Frequently Asked Questions

Doulas come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and backgrounds! Many are moms who experienced less-than-ideal postpartum support and wish they could make things better for another mother. Some are experienced nannies who want to specialize in the care of newborns and provide education to new parents. Some are grandmas who want to provide nurturing support to families with their wisdom and available caring hands. And a few are paraprofessionals who need a more flexible schedule than their current job provides, while still allowing them to use their work experience and skills. Regardless, doulas have to have a heart for serving, experience with newborns, and some familiarity with breastfeeding. You do NOT have to be a mother or have breastfed to be a knowledgeable doula. However you will need to educate yourself on anything you feel that you lack experience or education on. You can have a look at some of the bios of the doulas who serve on our team, and see if any of their backgrounds or talents match what you might offer families.

This one is easy! CAPPA is the largest childbirth organization in the world, and there are many benefits offered through their trainings and membership. CAPPA is first and foremost a sisterhood of women with a vision for families, babies, and building bridges between professionals. They treat their members with respect and are helpful when you are in need. They respond to queries in the office personally, help you right then and there, and welcome you with their southern hospitality and charm. Their approach also allows for individuality, and they want you to be a part of the doula and educator world. They are an international presence, which means that you can take a training form CAPPA and travel anywhere in the world and they would recognize it. So if you don’t plan to stay in your current location, the possibilities are endless where you could take your doula or educator work. CAPPA is also the only organization I know that offers a FREE conference every year in a different location---and I hope you can join us for one sometime!

Doula work is my life and passion. I have been a postpartum doula for over 18 years, 13 of which have been full time, while supporting my family of 4. I live and breathe postpartum doula work, having served well over 2000 families, and I still love it! My examples come from real life families I have served in Portland, OR and the Seattle, WA area. The scenarios I teach in class all have a real family behind them (although protected for confidentiality of course). The activities I use are right out of what I see parents needing every week.

Many ask what my credentials mean; here is a breakdown for anyone who is curious:

IBCLC - International Board Certified Lactation Consultant - I was awarded this in 2011, after working many years to achieve it. It means I can do lactation consults in the home, in the hospital, or at a clinic. The IBC portion means I passed a rigorous 5 hour exam, put in over 90 hours of lactation specific education, and have a college level understanding of the art and science of breastfeeding. (It doesn’t mean I ever stop learning, however!)

CPD (CAPPA) - Certified Postpartum Doula - This means that I am certified as a postpartum doula by CAPPA, who I was originally trained by in 2001. I have to renew this every 3 years, just as all my students do.

CLE® (CAPPA) - Certified Lactation Educator - I have been a lactation educator for many years, and now am certified by CAPPA not only to teach breastfeeding classes, but also as faculty for training others to teach breastfeeding individually and in a group. It's a trademarked program that CAPPA has developed to meet the needs both for practical evidence-based education and to help fulfill the 20 hour breastfeeding education requirement for Baby Friendly status.

CNPE (CAPPA) - Certified New Parent Educator - This is my newest credential, although I have been working on it for over a decade! I co-wrote this program for CAPPA with Senior Advisor Laura Nance, and now train educators all over the US to help new parents navigate their journey with their new babies. This credential is the equivalent of Childbirth Educator certification, but in the baby and new parenting world. We wrote it with the intent for educators not as much to know what to teach, but more about how to teach to a new generation of parents that requires more innovation and less lecture.

CAPPA Faculty - CAPPA awards faculty member status to their trainers. I have been a trainer with CAPPA since 2005 and needed to pass through their process of education, experience, teaching background, and continual faculty approval every year. If you are thinking about becoming a trainer for CAPPA in one of their areas of certification, call the office at 770-965-9777 to hear more about the requirements to apply.

There is a Pre-Training Assignment that we ask students to fill out before they attend a workshop, but other than that, there are no classes to take beforehand. Getting certified is a process however, and the workshop is only 1 step into that process. There will be plenty to do to get certified after the training.

The process is detailed on the CAPPA site here. If you take a workshop with me you will be going the Traditional route, not the distance, so make sure you get the right requirements (the distance certification is far more demanding due to no contact hours in the classroom). We have the wonderful CAPPA Academy that governs our certification process, as well as provides almost instantaneous feedback which is so rare in the certification process. I have seen doulas get certified in only 3-4 months, and I have seen some take up to 2 years! It is up to you how fast you can get it done.