Birth Doula Certification

Required Training for Initial Birth Doula Certification

• An NCB approved foundational birth doula training that includes the core competencies of:
  • • • Perinatal counseling and support services
      • Labor support
      • Infant care

• Four (4) Hours of NCB approved training in Trauma-Informed Care (TIC)
  • • • According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)’s National Center for Trauma-Informed Care “Trauma-informed care shifts the focus from “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” A trauma-informed approach to care acknowledges that health care organizations and care teams need to have a complete picture of a patient’s life situation — past and present — in order to provide effective health care services with a healing orientation. Adopting trauma-informed practices can potentially improve patient engagement, treatment adherence, and health outcomes, as well as provider and staff wellness. It can also help reduce avoidable care and excess costs for both the health care and social service sectors.
        Trauma-informed care seeks to:
      • Realize the widespread impact of trauma and understand paths for recovery;
      • Recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma in patients, families,and staff;
      • Integrate knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices; and
      • Actively avoid re-traumatization.

        (Adapted from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s “Trauma-Informed Approach.”)

        A comprehensive approach to trauma-informed care must be adopted at both the clinical and organizational levels. Too frequently, providers and health systems attempt to implement trauma-informed care at the clinical level without the proper supports necessary for broad organizational culture change. This can lead to uneven, and often unsustainable, shifts in day-to-day operations. This narrow clinical focus also fails to recognize how non-clinical staff, such as front desk workers and security personnel, often have significant interactions with patients and can be critical to ensuring that patients feel safe.

        Additional Resources:
        CDC Infographic: 6 Guiding Principles To A Trauma-Informed Approach
        Video: What is Trauma-Informed Care?

• Six (6) hours of NCB approved training in Cultural
  • • • Competence/Cultural Humility
        Cultural Competence/Cultural Humility
        According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Cultural Humility is “an attitude through which an individual learns about other cultures in conjunction with becoming more aware of one’s own beliefs and identities, intended to result in greater mutual understanding, equity, honesty, and trustworthy relationships.  (CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) Health Equity Glossary)

• One (1) hour of NCB approved training in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

Please see Foundational Training and Continuing Education for Birth Doulas

*For all continuing education hours (CEHs), please submit a certificate of attendance or participation from an approved training organization that includes the following information:

• Name of training organization(s) and/or sponsor(s)
• Title of training/conference
• Date(s) of training/conference
• Name of participant/attendee
• Hours of attendance/participation