Support families, improve birth outcomes, and build a rewarding maternal-care career with this free online course.

Do you want to support families through pregnancy and birth but feel unsure where your role begins and ends? Many aspiring doulas worry about saying the wrong thing, crossing medical lines, or freezing in the moment. It’s hard to feel confident without clear guidance and real-world practice.

This course shows you exactly how to become a certified doula while staying within safe and clear boundaries. You’ll learn your role, how to communicate with care teams, and how to plan antenatal support. You’ll practise comfort skills, birth planning, and calm responses for different labour and post-birth situations.

By the end, you’ll confidently guide families from pregnancy through recovery. You’ll create clear birth preference plans, support labour with hands-on comfort techniques, and handle hospital routines with ease. You’ll know when to refer, how to support feeding and bonding, and how to run your practice professionally. This course content was created in partnership with Ngan Phan, MD, an Obstetrics & Women’s Health professional. The authors generated this text with the help of ChatGPT. After drafting, the authors and subject matter experts reviewed, edited, and revised the text to ensure it is correct and meets Alison’s high-quality standards. There are no prerequisites for this course. Take this course and stand out as a capable professional who confidently supports parents from early pregnancy through recovery. Start now!