Meet Dr. Amy Gilliland,
DTD Founder
Educator, Researcher, Doula Expert
Amy L. Gilliland Ph.D., BDT(DTD), AdvCD(DONA), CSES (AASECT) is a Research Fellow at the University of Wisconsin Madison School of Human Ecology Center for Community And Nonprofit Studies. That assignment inspired her to create Doulaing the Doula Training and Certification Programs as a deliberately inclusive, coalition-building, trauma-informed and universally accessible organization. “It really is the culmination of 35 years teaching college, 25 years training doulas, 20 years researching doulas, and a lifetime of being one.” Besides labor support and doulas, her research and educational interests include the interpersonal neurobiology of the brain, infant mental health, attachment, fathers and birth, and women’s sexual experiences. She is an AASECT Certified Sexuality Educator Supervisor and approved continuing education provider, a California Board of Nursing Approved Continuing Education Provider, and the GOLD Lactation IBCLC course faculty expert on sexuality and breastfeeding.
Dr. Amy uses her industry-leading research, decades of work with doulas and birthing parents, and experience as an educator to develop evidence-based, trauma-informed, culturally-attune, and adaptable doula curriculum to help doulas everywhere improve their skills and enhance their practice.
What Makes Dr. Amy an Effective Mentor and Certification Leader?
Dr. Amy recognizes that you are investing in your education and your future and takes your professional and personal growth goals seriously. She’s not only a passionate educator who pursues health and wellness equity during pregnancy, labor, and beyond, she’s also revolutionized doula training and our DTD curriculum to be more accessible, culturally adaptable, and relevant to today’s birthing parents and support circles. As the founder of Doulaing The Doula, our curriculum author, and the director of our doula certification programs, Amy has dedicated her life’s work to empower all doulas to provide the best, most well-informed support possible during pregnancy, labor, and the postpartum period.
She also recognizes that adaptability of curriculum to people and context is absolutely necessary for Coaches and Trainers to be effective. “Especially with different ethnic or social groups, your mentoring and curriculum need to be enable you to make it work in the moment, with the dynamic situations that arise in an intensive atmosphere. It’s not about adhering to the rules, but paying attention to your participants and responding to them with confidence that you can meet their needs for learning and healing.”
What Dr. Amy Gilliland Brings to Our Doula Curriculum, Education, and Certification:
- Her passion for training doulas and developing sustainable doula communities built on innovative, culturally attuned, and adaptable doula techniques.
- A personal investment in your learning experience with our Foundations Coaches, DTD Doula Trainers, and Training Assistants during our courses and certification programs.
- Dedication to developing doula curriculum that delivers information in a way that’s entertaining and fun!
- Recognition that a doula’s power is in their ability to build relationships with medical staff as well as care for a wide variety of families
- A reputation from DONA International as “inspirational” and “logically organized, professional, non-judgmental, engaging and amazing.”
- The respect and recognition of the international doula community and birth professionals in the state of Wisconsin
- Her published research, with articles published as a guest author in three books and in peer reviewed journals such as the Journal of Perinatal Education, JOGGN, Sexuality and Culture, Midwifery and theWisconsin Medical Journal.
- Author, The Heart of the Doula: Essentials for Practice and Life
A Note From Dr. Amy on Doulas & Doulaing The Doula Education
“As a doula program developer and curriculum author, I love what I do. Participants who attend DTD trainings change birth, and change people’s lives for the better. They understand what is important and life changing, not just with doula work, but by listening and talking intelligently with all people about their birth experiences.
Doulas develop intimate relationships with pregnant people and their families in the months before the baby arrives and provide continuous care during labor and birth. By filling such an important niche in the maternity care team, doulas influence family life for the better – one birth at a time.
I care deeply about ensuring that DTD offers the best labor support trainings available, so we can effect positive change in the world through acceptance and empowerment of mothers and other laboring people. In our training, courses, and certification programs, we seek to effect positive change in the world by helping all people understand the significance of birth events in all people’s lives. During our training and coursework, doulas and medical professionals learn physical skills, receive emotional support, information, and inspiration to begin and continue this important work.
At Doulaing The Doula, we want to doula you through your education and certification journey and hope you will choose to join our doula revolution.”
Hear from Dr. Amy’s
Former Clients and Students
“Thank you for understanding that everyone learns differently – I was so relaxed working with you.”
“Amy has the heart of a doula and the brain of a doctor.”
“Amy takes large amounts of research and makes it so I can understand it and use it in my practice. I’m so thankful for what she can do!”
“I’ve never moved through so much material so quickly. I learned a lot but I was never bored or distracted. There was so much to do that I didn’t realize how much I was taking in until it was over. Wow.”
“I took a training from Amy back in 2004. Every day as a nurse I’ve used something she taught me that I never learned anywhere else, and I want all of you to know that.”
“She touched my heart and inspired me to be a better nurse for my patients. We all need that!”
