I have a friend that is becoming a Midwife, and she brought up the subject on Doulas. I'm very interested in becoming one, however, as with starting something new, I have TONS of questions. The first one would be how long it takes to be certified, and is there any other education needed?

-- susan hoang (divanese@yahoo.com), March 11, 1999

Answers

Hi, according to the Doula that I have been talking to, becoming certified as a Doula can take anywhere from 2 months to 2 years after you have gone through the training class. There are usually other requirements for the classes that you will attend. Some of the prerequisites for the class that I am going to attend are, attending a full series of chilbirth education classes, viewing as many birth videos as possible. Attending some births if possible and reading a couple of specifically required books. I hope that this is of some help to you. Denice

-- Denice Jentlie (djentlie@netscape.net), March 16, 1999.

Please note, too, that you do not have to be certified to be a doula. You are one if you say you are! Of course, the education is invaluable. I am always learning more. BTW - it took lazy me 2 years to get certified.

-- Lesley Nelson (lesley@doula.net), March 27, 1999.