Medical Professionals and Students
Continuing Education & Field Work for Medical Professionals and Students
Nurses, physicians, nursing students, and medical students are always welcome in all our courses and trainings! The nurturing skills, culturally attuned curriculum, and evidence-based course work we share can be a powerful tool to help transform your OB/GYN or labor support practice. While our general courses and trainings are geared toward aspiring and professional doulas, we do offer uniquely structured courses designed specifically for medical professionals to diversify and elevate their labor support techniques.
Why Doula Training is Relevant to Medical Professionals
While doctors and nurses are trained to focus on the processes of birth, doulas are trained to focus on the person birthing. The most effective practitioners embrace both perspectives, which is challenging to do in the real world. As the culture around birth shifts, and more birthing parents seek the support of doulas and midwives during pregnancy, it’s likely are going to be working alongside doulas, administering a program, or promoting doula support as a solution to racial inequities in your area. Training with Doulaing The Doula can give you the tools you need to be successful in these relationships, during these pregnancies, labor, and postpartum.
Health Care Providers CME & CE Professional Development Workshops
We offer two options for continued education for medical professionals twice a year:
Adding to Your Labor Support Toolbox
A 4-hour CE training workshop that includes positioning, comfort measures, basic use of the peanut ball, and optimizing the nurse’s relationships with fathers and other labor partners. In this fun and interactive workshop, nurses learn the most effective and helpful emotional and physical support strategies for laboring people. Examining the process of labor through a neurohormonal lens, nurses learn how to support the flow of oxytocin, lessen stress hormones, and improve outcomes. This workshop is presented at your facility by Amy Gilliland.
DTD Birth Doula Training
The DTD Birth Doula Training involves the same information for people seeking to become doulas, however the material is adapted for the health care providers’ role. More time is spent on concepts and strategies relevant to careproviders. Because of the nurse’s familiarity with laboring people, materials are used that deepen their understanding and increase confidence in working with a variety of patients. In addition, their role as teachers of support techniques to patients and family members is also emphasized. Dr. Gilliland is licensed by the California Board of Nursing as a continuing education provider, #16959, and the training offers 28 CE’s.
When registering as an individual, the DTD Birth Doula Training is combined with the DTD Childbirth Course. The advantage of attending the DTD Childbirth Course for nurses is that it covers the sexuality of birth, sexual as well as reproductive anatomy, skills for discussing circumcision and the intact penis, as well as videos of fourteen births. Many experienced nurses felt that the course was fun, their time was well spent, and they learned how to talk about several complex topics easily with patients.
Some birthing centers hire Dr. Gilliland to facilitate the three day DTD Birth Doula Training for their staff. When the majority of a birthing center’s staff has attended, you can market and advertise your nurses and physicians as “doula trained”. Attendees are eligible for DTD Birth Doula Certification. Please contact us for more information about this option.
CE & CME Workshops are only available twice a year!
Once in January and once in August. Be sure to plan ahead!
Supporting Nursing and Medical Students Through Doula Training
Many nursing students want experience in labor and delivery before completing school. Doula work can help to meet that need. In a competitive field, a DTD Doula Training Completion Certificate can be the difference in getting hired for the position.
Others are uncertain whether obstetrics or midwifery are the right choice. This workshop can provide a concrete answer. Every nurse who has taken the course has stated that the patient care skills they learned were applicable in every unit they worked in the hospital or clinic. Many graduating students said their DTD doula training provided the “missing piece” in daily bedside interaction and touch skills with patients, giving them the confidence to provide care.
If you’re unsure of your pathway, connect with Doulaing The Doula to learn more about your options!
Building a Bridge Between Medical and Doula Practices Early
Nurses and physicians will attend more births than a doula ever can – they have the possibility of influencing the lives of thousands of families and babies. Our Doula Training Workshop will teach you the skills of caring for others that are left out of most health care curriculums but are vital to providing emotional support for all patients. Doulas are currently seen as the solution to racial inequities in birth, which means that practice needs to change. The DTD Birth Doula Training prepares you to deal with the daily interactions where trauma informed care and implicit bias often come into play, and be effective in providing optimal care for your patient. We are excited and proud to help you become the care provider that you hope to be.
Check Your Schedule!
Doulaing The Doula offers a wide range of courses and workshops throughout the year. Check out our course calendar to see what educational opportunities are waiting for you.
