Get paid to be a doula in Colorado
Health First Colorado has covered doula care since July 2024, and pays up to $1,500 per client. To bill it, you need training from a Colorado-approved organization. DTI is one. Here is exactly what stands between you and your first paid birth.
Two ways in, depending on what you've already done.
Colorado does not care where you trained as long as the organization is on its approved list. If you trained somewhere that isn't, you do not have to start over.
Online Full Spectrum Doula Training
Birth, postpartum, and reproductive health support in one program. Self-paced modules plus live classes capped at ten students. Most people finish the coursework in about three months.
- Certifies you as a birth, postpartum, and reproductive health doula
- One year of DTI membership included
- Certified for life, no recertification, ever
Cross Certification Pathway
For doulas whose training organization isn't on Colorado's approved list, or whose certification lapsed. Bring proof of your prior training and certify with DTI instead of repeating a full program.
- Two DTI courses plus your existing training
- Same lifetime certification, same approved-org status
- Built for doulas already attending births
Five steps from here to a paid claim.
These happen in order, and each one gates the next. Most of the confusion in this process comes from people trying to enroll as a provider before they have the pieces Colorado asks for.
Train with an approved organization
Colorado's certification pathway requires training from an organization on Health First's approved list. DTI has been on it since the benefit launched.
Attend three birthswithin 5 years
Health First wants three births attended in your role as a doula within the last five years. DTI's own certification requires client work too, so the same births count toward both.
Get your paperwork current
Current adult and child CPR, professional or liability insurance, a registered business, a Type 1 individual NPI, and a background check through IdentoGO. Your doula taxonomy code is 374J00000X.
Sign the attestation and enroll
You attest to the certification pathway, agree to the Doula Code of Conduct, and enroll as provider type 79 with Health First Colorado.
Bill
Claims are due within 365 days of service. Clean claims typically pay within about two weeks.
The real numbers, not a range.
Two billing codes cover everything a doula does under this benefit. Prenatal and postpartum visits are billed in 15-minute units. Labor and delivery is a flat fee.
Health First Colorado doula benefit
per member pregnancy| Code | Service | Rate | Covered maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1032 | Prenatal support, billed per 15 minutes | $25 / unit | 12 units · $300 |
| T1032 | Postpartum support, billed per 15 minutes | $25 / unit | 12 units · $300 |
| T1033 | Labor and delivery, flat fee per birth | $900 flat | 1 birth · $900 |
| Total billable, one client, one pregnancy | $1,500 | ||
Rates and unit maximums as published by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. Confirm current amounts against the Health First Colorado fee schedule before you build a budget on them, and note that you bill your usual and customary charge rather than the rate itself.
The full spectrum program is $1,297. One Medicaid client, billed across prenatal visits, the birth, and postpartum visits, is $1,500. Three clients in a year, at the delivery fee alone, is $2,700.
That math is why doulas in reimbursing states are training now. It is also why Health First is careful about who it lets bill.
There are two doors. One is much narrower.
Colorado lets you qualify without approved training, but the bar is significantly higher. This is the single most useful thing to understand before you spend money anywhere.
- Training from an approved organization, which DTI is
- Three births attended in the last five years
- Current CPR
- Agreement to the Doula Code of Conduct
- Ten births attended, with five in the last two years
- Four letters of recommendation, two from birth professionals and two from past clients
- Documented competency across twelve knowledge areas
- Current CPR and the same Code of Conduct
What Colorado asks for, and where it comes from.
What this page is not promising you
We would rather you enroll with clear eyes than be surprised in six months.
- Training alone does not let you bill. You are not paid by Medicaid until you finish enrollment as a Health First Colorado provider, which is a separate process.
- Nobody assigns you clients. Medicaid coverage means the families you find can pay you. Finding them is still your work, and DTI's business curriculum and community are built for that.
- The three-birth requirement takes time. Most people are looking at several months between finishing coursework and submitting an attestation.
- Rates change. The figures on this page come from Health First's published materials and should be verified against the current fee schedule.
Before you enroll.
Is DTI actually on Colorado's approved list?
Yes. Doula Trainings International appears on the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing's current list of approved doula training organizations. We are also an approved training organization for Medicaid reimbursement in Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
I trained with another organization. Do I have to start over?
No. The Cross Certification Pathway is $397 and is built for exactly this. You submit proof of your prior training, complete two DTI courses and the certification requirements, and you hold a DTI certification from an approved organization. If your certification lapsed elsewhere, this is also the fastest way back to current.
How long until I can bill my first birth?
The coursework takes about three months at one to two hours a week. After that, the pace is set by how quickly you attend three births and finish CPR, insurance, your NPI, and the background check. Plan for somewhere between six months and a year, and start looking for client work early rather than waiting until coursework is done.
Do I need to be certified to work as a doula in Colorado?
Not to work. Doula care is non-clinical and Colorado does not license doulas. You need it to bill Medicaid, which is a different question, and the one most people are actually asking.
Can I afford this right now?
Payment plans start with a 25% deposit and the balance due in 60 days. We also fund a scholarship program directly, with 25% of every full-paying student's tuition going into it, and we commit to a minimum of 120 scholarships a year. If cost is the only thing standing in your way, apply.
What happens after I certify?
Your certification is for life. There is no recertification and no renewal exam. Membership renews at $220 a year or $19.99 a month and keeps you in the monthly doula-to-doula sessions, continuing education, and the directory. Year one is included with your training.
Colorado is paying. You need the credential.
Talk to a program specialist for 15 minutes, or enroll and start this week.
Figures on this page are drawn from the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing's published doula benefit materials, including the approved training organization list, the doula billing manual, the provider attestation, and the provider training deck. DTI is not affiliated with Health First Colorado and cannot enroll you as a Medicaid provider on your behalf.