• We've been training doulas both online and in person for years with high marks from our students!
• Online students learn on-the-go; perfect for tech-savvy students with busy schedules. No travel or childcare is required.
• In-person trainings are offered on a limited basis. Check out our locations and view our scholarship page for information on special opportunities.
• Although there are no deadlines to complete training or to certify with DTI, the online course is designed to be completed across the span of 1 semester or roughly 3 months, with live instruction from the educator team.
• If in person, a 4-day workshop is an intensive version of the online material. You will also receive access to the modules.
• After completing your training, it's time to connect with your local community! You are now qualified to work with clients as a birth doula, postpartum doula, and a reproductive health support doula. Certification is optional but useful!
• As you get busy building your doula practice, connect with your DTI community often. Participate in community chat as well as special workshops every month.
• Students benefit from returning to their course modules as often as they like. The online course is provided inside our private community. Video lessons are captioned and audio files are transcribed.

The training you choose does not necessarily have to correspond with how you plan to practice. For instance, some birth doulas train in full-spectrum to learn about the full breadth of possibilities. Certifying in all 3—birth, postpartum, and reproductive health—is a smart move to prepare for a variety of ways to practice as a doula, should you choose to in the future.

However, if you are certain that you do not need any training in reproductive health or postpartum, you can enroll in DTI's birth doula online training.

If you are certain that you only need training as a postpartum doula, you can enroll in the postpartum-only online training.

All of DTI's full-spectrum trainings, online or in-person, include the full training in birth, postpartum and reproductive health.

If you have been previously trained by another organization, you can consider joining DTI's Cross-Certification Pathway.

Review the content outline HERE

When you register for any DTI full-spectrum training, you gain access to our full suite of courses and resources, plus the flexibility to complete your certification on any timetable that works for you, provided you remain a current member.

If you sign up to attend in person, you'll also be joining a cohort of doulas for a special retreat-style experience.

Both options have their pros & cons.

• In person provides inspiration and a special energy.
• Online offers flexibility, a relaxed pace, the comfort of home, and affordability.
• In person is more expensive and requires commitment to 4 days, 9am to 5pm.
• Online, it may be challenging to join live for all of the virtual classes you wish to be a part of.

To help mitigate these concerns:

• We offer a mix of day & evening times as well as an extensive library of recorded calls.
• Our community platform and Find a Doula directory offer opportunities to get together with other DTI doulas in your area.
• Our educators are skilled at facilitating warmth and connection, whether virtual or in person.
• Since online students have many more opportunities to deepen their learning throughout a lengthier training time, we provide the modules and calls to in-person trainees too. Your learning journey doesn't need to end after just 4 days!

We hope to meet you soon! Book a Free Discovery Call with our friendly program specialist if you still have questions.

DTI's program is unique in that support is offered ongoing, so that you can jump in (or jump back in) any time with no deadlines. After you complete your online training course (or 4-day workshop) you can begin working with clients right away. Or you might feel you need more time and would like to attend some of our live instructional calls which occur on a rolling basis. We are here to guide you as you begin this important work!

The checklist is pretty simple! Our educator team provides exceptional guidance with all of the requirements.

1. Complete the coursework & reading checklist
2. Create a local resource referral list to share with your future clients.
3. Observe and document attendance at a childbirth education class or series.
4. Observe a class for expectant or new parents. This could be a new parent support group, a breastfeeding class, or a newborn care class.
5. Attend and complete an Infant and Child CPR Certification.
6. Support 2 or 3 clients as a labor doula. If 3, your requirement is complete (birth or full-spectrum doulas only). If 2, you may support a 3rd client for another reproductive health need, such as fertility, loss, or a pregnancy release (full-spectrum doulas only). If you have questions about what is considered client support, we provide comprehensive guidance.
7. Support 2 clients as a postpartum doula (full-spectrum and postpartum-only doulas)
8. Complete the required forms and write journal entries for these client interactions.
9. Write a simple Business Strategy Outline to set you on the right path when leaving the program.
10. Write 2 brief essays: one describing the role of the doula and another sharing how you wish to make an impact in your community as a doula.

That's it! Once your documents are completed and submitted through our system, a DTI team member will review and approve within 4-6 weeks.

Begin your doula work any time you are ready. There are no deadlines with DTI. As long as your membership remains current, you are welcomed to submit your certifying doula work any time. The certifying doula work must have occurred sometime after beginning your training and within the last 12 months from the day you are submitting.

We recommend seeking client work by the end of month 3 after starting your program to ensure the best motivation and continuity. However, if you need more time it's OK!
Many doulas who complete items 2, 3 and 4 above find it much easier to locate client work after doing so.

• If you complete all of the requirements listed above, you are welcome to submit your materials for review and approval at any time. Students must allow up to 6 weeks for the review and final approval process.
• Most participants find they need approximately 12 months to become established in their work and create a thriving, sustainable practice.

