Continuing Education
Continuing Education Courses
Short, focused professional development for doulas who are already working with families. Strengthen one area of your practice without repeating a full certification program.
Overview
Built for doulas already in practice
Practicing doulas seeking focused professional development
Continuing education courses are short, focused offerings for doulas already working in the field. Each course targets one area of practice so you can strengthen a specific skill without repeating a full certification program. Courses are delivered entirely online in the same short-lesson format used throughout the Academy.
You choose the subject. Each course stays on one area of practice, so the time you spend learning goes straight back into the work you are already doing.
Who these courses are for
- Certified doulas maintaining and extending their skills
- Doulas moving into new practice settings such as hospitals
- Doulas preparing to work with new populations or payers
New to doula work? Start with a certification program instead. See all programs.
Topic categories
The subject areas our catalogue is built around
These are topic categories, not a course schedule. They describe the areas of practice continuing education will cover, rather than individual courses you can enroll in today.
Professional boundaries and ethics
Where a doula role begins and ends, and how to hold that line with care in difficult moments.
Documentation
Recording your work clearly and consistently, and understanding why records matter.
Communication
Talking with families, partners, and clinical teams in ways that are clear and respectful.
Cultural responsiveness
Supporting families whose traditions, languages, and expectations differ from your own.
Supporting diverse families
Practical approaches for supporting families across a wide range of circumstances and structures.
Medicaid-related administration
Understanding the administrative expectations that come with payer-funded work.
Business practices
Contracts, scheduling, pricing, and the everyday work of running an independent practice.
Format
How these courses work
Continuing education uses the same short-lesson format as the rest of the Academy, delivered entirely online.
Fully online
Short, focused lessons in a single subject area.
Short, focused lessons
Lessons are designed to be completed in short sittings, so training fits around work and family.
No fieldwork required
There is no fieldwork stage in continuing education. You learn online, work through the knowledge checks, and apply what you learn in the practice you already have.
What taking a course looks like
- Choose a continuing education topic
- Complete the online lessons
- Complete the assessments included in the student system
Pace and cost
Courses are self-paced. Completion time depends on your pace. Typical timelines will be published before enrollment opens.
Pricing varies by course, and figures are not yet confirmed. Continuing education is priced separately from the certification programs.
Important
Continuing education does not lead to initial certification
These courses build on training you already have. They are supplemental, and finishing one does not make you a certified doula.
Online coursework alone does not result in full certification. Full certification requires completing the online learning phase and the required fieldwork.
If you are starting out, the Birth Doula and Postpartum Doula certification programs are the place to begin. Each pairs online lessons with required fieldwork before documentation goes to certification review.
Expert support
You are not working through it alone
Live expert support during published hours
What experts can help with
- Understanding course material and lesson concepts
- Clarifying doula scope of practice
- Preparing for and reflecting on fieldwork
- Professional communication and documentation practices
- Navigating the certification pathway
What experts cannot provide
- Medical, clinical, or diagnostic advice
- Guidance about a specific pregnancy, birth, or health situation
- Emergency or urgent health concerns
- Legal advice or payer-specific determinations
Tell us which topics you want first
Course availability is still being finalised. Send us the subjects that would help your practice most, and we will let you know as the catalogue grows.