Childbirth Educator Training
Back by popular demand!
Our 12-week online Childbirth Educator Training gives doulas and educators the knowledge and tools necessary to provide inclusive, trauma-informed, comprehensive, and evidence-based education to birthing people in their communities.
In addition to the typical topics found in childbirth education, we will also be covering the following topics:
paths to reproduction,
trauma and boundaries,
mental health and trauma,
indigenous health disparities,
inclusive lactation and infant feeding,
and grief and loss.
We want our educators to not only have a basic knowledge of pregnancy, labor, and birth but an in-depth and inclusive understanding of all aspects and realities of birth and birthing people.
This course includes resources and information for Canadian and U.S. contexts, and a broad enough framework to be applicable and meaningful to everyone—even if you work outside of the U.S. and Canada.
Dominique Hagen
“WOW! I feel like a better human leaving this training! I learned so much about disabilities, the LGBQT community, the painful past about certain communities, and obviously a lot about birth and postpartum. I can't say enough good things about this amazing program! I will definitely go back through all the material again and again. I highly recommend taking this course even if you don't have dreams of being a CBE. You will come out a more informative human being that the world would benefit from :)”
Julia
“The CBE class by BADT pushed me to think of ways to create a curriculum that is inclusive to those who are navigating childbirth and need to prepare themselves adequately in systems that doesn't think of everyone.”
General Overview
This training includes:
12 modules of material that include prerecorded material, lessons, materials and assignments. Move through everything at your own pace!
Access to our private online community.
One year of access to all materials and recordings (and a free, one-time, 6-month extension, if you need more time!)
Optional certification. Certification comes with additional requirements that vary. Our certifications are for life, you will not need to recertify.
A free listing in our directory (click!). You can make your directory listing as soon as you enroll! You do not need a completed certification to join.
Automated captioning provided with prerecorded sessions.
Certification Requirements
If you choose to pursue certification with us, you will be asked to:
Complete online student modules
Complete reading list and book reports (books must be obtained by student, we provide PDF downloads when available, and encourage lending/borrowing)
Complete an Infant/Child CPR Certification
Attend 4 hours of a group class focused on a topic related to birthwork (childbirth ed class, infant feeding support group or class for parents, etc.) The four hours can be divided among different classes and instructors.
Complete a course outline for your own CBE course, to be used with your future students.
Complete all written assignments thoughtfully
Write an assessment of available local resources & gaps
Outline your business strategy
Participate in our private online community
Childbirth Educator Training Enrollment Options
Prerecorded Childbirth Educator Training
$750
Bundle: Prerecorded Childbirth Education Training + Curriculum
$1,250
Note: We do not offer refunds or reimbursements once you enroll, and encourage you to budget accordingly. If life circumstances prevent you from participating in the course as planned, we may be able to extend your enrollment or adjust. You can make this request by emailing info@birthingadvocacy.org
Meet Our Teachers
Sabia Wade
Core Teacher, CEO
Sabia (she/they) - The Black Doula - is a Radical Doula, Educator, Doula Business Coach, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (in training), and Reproductive Justice Advocate. She founded Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings in 2019 with the goal of bringing necessary education to doulas that are seeking to go beyond the traditional doula role and into advocacy work for the communities that need them.
Lara Esrey
Core Teacher, Project Manager
Lara (they/them) is a queer non-binary full spectrum doula. Within their doula practice they offer childbirth education, lactation & infant feeding support, and mentorship for new birthworkers. In their own practice they are especially passionate about helping folks prepare for, and feel supported through, postpartum. They love building relationships with their clients and helping them through the big transitions that come with reproductive choices and new parenthood. Behind the scenes of their business they can be found hiking, reading, cooking, or knitting. They are always finding something new to learn!
Mystique Hargrove
Core Teacher, Program Manager
Iya Mystique (they/she) is a “unicorn”, Black queer femme, tech baddie, and full spectrum perinatal educator. With a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and a "retired therapist" with over 10 years of mental health and wellness experience, Iya Mystique is also a certified BADTie full-spectrum doula, lactation educator, childbirth educator, lactation specialist, perinatal-child health community worker, and a Reiki I and II practitioner, along with being a trained newborn care specialist.
As a teacher and the program manager at Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings (BADT), Iya Mystique works with students and professionals to transform partners and accomplices in the movement to change the current birth environment locally, nationally, and globally.
In addition to work in the perinatal space, Iya Mystique is an initiated Ifa priestess (spiritual midwife) who specializes in Caribbean-Indigenous practices centered around reproductive support, full-spectrum access, advanced holistic plant medicine, "Blactation" (Black lactation), mental health wellness, and healing justice for Black LGBTQ+ communities, along with innovative web and app development as a UX/UI designer and software engineer.
MaryNissi Lemon
Molly Dutton-Kenny (she/her) is a Registered Midwife in Ontario, as well as an educator and advocate. She specializes in community education around full spectrum pregnancy loss and abortion, and midwifery-based management and support of these experiences, centering home and holistic medicine as options for most people. She is also a member of the Abortion Care Network and the National Abortion Federation, and has served on the hotline for Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights and on the Board of Choice in Health clinic in Toronto.
Whit McWilliams-Black
Whit (she/they) is s a full-spectrum doula, Whit Williams-Black (she/they) is dedicated to serving the community. Early on in Whit’s birthwork journey, she felt the call to serve Black mamas, young parents, poor, LGBTQIA+, and QTBIPOC people in the South. Her goals are to one day become a community midwife and to open birth centers and community gardens across the Southeastern States of America.
Whit began studying power, reproductive justice, and feminist movements in 2015. She obtained a B.A. in Gender and Women’s Studies with a minor in Social Justice in 2018 from Hollins University. Since graduation, Whit has become a certified full-spectrum doula with Ancient Song Doula Services in NYC. Whit also completed Whole Body Pregnancy Childbirth Educator training in 2021! Professionally, they have served as a Community Educator-- facilitating workshops on Reproductive Justice, Consent, and Pleasure.
Jeffrey Shaiu
Jeffrey is a marketer, mentor, and writer among many other things. Re-imagining how we do business/marketing (sans manipulation, exploitation, and oppression) is at the heart of what they do. His work is rooted in how we can work, and more importantly, live well under capitalism in a way that moves us towards our collective liberation. They are passionate about supporting people and organizations that share the same aspiration
Kaytee Crawford
Kaytee (she/her) is:
Owner of private practice, Doula Kaytee
Supports families in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum
Lactation Consultant
Crainosacral Therapist
Childbirth Educator
Birth and Postpartum Doula
Babywearing Educator
Passionate about sharing experiences in pregnancy and lactation as a Black woman and a person living in a larger body to create safer, trauma-free experiences for others
Student Feedback
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The BADT CBE course was fantastic! I’m so glad I did it in addition to the full-spectrum doula training because I think it helped me expand and solidify my existing knowledge about pregnancy and birth in a way that equipped me as an educator and birth worker. The content felt both challenging (lots of good questions!) and supportive, and sparked many big ideas that I’m excited to bring to fruition. I love the open-ended nature of the course and the focus on crafting your own curriculum rather than just being taught to regurgitate a particular lesson plan or method.
Andrew Rich (@theandrewaugust)