Photo by Sarah Wallace Photography
Interested in becoming a doula? Discover how to start your journey.
Whether you’re drawn to support birth, postpartum recovery, loss, abortion, or fertility journeys, doulas play a powerful role in providing emotional, physical, and informational care. Start here to explore what doulas do and how to get trained.
What Does a Doula Actually Do
There’s no one way to be a doula. Read below for some of the ways doulas show up and make a difference.​
Birth Doulas
Support people through pregnancy, labour, and birth by:
Meeting during pregnancy to help prepare for birth
Offering continuous emotional support during labour
Using comfort techniques like massage, breath work, and movement
Helping partners feel confident and included
Advocating for informed decision-making
Supporting different birth choices, from hospital to home birth
Postpartum Doulas
Help families adjust after birth by:
Supporting infant feeding (breast/chest, bottle, combo, etc.)
Caring for the birthing parent’s recovery and emotional needs
Assisting with newborn care and soothing
Light household help (for example, meal prep, tidying, laundry)
Offering resources and referrals when needed
Helping the whole family find rhythm and rest
Loss Doulas
Support people through reproductive loss by:
Offering compassionate, non-judgmental presence
Holding space for grief, anger, and every kind of response
Supporting through miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, or TFMR
Providing rituals or legacy ideas if desired
Helping navigate next steps (emotional or practical)
Being a calm, consistent presence when things feel out of control
Fertility Doulas
Support individuals and families trying to conceive by:
Providing emotional support through fertility treatments or natural cycles
Offering education on fertility awareness and options
Helping folks track cycles and understand body literacy
Supporting decision-making through clinics, alternative paths, or loss
Holding space during the uncertainty and waiting
Full Spectrum Doulas
Support families through the entire reproductive journey by doing many of the tasks listed in the above roles.
How To Become a Doula
We’ve broken down how to become a doula into clear, doable steps to help you get started with confidence.​
Decide your area of focus.
It’s important to know what kind of doula work you want to do so that you can choose an appropriate training organization. Will you do full spectrum work, or will you choose to focus on one aspect of perinatal support?
Choose a training organization.
There are many different doula organizations, in person and online, and we suggest researching them all and finding the one that you feel is best suited to you.
Complete your training.
Work through your training material! Note – we do not require certification to become a member.
Get experience.
Put yourself out there and start supporting families!
Join the DSABC.
After you have completed your training, you can become a member and take advantage of all the membership benefits we offer.
Please note – if you trained outside of one of the more well known training organizations, just let us know so we can review.
Choosing a Training Organization
We get it. There are a lot of training organizations. How do you choose?
Consider your values.
Your values are the heart of your work as a doula. Do you want a training that’s trauma-informed, inclusive, or focused on holistic care? Finding a program that feels right to you will make learning way more meaningful and fulfilling.
Identify your learning style.
Do you learn best chatting with others in live classes? Or do you like working quietly on your own schedule? Does the idea of an online class make you want to pull your hair out? Whether you like group talks, one-on-one mentorship, or self-paced learning, there’s a training style that will make you feel at home.
Get real about your schedule.
Some trainings are flexible and you can go at your own pace, while others have set dates and live classes. Take a moment to figure out what fits your life best, whether that’s juggling a busy schedule or carving out time for an immersive weekend.
Get clear on your goals.
What kind of doula do you want to be? Are you drawn to birth, postpartum, or maybe supporting people through loss? Different programs focus on different specialties, so knowing what you want helps you pick the right one for your path.
A note about training organizations
Still not sure what training program to take? Use this list as a starting point.
We’ve gathered a list of Canadian doula and birthworker trainings to help you explore your options — but it’s not exhaustive, and we don’t officially endorse any particular program. Think of it as a helpful starting place to guide your research, not a recommendation. Your perfect fit might be somewhere else entirely! And don’t forget that we strongly believe in traditional training as a valid form of doula training!
