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  • Birthing Beautiful Communities Doula Training Registration

    Healthy Start Pittsburgh is a Doula certifying agency. This registration will not be used for limiting or excluding person from training. Those who do not meet training guidelines will be contacted and informed of any conflicts with their registration. Please complete registration to reserve your seat in training but no registration is complete without payment of $100.00 registration deposit and confirmation of acceptance into training by Birthing Beautiful Communities. This is a culturally centered training. Class is limited to 15. Please email at training@birthingbeautiful.org with issues with registration. Electronic payment is available by request only to irobertson@birthingbeautiful.org or training@birthingbeautiful.org. It is the individuals responsibility to confirm to the training team that deposit has been submitted electronically. Money Order / Check deposit can be sent to 1464 East 105th Street, Suite 202, Cleveland Ohio 44106.
  • Frequently Asked Questions and Instructions

    Please review these FAQ before completing the registration process.
  • What is a Doula?

    What is a Doula?

    A Doula is a professional birth coach, who is skilled and  trained to provide labor support which includes emotional, physical and educational support. Doulas can assist in stress management, contraception education, breastfeeding support. Doulas are responsible to contract with the woman that they will serve and create their own fee schedules and what services they would like to provide.
  • How is a PSP different from a Doula? 

    The Perinatal Support Professional is a certified birth professional paid by an organization on behalf of clients. This contractor is highly trained and skilled in various areas, including labor support, stress management, emotional support, breastfeeding, contraception education, smoking cessation as well as case management, peer to peer interaction and collectivism. This role requires an interview process and  has some additional training and requirements. This role is available depending on capacity and administrative needs.
  • How do I become a certified doula?

    How do I become a certified doula?

    All certification is done in-house by Healthy Start Pittsburgh. Training is culturally centered. Training exam must be passed with 80% or higher and must be completed within the allowed time frame outlined in registration documents. The cost for training, supplies and certification is $800.00 ($100 deposit and $700 balance). Payments can be made during the training process with a signed payment arrangement however payment must be made in full before the certification exam can be completed. If supplies is being shipped, 50% of payments must be made before we will ship out materials. Payment must be made by money order or check - no cash. We allow payment schedules on an individual basis.
  • Is there a payment plan?

    The total cost of training and supplies is $800. A $100 deposit is due at the time of registration. $200 is due per week after that until the total amount has been paid. You may also choose to pay the entire amount at one time. Finding scholarships from community and church groups are up to the individual to secure on their own. Payment will still need to be made by money order or check and provided on behalf of the trainee. Payment must be completed before certification can be completed
  • Will I be able to find clients? 

    You will be an entrepreneur and learn how to use birth work to build your own business. We will provide you with best practices for birth work, and general procedures but who and how you serve is up to you and you can truly find your own niche within those guidelines. Do to the nature of birth work we can make no promises or guarantees.
  • Will previous doula certification outside of BBC be applied?

    What we do at BBC is unique to our organization and includes several modules of training. We are not able to verify that outside doula training adequately aligns with our mission and aligns with the community that we serve. We are not able to complete certification for those who have already began training with another doula agency.
    Will previous doula certification outside of BBC be applied?
  • Who is best for this role?

    A good candidate for doula work is a detailed, mostly self-directed and disciplined person with a passion for birth equity, improving birth outcomes and supporting mothers during all perinatal stages. This roles requires training with little to no absences, some travel, and organization to insure time management and modeling for clients. This person must have a flexible schedule and be available to serve clients.  A secondary function is to ensure that you attend clients births or serve postpartum clients in a meaningful way.
  • What are the general duties?

     A good candidate will be able to serve clients with different backgrounds, family cultures, and needs. Be aware of the community she serves and able to do some community outreach. Creates birth plan with a client. Provides continuous labor support and provides support during pregnancy, labor and/ or postpartum. Provide some breastfeeding support.
  • Who would be successful?

    Genuine interest in pregnancy, labor and delivery, or babies. Experience working with pregnant women, women with small children (personal experience accepted). Culturally aware of the woman we serve. Understanding of systemic racism and its effects on woman of color. Proficient with Mac / PC, word processing systems such as Microsoft Office Suite, Google Docs and email. Possess strong organizational skills. Able to attend training with little to no absences. Able to lift 20 pounds. Flexibility in schedule to serve clients on an as needed basis including attending births.
    Who would be successful?
  • If this full-time or part-time work?

    This is all up to you and how much you invest into your business. This also means you are able to make decisions around how and when you work as long as the work is completed within the contract guidelines agreed upon with your clients. as we are certifying you, we make no promises or guarantee to how many hours you will actually work or how successful you will be. We encourage individuals to maintain other employment as they explore this business.
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  • 2023 Registration

    Once you have registered you can choose a time slot to make payment, ask questions, pick up supplies or we can ship the supplies. Appointments are limited. Training willl require ZOOM and access to google drive. We require all participants to have cameras turned on during zoom.
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  • Training Disclosure

    Registration is not complete until $100.00 Deposit is paid to Birthing Beautiful Communities. In general payments can be made by pay pal or mailed to our address via check / money order- no cash. Once deposits are received for 15 participants, we will close out training by email. Balance is due in full before The first day of class and before certification exam can be administered. For this particular training, payment must be made by check or money order only or electronic payment and must be made payable to Birthing Beautiful Communities with the participants name printed in the memo line along with the word training. If electronic payments are available by email request to training@birthingbeautiful.org due to issues with postal delays. Training will take place the week of January 15 - 22 1-6, April 10 - 17 4 to 9 and July 10 - 18 * Please note the training is virtual and participants will need to log onto zoom daily between 1 and 6pm or 4 to 9 and if absent they will need to review the virtual classroom used for training on their own and follow along in a self directed format. Changes to timeframes and days of the week can be made if the training group decides to agree to new timeframes including evening and morning training slots. Participants will be required to sign a nondisclosure agreement and general training agreement that includes all policies. Manuals and materials are required to be returned for any person who does not make full payment by the end of their training session.
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