At the International Doula Institute, we value offering additional certifications for doulas. However, you may be wondering if you should become a prenatal yoga teacher. Does that complement the work you do as a doula?
In short, absolutely! And there are many reasons why. At IDI, we want all our doulas to have the skills and tools needed for a sustainable birth work career. When you complete additional certifications, you can offer additional services.
Why Should I Become a Prenatal Yoga Teacher?
As a doula, offering prenatal yoga instruction can help you expand your services. As you know, birth doulas can only take on a certain number of clients due to being on-call. When you expand your offerings to include things such as postpartum care and prenatal education, you can work more.
For many birth workers, there is a desire to turn birth work into a full-time career. Becoming a prenatal yoga teacher allows you to provide additional services to your current clients. However, it also allows you to offer a service to many pregnant people, not just your doula clients.
Offering private, group, and even virtual prenatal yoga classes can be an excellent way to expand your birth work career.
You Gain More Understanding About Pregnancy Physiology
As a birth doula, you understand the many physiological changes which occur during pregnancy. We become familiar with common pregnancy ailments, especially aches and pains. When you take our prenatal yoga teacher training, you learn more about safe exercise and stretching during pregnancy.
This requires expanding your knowledge of pregnancy physiology. With your increased knowledge, you offer better support to your doula clients. You also expand your opportunity to support more pregnant people in your community.
As a Prenatal Yoga Teacher, You Can Help Improve Birth Outcomes
Many people go into doula work to help others have positive birth experiences. They also hope to improve overall birth outcomes such as reducing the risk of an unnecessary c-section (not to be confused with medically necessary ones).
Research shows that pregnant people who are active often have improved birth outcomes.
“Structured physical exercise during pregnancy reduces the risk of cesarean delivery. This is an important finding to convince women to be active during their pregnancy and should lead the physician to recommend physical exercise to pregnant women, when this is not contraindicated.”
There is a pervasive myth that pregnant people should not be too active during pregnancy. Each person should consult with their midwife or doctor before beginning any new exercises. However, staying active or even gradually increasing activity is often a vital part of a healthy pregnancy.
By becoming a prenatal yoga teacher, you have another tool to use to improve birth outcomes in your community.
Become a Prenatal Yoga Teacher and Establish Continuity of Care
In a time where many growing families lack continuous professional support, being a doula who offers multiple services allows you to be a source of continuity. We know families with continuous support thrive better during and after pregnancy.
As doulas, we offer significant support by providing continuous care throughout the entire labor. However, with just a couple prenatal visits, even the best doula is only providing so much continuity of care. When you offer prenatal yoga, you give your clients the opportunity to work with you more and have more continuity of care.
Being a prenatal yoga teacher can improve your career, has the potential to impact birth outcomes in your community, and can allow you to provide continuity of care for your clients. Get started today! Become a prenatal yoga teacher now by registering with IDI.
Author: Aliza Juliette Bancoff
Aliza Juliette Bancoff is a well-known doula and doula trainer who has been providing doula services to families for over a decade. She is the founder of Main Line Doulas, a doula group providing doula support in the great Philadelphia area for the last decade, the International Doula Institute, which provides online doula training and lactation training and certification programs and the International Breastfeeding Institute which provides lactation training and certification. She is the co-founder of United Birth, a company devoted to increasing access to doulas across the country to make the perinatal time safer both physically and emotionally. “Every birthing person deserves access to quality doula support. And we are working to make that a reality across the country. The work we are doing to get doulas to every birthing person will decrease the black infant and maternal mortality rate significantly by 2030.” Says Bancoff. Aliza is known for her compassionate and empowering approach to doula work, and she has been featured in numerous media outlets, including United Nations Maternal Health Report, Parent Magazine, CafeMom, theBump and many more. Aliza's journey into doula work began when she gave birth to her first child and felt a strong calling...