Doula Preparation Courses
with the Art of Being with Birth
with the Art of Being with Birth
What is a doula?
Doulas provide continuous physical, spiritual, emotional and informational support before, during and after birth to help women and families enjoy a healthy and more empowered birth and early parenting experience. Doulas also endeavour to provide balanced information to help you make informed decisions about your maternity care. Being a doula is sacred work - honouring and being present as new life enters the world and a new family unit is created. Research shows that parents who have a doula present report their birth as easier and more comfortable than those who do not have doula present.
What does our Birth Doula Training involve?
Welcome - the fact that you are here on this page tells us you are already a doula... and we want to help you get started. Alongside our aim to impart our knowledge and provide information, we want to help you discover your innate wisdom. Knowledge is of the brain, while wisdom is of the heart and gut and involves more "being" than "doing". We each possess a wealth of wisdom as do the women we work with. Our intention is to enable women to be at the centre of their births, it's not your journey - it's theirs.
We will spend time exploring your responses and reactions to scenarios you might encounter as you support families and will draw from our wealth of real life experiences. You will hone your faith in birth and in women's ability to choose their own path through this right of passage. You will see yourself as an invited guest accompanying them at this significant time, even if you appear to do very little. This is the art of being with birth.
We have time between the three weekends to delve deeper and expand your knowledge with our guidance and support. There will be an invitation for self exploration and reflection, so you develop your ability to be with birth, as well as the opportunity to deepen your knowledge of topics of and around childbirth. You will be assigned reading and resources during the time in between gatherings. The benefits of being in the room with other people are being able to see your value reflected by others, connecting and supporting one another.
We will continue to support you through mentoring after your course, if you decide you want this. We both offer mentoring either through the Scottish Doula Network, or through the Art of Being with Birth. This will be explained on the course, though do let us know if you have any questions in the meantime. There are so many facets to working with families in the childbearing year: spiritual, medical, social, political, physical, emotional, psychological and cultural, and it is our work to deepen our knowledge of ourselves, and what families may need and want as support during this potentially transformative time. You already have so much to bring to this role.
Our course will look at the following (and more, it's not limited to this list):
Pregnancy
The Role of the Doula
Birth
Post Birth
We will spend time exploring your responses and reactions to scenarios you might encounter as you support families and will draw from our wealth of real life experiences. You will hone your faith in birth and in women's ability to choose their own path through this right of passage. You will see yourself as an invited guest accompanying them at this significant time, even if you appear to do very little. This is the art of being with birth.
We have time between the three weekends to delve deeper and expand your knowledge with our guidance and support. There will be an invitation for self exploration and reflection, so you develop your ability to be with birth, as well as the opportunity to deepen your knowledge of topics of and around childbirth. You will be assigned reading and resources during the time in between gatherings. The benefits of being in the room with other people are being able to see your value reflected by others, connecting and supporting one another.
We will continue to support you through mentoring after your course, if you decide you want this. We both offer mentoring either through the Scottish Doula Network, or through the Art of Being with Birth. This will be explained on the course, though do let us know if you have any questions in the meantime. There are so many facets to working with families in the childbearing year: spiritual, medical, social, political, physical, emotional, psychological and cultural, and it is our work to deepen our knowledge of ourselves, and what families may need and want as support during this potentially transformative time. You already have so much to bring to this role.
Our course will look at the following (and more, it's not limited to this list):
Pregnancy
- Preparation for working with families throughout pregnancy
- Community support
- Meeting individual needs
- Working with previous birth stories, fears and anxieties
- Active listening
- Planning for their dream birth
- Assisting with birth preferences
- Working with partners and their concerns
- Active Birth options for supporting labour
- Spiritual/ceremonial preparation for transformation through birth
- Trust and intuition - yours and the woman's (or birthing person's)
- Nutrition and wellbeing
- Calming the nervous system and bringing safety
- Navigating maternity services and offerings to get your needs met
The Role of the Doula
- Building and working in trusting relationships and healthy working practices
- Setting up your business and your community
- Networking with others
- Birth and human rights
- Being on call
- Showing up - it's not your story
- Advocacy - amplifying the woman's voice
- Being ready for this work
- What's in a doula bag?
- Charging for your services
- Signposting parents towards relevant information as appropriate
- Support informed decision-making
- Awareness of the impact of language
- Trusting your intuition
Birth
- The joy of birth
- The intensity of birth
- The sacredness of birth
- The art of being with birth
- Physiology and hormones of birth and bonding
- Centering the woman and her care
- Birth interventions and instrumental births
- Managing the unexpected
- What it looks like when it's undisturbed
- Disturbed flow of birth and the implications
- Birth environments
- Foetal positioning and balancing your body
- Supporting instinctive movement and positions
- Comfort measures to make labour more enjoyable
- Pain relief
Post Birth
- Placental birth and care
- Neonatal care
- Norms of NHS postpartum care and options
- Breast and bottle feeding
- Community and family support
- Sleep
- How and when to step back from your role
- Death and loss
- Empowering new parents
- Practical support
- Postnatal depression
What does our Postnatal Doula Training Involve?
Our Postnatal training is specifically aimed at those intending to work with families postnatally or for those already working as doulas who would like to enhance their skills and confidence in supporting families during the postnatal period.
"Daisy and Shanti are the most inspirational doulas that I know offering years of experience in the birth world. They both have a strong passion for physiological birth and protecting woman's rights in birth. Daisy and Shanti are also wonderful group facilitators and mentors offering gentle guidance and practical skills." (Ugne, doula with the Scottish Doula Network)
