Birth Companion Certificate

The Birth Companion Certificate program consists of 24 contact hours of instruction. This certificate focuses on the development of initial competence in the perinatal support role, based on the doula model. The doula model emphasizes physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and after childbirth. The goal of this course is to address healthcare inequities and improve maternal and infant health outcomes while providing increased access to prenatal education, birth support and postpartum support. Students will learn to work collaboratively as a team and experience the role of a doula in the delivery room. Participants acquire the following key competencies during this program: • Demonstrate emotional, informational and physical supportive care of women, infants and families based on the knowledge of the physiology of reproduction and childbearing, in the role of a doula. • Implement quality and safety principles and national standards of care when providing supportive care to women and their families. • Demonstrate how to communicate with and support reproductive-aged women and their families in the community, across care settings, and by gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and other social statuses. • Demonstrate accountability for personal and professional behaviors as a member of the interdisciplinary team when providing supportive care to women, infants and families. To earn the birth companion certificate, each participant must: • Attend a 2-day training workshop presented by a nationally certified doula • Attend seven 2-hour information sessions presented by women’s health clinicians, lactation consultants, social workers and community health and childbirth educators • Provide support through three prenatal visits, birth attendance and one postnatal visit with the assigned birth family • Participate in weekly discussion boards with classmates, present an educational topic related to the birth experience to classmates, and complete a self-reflection assignment about the birth experience.