IGNITE DOULA ACADEMY PROGRAM OVERVIEW

COURSE OUTLINE

Birth & Postpartum Program Overview

Week 1: What It's Like to Be A Doula
- You'll learn the difference between birth and postpartum doulas, what it's like being a doula in today's climate, how to find clients that align with your values and the doula's scope of practice
Week 2: Out of Hospital Birth & Client's Rights
- You'll learn about birthing peoples rights, bias & systemic racism, home birth, birth center birth, how to run prenatal meetings, and how to talk to clients when they call in labor.
Week 3: Labor Variations & Interventions
- You'll learn about different labor patterns, augmentation & induction, ways midwives induce and assisted deliveries.
Week 4: Childbirth Education Class
- You'll watch a recording of a childbirth ed class and learn about physiological birth, stages of labor, comfort measures, interventions, inductions, cesareans, postpartum recovery and first weeks of infancy.
Week 5: Supporting through Loss, Cesareans & VBACs
- You'll learn about holding space for loss whether its stillbirth, miscarriage, abortion or loss of birthing person.
- You'll also learn about what to expect as a doula for cesareans (planned vs not planned) and how to best support someone wanting a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean).
Week 6: Lactation & NICU Support
- You'll learn about the basics of breast/bodyfeeding, getting a good deep latch, bottle & formula feeding, and supporting clients through a NICU stay.
Week 7: Infant Care
- You'll learn diapering, swaddling, normal newborn appearance, bathing, soothing and sleep.
Week 8: Postpartum Doula Support & PPMD
- You'll learn about what a postpartum doula is, the difference between a day and night shift, postpartum mood disorders and how to support clients suffering from mood disorders.
Week 9: Success in Business
- You'll learn how to gain clients, price your services, marketing, and manage your client information.
Week 10: Review & Wrap Up
- As a training cohort, you'll practice handling scenarios you've encountered throughout the program and receive feedback from the training mentors.

Postpartum Program Overview

Week 1: Lactation & NICU Support
- You'll learn about the basics of breast/bodyfeeding, getting a good deep latch, bottle & formula feeding, and supporting clients through a NICU stay.
Week 2: Infant Care
- You'll learn diapering, swaddling, normal newborn appearance, bathing, soothing and sleep.
Week 3: Postpartum Doula Support, PPMD
- You'll learn about what a postpartum doula is, the difference between a day and night shift, postpartum mood disorders and how to support clients suffering from mood disorders.
Week 4: Success in Business
- You'll learn how to gain clients, price your services, marketing, and manage your client information.

CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Birth & Postpartum Certification

Complete the 10 week training
Complete the required reading checklist
- The Fearless Birth Book by Emma Armstrong
- Breastfeeding Made Simple by Nancy Mohrbacher and Kathleen Kendall-Tackett
- This Book is Anti-racist by Tiffany Jewell
- The fourth trimester by Kimberly Ann Johnson
Attend/support 3 clients as a labor doula within 1 year of completing the training.
- This support could be through loss or labor/birth.
Complete 24 hours of postpartum work within 1 year of completing the training.
1. Must support at least 2 clients and include at least 1 day shift and 1 night shift
Complete the required forms and write journal entries for your client interactions/support.

Postpartum Certification

Complete the 4 week training
Complete the required reading checklist
- Breastfeeding Made Simple by Nancy Mohrbacher and Kathleen Kendall-Tackett
- This Book is Anti-racist by Tiffany Jewell
- The fourth trimester by Kimberly Ann Johnson
Complete 24 hours of postpartum work within 1 year of completing the training.
1. Must support at least 2 clients and include at least 1 day shift and 1 night shift
Complete the required forms and write journal entries for your client interactions/support.

Once your documents are completed and submitted through our system, a team member will review and approve within 6 weeks.

We recommend working toward your certification by end of month 3 after starting your training to ensure you stay motivated.