. 

6. Natural Resources Doula Code of Ethics/Standards of Practice

Natural Resources trained Doulas will receive our Certification Packet at the time of training. Once you have completed all of the required paperwork, you will purchase the Certification Application (linked inside the packet) for a $75 fee. If you trained with Natural Resources and need access to the Certification Packet, please email [email protected].