Today we got an interesting question that in many many years of doula training, I don’t think we’ve ever gotten before, and I thought it would be a fun blog topic! They asked, “I have three kids, what is doula training going to teach me that I didn’t learn from them?!”
While having three children is an extraordinary experience that provides deep personal insights into childbirth and parenting, doula training offers a complementary perspective that focuses on professional support and education for others during childbirth. Here’s a comparison that might help clarify the unique benefits of doula training:
Professional Techniques & Knowledge
Doula training educates individuals on a wide range of birthing techniques, medical information, and evidence-based practices that may not be covered in personal experience. It also includes how to provide continuous emotional support, physical comfort, physiology of childbirth, communication advocacy and so much more.
Understanding Different Perspectives
While personal experience is profound, it’s often unique to an individual’s circumstances. Doula training equips you with the knowledge to support various birthing choices, cultural backgrounds, and medical situations, allowing you to assist a diverse range of clients.
Emotional Support Skills
Doula training provides specific techniques for offering emotional support to both birthing persons and their families. It covers how to communicate effectively, manage stress, and create a positive birthing environment, which goes beyond personal experience.
Professional Ethics and Standards
Doulas are trained in professional conduct, confidentiality, and collaboration with medical professionals. These aspects ensure that support is given safely and responsibly.
Continuous Learning and Community
Doula training provides access to a community of professionals, ongoing learning opportunities, and often includes certification that signifies a commitment to a specific standard of care.
Ability to Support Others
While personal experience can be incredibly valuable in relating to others, doula training empowers you to support families outside of your personal experiences. This includes assisting in various birthing environments such as hospitals, birthing centers, or home births, and working with medical teams.
While personal experience with childbirth is irreplaceable and offers a deep understanding from a parent’s perspective, doula training is designed to equip individuals with the professional skills and knowledge to support others during this significant life event. It enables you to take your personal insights and apply them in a broader, more inclusive manner to assist various families in their unique childbirth journeys. Both personal experience and professional training are valuable, each in their unique way, and together they can make you an even more compassionate and skilled doula.
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...