In January, the International Doula Institute held its first LIVE Birth Doula Certification workshop. At IDI, we are committed to finding ways to make doula training more accessible. By offering a weekend workshop, we made it possible for over thirty doulas to meet the certification requirements in a short period of time. Our first ever live virtual doula training was a huge success!
The International Doula Institute was founded by busy mom and doula, Aliza. She knows exactly what it’s like to have a passion for birth and supporting families while balancing that with other family, personal, and professional responsibilities.
Our unique online, go at your own pace, curriculum, was revolutionary in the doula field. We will always offer this program due to the importance of flexibility in comprehensive training. However, being able to now add a live, virtual program, we can meet the needs of more doula students. Everyone’s circumstances are unique, which is why we are so excited to offer multiple routes to certification.
Live Virtual Doula Training
What is live virtual doula training? It’s a live weekend workshop that you attend via Zoom. It allows you to get the same benefit of an in-person doula training without the extra cost of travel, childcare, etc.
Students get to set aside a weekend to focus on their training. For students worried about self-pacing, or those who want to complete training in a short period of time, this virtual workshop is perfect.
Rather than only reading, viewing videos, etc., students learn from the instructor speaking directly to them in real time. Questions can be immediately answered, and any confusion about material immediately solved.
Our self-paced program includes access to instructors, so there’s no course at IDI that doesn’t have support. However, for some learning styles, live teaching is ideal.
Why Live Virtual Doula Training?
For people with time consuming jobs, busy schedules, young kids with high needs, live training allows you to set aside a few days to knock out training. For some families, slow and steady works best. Someone works on their training when kids are at school, on their days off, etc., and that works best.
However, for other households, the evenings are so busy, and many weekends packed, spending 6-12 weeks or more working a bit each day is too difficult. Being able to set aside one weekend and knocking out all the training, with access to the same learning material, makes it easier for some.
Depending on someone’s learning style, they might learn better through conversation and audio rather than reading and videos.
Who Teaches Virtual Doula Training?
Each training at IDI has a dedicated instructor who is an experienced and certified doula. However, at IDI you do not learn from just one instructor. In addition to a dedicated instructor, whether our live or self-paced courses, you will also learn from other professionals, including but not limited to:
- Midwives
- Pelvic floor therapists
- Nurses
- Nutritionists
- Herbalists
- OBs, Neonatologists, and more!
Our live workshops include live teaching from additional professionals, as well as prerecorded information. Our self-paced courses also include written and prerecorded information from additional professionals.
We are committed to ensuring our doulas have well-rounded training, whether live or self-paced. By including multiple birth professionals, we are able to offer multiple perspectives all rooted in evidence.
Is Live Virtual Training Right For Me?
If you are unsure which type of training is right for you, consider the following:
Live training might be right for you if:
- You want to learn quickly
- You can set aside 2-3 days to focus and attend live virtual training
- Are interested in jumping into doula work asap
- Learning with a live person is easier for you than reading
- You desire an in-person training but travel, childcare, etc., makes in inaccessible.
Self-Paced online training might be right for you if:
- You are a self-started and like to work independently
- Setting aside a whole weekend is difficult
- You like to take time to digest information and tackle each topic slowly
- It is easier to set aside 30, 60, or 90 minutes a day to work rather than a whole weekend
- You want to take multiple courses and work through simultaneously
- It is easier for you to learn via text than audio
There are pros and cons to each type of training that we offer. Whether a person takes a live virtual workshop or self-paced course, they receive the same high quality, evidence-based training. Each doula is ready to jump into supporting families as a doula upon completing the training.
Ready to get started? You can register today for either training! Our next LIVE workshop will be held this spring.
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...