Student Responses

In this post we are featuring an assignment from one of our most-recently certified doulas, Holly from Louisiana. This particular assignment (assignment 1.1 from unit 1 in the main course) addresses the difference between the two predominant models of  care … Read More

As a part of my course, I have my students write about the theories in hypnobirthing and then interview someone who has used it. I have seen great births with this method, though most rarely will call it completely pain … Read More

One of the assignments my students do is how a doula can help when their client is diagnosed with a particular medical diagnosis.  Below is one student’s response of a great way to see what a doula can do for … Read More

By Taylor Carter, a New Beginnings Student Traditionally rebozos are passed down from mother to daughter or midwife to midwife (Tully, 2018). They are central and beneficial throughout the stages of life, especially in the countryside. The first time a … Read More

Community is a key value for New Beginnings, so we would like to see more doulas in the community they serve.  One of the great advantages of the New Beginnings approach to doula training is the required assignments that send … Read More

When I first began my nursing career in labor and delivery, I quickly realized that physiologic birth was not well understood where I worked.  I was looked at strange, and even told I didn’t know how to push with women … Read More

As a part of the course, our students go through a series of mindful birth training.  This is used both as a self-care measure for them, and as a way to help their clients utilize this resource in their own … Read More

This comes from an assignment one of my students turned in about the purpose of labor support.  I felt it was a good description of the roles of doulas. “The purpose of labor support is to provide mothers with a … Read More

(Editor’s Note: This is was an alternative assignment that was accepted for our Doula Foundations Course, Unit 2 Project. Our student, Maira D., lives in the capitol city of Malaysia.)   The project in Unit 2 is marked as incomplete … Read More

Annie is a student who began her training earlier this year. She brings to our program a perspective on childbirth that is perhaps a little more hands on than most. Here’s how she introduced herself to us: