Second only to being a mother, being a doula is one of the most wonderful, exciting and challenging jobs you could choose!
Here at The Mothering Touch Centre, most of our staff are doulas or doulas-in-training and we'd love to help you become a doula too! We offer DONA-approved Doula Workshops, information and support right here in Victoria. Read on to learn more, or skip directly to a workshop:
Steps To Becoming A Doula
Start by finding an experienced doula to talk to...
If you don't know a doula, please feel free to contact Eva at Mothering Touch, she is the DONA representative for British Columbia and would be happy to answer your questions and introduce you to other doulas to interview.
Here are some important questions to ask the doulas you speak to:
- What are the best parts of the job?
- What is the worst part of the job?
- How do you keep a balance between your work and your home life?
- How to you get support from other doulas?
- How do you find your clients?
- What did you wish you had known before you went to your first birth?
- Can you actually support yourself financially doing this work?
Ask her the tough questions. Doulas are supposed to be honest, but sometimes they are too kind. Don't let her paint too rosy a picture of the work, but get her to tell you about the wonderful excitement of it too!
Next, get some information about what birth is like in your community...
Observing pre-natal classes is a good way to do that. In Victoria, you could attend a Mothering Touch Childbirth Preparation Class, or you could call Camosun College, the YM-YWCA or the Queen Alexandra Centre. Elsewhere, try other YM/YWCA facilities, Public Health Units or the local Community College. Look in the yellow pages under Prenatal.
Tell them you are working towards becoming a doula and would like to observe a series of classes. They should let you do so for free. It will take you a few weeks, but you will have to do this anyway for your DONA certification, so you may as well get it done.
Do some reading on doulas, pregnancy and childbirth...
There are lots of resources available online, even hundreds of birth stories, written by doulas, midwives and mothers. The Mothering Touch Centre also has a book and video library you may utilize. The books included in the suggested reading list below are all on the reading list for DONA certification:
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The DONA Website There are many internet sites about doulas, but the most complete and authoritative one by far is the DONA website at www.dona.org You will find there not only information on what doulas are about, but also on how to become certified as a doula. They even have public discussion boards you can ask questions on. |
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The Doula Book: How a Trained Labour Companion Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier and Healthier Birth by Marshall Klaus MD, Phyllis Klaus, John Kennell MD |
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The Birth Partner: Everything You Need to Know to Help a Woman Through Childbirth by Penny Simkin |
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The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth (revised edition) by Sheila Kitzinger |
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Pregnancy, Chilbdirth and The Newborn, The Complete Guide by Penny Simkin, Janet Whalley and Ann Keppler |
Find a DONA-approved doula workshop program near you...
If you live in or near Victoria, we are pleased to offer you doula workshops right here:
- DONA-approved Birth Doula Workshop at The Mothering Touch Centre
- DONA-approved Postpartum Doula Workshop at The Mothering Touch Centre
If you live elsewhere, click here to find a workshop in your area through the DONA website.
