Choose a Doula Worldwide
February 6, 2007 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under pregnancy
Several websites help women choose a doula. A doula is one of the cast of breastfeeding support characters who can assist a mother with labor, delivery and/or postpartum non-medical baby care and mother care including breastfeeding.
In alphabetical order, the websites are:
1. http://www.alace.org/ (U.S. and Canada)
ALACE is the Association of Labor Assistants and Childbirth Educators. It trains and certifies labor assistants, birth doulas and childbirth educators. Since its formation in 1977, ALACE has trained over 4,500 women. ALACE says:
ALACE is the only one of the five nationally certifying organizations to be developed and guided principally by women — women who are midwives, childbirth educators, mothers and natural birth advocates.
ALACE and DONA (below) are among the original ratifiers of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services’ (CIMS) Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (MFCI). Only people who are ALACE trained or certified are listed on the ALACE internet referral website.
2. http://www.cappa.net/ (U.S. and Canada)
CAPPA stands for Childbirth and Postpartum Professional Association. It says:
CAPPA is a non-profit international organization that was founded in 1998 to offer the highest level of professional membership and training to childbirth educators, lactation educators, labor doulas, antepartum doulas and postpartum doulas. CAPPA offers the highest level of evidence based training available. The organization consists of a leadership board, regional representatives, trainers, mentors, advisors and its membership. CAPPA is the most comprehensive pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum organization available…caring for women before, during, and after birth through education and support.
CAPPA also endorses the MFCI mentioned above. CAPPA specifies its requirements for CAPPA labor doula certification. Its members are listed in a referral resource.
3. http://www.dona.org/ (Worldwide)
DONA is an international organization:
With more than 5,500 birth and postpartum doula members and growing, we are the largest doula association in the world. We support doulas by providing quality training and meaningful certification. We serve mothers and families by providing access to information and research about doulas, childbirth and the postpartum experience. DONA International certification sets the bar for doula education and professional development. It indicates to families that a doula has achieved a high level of training and professionalism.
DONA sets certification standards for doulas worldwide. To find a DONA certified doula, go to the DONA homepage and use the “Find a Doula” tool in the left-hand sidebar.
4. http://www.findadoula.com/ (Worldwide)
FindaDoula is affiliated with Childbirth International which trains and certifies doulas worldwide. There is no requirement for professionals to get their free listing at FindaDoula (that is, not all professionals listed are trained or certified by Childbirth International) so make sure you check each individual’s training and certification.
To find other doula organizations and childbirth educators throughout the United States and worldwide, scan the list of MFCI ratifiers and endorsers.
Are you a doula? Did you hire a doula? Share your experience and recommendations for choosing a doula!
I’m a doula, and it’s GREAT that you’re addressing this! One of the best ways to have a mom who gets off on the right foot breastfeeding is to have that mom hire a doula. Women who have a doula in attendance at the birth of their child are statistically significantly more likely to have a sucessful (and longer) breastfeeding relationship. And, thank you, too, for listing more than just the DONA site for help in finding a doula in one’s area. Although DONA is perhaps the most well known certification group, they are certainly not the “best” or the “only” one. Not that they have drawbacks, per se (my partner and back-up is a DONA trained doula and I’d feel great knowing she was supporting one of my clients if I weren’t available because of some emergency), just that they’re not the only ones around.
For the most part, I’ve found that the certification process, and who is running it, doesn’t really matter to mothers looking for a doula. However, oftentimes, it DOES make a difference to the woman looking to BECOME a doula. The organizations all have a little bit of a different perspective on birth and how birth should be attended, so most women looking to become a doula will spend many HOURS carefully considering how each certifying body and it’s course will benefit her as a doula. It’s actually a pretty important milestone in the “life of a doula” to have chosen one’s certification course, and sometimes it’s Childbirth International, CAPPA, or ALACE.
Bellywomen dot net is a great resource, too, for women who have a need to be attended by a doula, and can’t afford (really, honestly can’t afford, not don’t want to fork out the money…what I do is REALLY hard work, both emotionally and physically, and if a woman CAN afford to pay me my fee, it is wonderful to be recognized for my abilities) to going rate in the area, they can look on bellywomen for a doula who is willing to work on a sliding scale or willing to fully donate their time (for really destitute clients). Many of us are willing to take a sliding scale or free birth per every so many full fee births to help women in the community who otherwise wouldn’t have the benefit of labor support. I have had many women contact me off of bellywomen, actually, simply because they want to breastfeed and having a doula gives them the best chance they have in their situation to breastfeed.
When you look for a doula, if there are several choices in your area, I highly suggest that you meet face to face with your potential doulas and talk for a while before you make a choice. This is to gauge chemistry. Having this woman in your birth space could be a significant decision for you, and if you have time to make the choice carefully, you should do so! I love my job, but I’d much rather my friend get a birth over me if the chemistry is better between a woman and her than to get the job myself and have the mother have a less than optimal experience because the chemistry just wasn’t right. And you’ll know right away with most doulas if you’re a good fit or not, so don’t worry that, after you’ve met your prospective choices, you’ll make the wrong choice. Kinda like finding the right mate…you’ll know!
The goal of a doula should really be to have birth be something that YOU DO…not something that happens to you or for you. That means that one of her major goals is education before your birth. Informed consent is a big responsibility. And to be TRUELY informed when you sign any paperwork and/or make any decision, no matter how big or small, is a large part of birth being something that the mother does, rather than something that is done to her. Next, after having done her first job well, it is a doula’s responsibility to support the mother in the informed choices that she makes. I know of one doula who, if the client doesn’t take her advice, will leave the mother. This isn’t only malpractice right then, but also in that she doesn’t trust her SELF to educate her clients fully, to ENCOURAGE them to make decisions that will make their births their own. So, no matter the decision, if it was made with foreknowledge, then if it’s the right one for the mom, it’s the doula’s job to support it. This is why some women I know make very compassionate friends but would make awful doulas!…because they wouldn’t be able to support a mom no matter her choice.
Good for you, for talking about Doulas. Unfortunately, not enough women know about us and the work we do. I can’t tell you how many women I have met since I started working as a doula who say, “Wow! I really wish I had known about doulas when I had my baby!”