Building Confidence in Birth Education: What Childbirth Educators Need to Know

As childbirth educators and doulas, we hope to help parents have positive birth experiences. While we’ve often seen this anecdotally, we now have studies backing what we’ve seen in birth education. Confidence and positivity around childbirth can often improve birth experiences.

Recent findings highlight that when pregnant people feel confident in their ability to give birth and experience higher overall psychological well-being, their fear of childbirth drops significantly.

This is important for childbirth educators. Our role isn’t just to teach the facts, but to help parents feel capable, supported, and positive about the upcoming birth journey.

What Did This Study Find about Confidence in Birth?

Up to 60% of women experience some fear going into childbirth. This makes it an important area to research to find out why some people do not experience fear. When we know why some people do not fear birth, we can help others have less fear around birth.

Researchers from Robert Gordon University in Scotland and the University of South Australia (UniSA) surveyed 88 women in their third trimester before they took prenatal classes.

• The survey found higher mental well-being and stronger belief in one’s birthing ability (self-efficacy) were linked to lower levels of childbirth fear.
• The research pushes the idea that antenatal education should go beyond the “What can happen” model and lean into the “What you can do and believe” model.
• Positivity, meaningful relationships, and psychological wellness were found to be strong protective factors—essentially building a foundation that empowers, rather than just informs.

It was important to build confidence and encourage empowerment and not just educate about birth. Building confidence is an important part of prenatal education. For childbirth educator students at IDI, we teach about building confidence and encouraging parents to be critical thinkers. When parents are involved in the decision-making process around birth, they are likely to be more confident and have an empowered birth experience.

What Does This Study Mean For Birth Education?

1. Shift the focus from only information to also empowerment

While physiological birth and medical knowledge is vital, educators benefit from layering in exercises that boost self-efficacy:

• Visualization or “birth practice” sessions
• Strength-based discussions: “What are your strengths as a laboring person?”
• Guided reflection on past successes or coping skills

2. Integrate positive psychology into your class design

Encourage this kind of mindset work:

• Pose questions such as: “When have you surprised yourself with how capable you were?”
• Use affirmations: “I am the birth person. I have strengths.”
• Incorporate partner or support-person reflections: “How can you help build confidence rather than fear for your birthing person?”

3. Support emotional wellness alongside technique

Since psychological wellness showed a strong link with lower fear, your curriculum might include:

• Brief modules on stress management or relaxation techniques (e.g., breathing, mindfulness)
• Resource lists for mental health or community support
• Encouragement of healthy social support networks and relationships

4. Identify and address signs of high childbirth fear

Educators should stay alert for participants who express:

• Overwhelming fear, “I just don’t think I can do it”
• Previous traumatic birth experience influencing current mindset
• Little support or negative birth narratives. These participants may benefit from referral to a doula, counsellor, or specialized class.

5. Reinforce the educator–doula synergy

As childbirth educators, you prepare the knowledge and mindset. Doulas build on that work during labor. Make sure your students know about how these roles complement each other and how they might engage a doula to support confidence in action.

Practical Class-Session Ideas For Birth Education

• “Strengths & Values” Activity: Ask participants to list 3 personal strengths and map how they can apply them in labor.
• “What I’m Looking Forward To” Worksheet or Discussion: Balance fears with positive anticipations, allowing space for both.
• Partner Role-Play: Practice partner using supportive phrases that build confidence rather than heightening fear.
• Calm Language Inventory: Coach on how language around birth matters—for example switching “What if I can’t do it?” to “What will help me feel capable?”

For educators, this study reminds us: knowledge alone isn’t enough. The beliefs people hold about their ability to birth, their emotional wellbeing, and the positivity around them matter deeply. When we build classes that empower, invite reflection, and strengthen confidence—fear of childbirth becomes less of a hurdle and more of a manageable part of the journey.

Not already a childbirth educator? Register now and become equipped to help prepare parents for a positive birth experience with less fear.

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...