[HeartsOpenWide]

Wha are the best Doulas programs. I have heard of DONA and ALACE, what are some others?

[eager1hasbegun]

you may find it hard to get a straight answer about this as not too manypeople have experience with more than one organization. Currently i am going through dona certification. From what I've heard from my trainers, differences occur depending on where you are. My in-class training was very personal and emotional. However my trainer says when she travels to train with other people, it can become a lot more clinical (if thats possible with doula work) or bookish. I also think you get from it what you put into it. With dona, I learned a great deal from my 3 day in class training, and now its up to me to make the most of the required readings, essays, childbirth ed, and births. Hope this was a little helpful. Good luck on your path to becoming a doula!

[Bridey]

I have a friend who's a doula and recommended Childbirth International. I'm not sure if you've already chosen a program or not, but after doing the compare and contrast I can see why she went through them over DONA or ALACE.

While those organizations might be fabulous, they nickle and dime you to death (recertification fees, workshop fees, annual membership fees, etc) and don't offer near as much support or flexibility as Childbirth International does.

For instance, through CBI you could start today... that isn't the case with any other doula training program. There are weekly chats, your introductory class is free, you can pay for your training in installments, recertification and annual membership is free and they also offer trainer support to name a few things.

Here's a link to a Comparison of Doula Programs: http://www.childbirthinternational.c...omparisons.htm

I'm planning on starting Doula/Childbirth Educator training in Sept. I've done loads of research on the programs out there and think that this place really is most benefical to me. Even better is that both courses are only costing me $850. Not bad.

Good luck in whatever you decide. Being a doula is a pretty awesome endeavor!

[chaundrah]

just my two cents. ALACE is awesome for flexibility both in training and in how they teach you to interact w/clients-rather than being stuck promoting only one method, et cet. They don't have the name recog everywhere but are much more cost effective and WAY less time than DONA. Ask around your area, figure out where your referrals would come from, and ask their opinion!

[Selke]

Seattle Midwifery School http://www.seattlemidwifery.org/ has one of the original training programs. Look at the link for Extension and Doula Education on the left side of the page. Penny Simkins, the grandmamma of doulas and labor support, is based here and teaches some of the classes. I took this class in June.