• Certification is not required to be a great doula.
• Doulas are special non-clinical healthcare providers. Licensure is not required and certification is a personal choice. At DTI we believe it's imperative to push back on efforts to regulate doulas.
• Doulas wear many hats and there are different ways to work in the field. Sometimes trained DTI doulas don't complete certification and still find satisfying work as a doula. Still others use it to springboard into other areas of reproductive health. The possibilities are numerous!

1. There are no deadlines to complete certification with DTI, provided your membership remains current.
2. Current members retain access to their course lessons.
3. Members who have lapsed for longer than 6 months may certify by purchasing the DTI Certification Pathway.

• Yes! Doulas have the freedom to work anywhere they choose, including internationally.
• To work as a doula, licensure is not required. Doulas do not have one central regulatory body. Given that our work is one hundred percent non-clinical, regulation is not required. Certification is a professional marker that many doulas choose to pursue, but it should not be a requirement before working as a doula.

• Ongoing support! Many of the doula trainings offered are just a short workshop without support for the journey beyond. Signing up with DTI affords you lifetime access so long as you are a current member, including a comprehensive curriculum with virtual support from your community every step of the way.
• Rigorous and current. DTI doulas are experienced, well-educated and well-prepared to serve all pregnant and birthing families through the lens of cultural humility and reproductive justice.
• Giving back is built into the model. Each registrant becomes part of a greater purpose. As an organization DTI is committed to offering a minimum of 60 scholarships per year. We meet this goal through our pay-it-forward model, allotting 25% of all full paying members' tuition fees into the scholarship fund.
• Practical. Once earned, certification is lifetime. Life happens! If you need to step away from doula work to have a baby of your own, or for any other reason, once earned your certification will not lapse. All doulas who train with us are able to stay plugged in and current in the field through either monthly or annual DTI membership.
• Autonomous. We strongly believe in autonomy for all persons, including doulas. The doula role is non-clinical and should never be regulated or licensed. We have complete confidence in the training and support our doulas have access to in order to be effective change-makers in today’s reproductive health climate.

We strongly recommend using a written document (contract) and setting a fee for your services with your very first clients, immediately following your training. Developing a professional practice provides the highest rate of long-term sustainability for our doulas. However, this approach is a personal choice. DTI advocates for autonomy for the doula to develop a practice which feels authentic to themselves and the communities they serve.

• The DTI full-spectrum program is $1,297 online or $1,897 in person. This provides 3-in-1 training and includes a year of membership (a $240 value). Many doula trainings are just a training — a short workshop without support for the journey beyond. Signing up with DTI affords you lifetime access to a comprehensive curriculum with virtual support from your community every step of the way.
• You might also choose to sign up for a standalone birth or postpartum course for $697.
• The Certification Pathway is included in each course purchase. No need to purchase separately, unless your membership has lapsed for longer than 6 months.
• Each registrant becomes part of a greater purpose. As an organization DTI is committed to offering a minimum of 120 scholarships per year. We meet this goal through our pay-it-forward model, allotting 25% of all full paying members' tuition fees into the scholarship fund.
• Aside from the cost associated with purchasing books from the reading list, DTI's program is all-inclusive. There are no hidden fees or confusing processes to maintain your status as a doula. It's a misconception that DTI's program costs more. Add the total of separate workshops and required fees together from other programs, and DTI's full-spectrum offering is roughly the same.
• DTI offers a full team of experienced educators to support you after the training as you work on carving out your unique path as a doula. The full-spectrum program offers support for doulas working in a variety of ways and settings. If you plan to build a business around your services, you will have several potential revenue streams.
• Membership is included for your first year and is optional after year 1. You can renew your membership for $19.99 per month or $220 annually.

Yes. You may select the 25% deposit option when checking out. The next payments are due 30, 60 and 90 days later.

You may also choose to utilize ShopPay installments with offers customers a variety of fee schedules.

Yes! Learn more and apply HERE.

• We believe families deserve compassionate, evidenced-based support at all stages of life—no matter their gender, race, religion, class or sexual orientation. Together, we are cultivating culturally humble communities that reimagine the role of reproductive work.
• Learn more about our mission & values.

• DTI’s goal is to open the door wider to include as many different people as possible in our community. One way to do this is to use inclusive language throughout our course materials. Culturally humble educators and doulas can and should take the time to listen to the experience of all people as unique individuals to learn about their needs regarding learning environments, care providers, birth locations, and more.
• A doula's role is to affirm all pregnant people. Using the language "birthing families," "pregnant person" and "birthing person" when speaking to groups includes all and excludes no one. Our entire society is set up to affirm two genders when in fact, gender exists on a spectrum. Gender and sex are not the same thing. Clients who benefit from and prefer using gendered terms remain free to use this language with their doulas and other providers.

• DTI stands for autonomy. We believe in human rights. Therefore, protecting choice is imperative. Reproductive rights combined with social justice is defined as “the right to have a child, not have a child, and to parent children in safe, healthy environments.” To reach the point of having a choice, rights must come first.
• We are always learning, growing, and studying about the larger healthcare system and how doulas can work most effectively as a part of the solution.