Heart and Hands Postpartum Doula Training & Certification Program
Learn skills to support new mothers and care for newborn babies.
This training can be brought to your agency site or you can join one of our courses in Los Angeles.
This program is not affiliated with Elizabeth Davis or The National College of Midwifery.
ABOUT THIS COURSE
In this class, you will learn skills to support new mothers and care for newborns immediately following birth and the first months, More 
than a Baby Nurse, a Postpartum Doula provides emotional support, physical care, and comfort to the new mother, instruction on self-care and baby care, and instills confidence in her clients for motherhood. Services also may include breastfeeding support, meal preparation, care of siblings, and linking families to supportive services in the community.
COURSE DETAILS
The instructional methods include lecture, demonstration, discussion, and experiential processes including videos.
Dates and Location of Course: June, 2020
Days and Hours of Course: 9:30 am to 3:00 pm, 4 days, 20 hours total.
INTENDED AUDIENCE
Home visitors working with mothers and infants, perinatal case managers, CNAs, Medical Assistants, child development students, nursing students with career aspirations in maternal-infant nursing, CPSP workers, early intervention specialists, preschool teachers, nannies, aspiring lactation consultants and educators, and more. No prior training, experience or education is required. Persons of color are encouraged to attend as this is the population served.
COURSE FEES
Regular Tuition: $450.00 per person, includes materials and certification upon completion of requirements.
Deposit for Payment Plan: $100.00 deposit to register. Balance due 1 week prior to first day of course. Contact us to make payment arrangement.
Early Bird Special: $350.00 per person. Register 6 weeks prior to the course.
Group Discounts: $250.00 per person for 4 or more persons registering together.
In-Service Option: This course can also be brought to your worksite, or we can host a private class at our office in downtown Los Angeles. For In-service, there is a global fee and up to 15 persons may attend. Contact us for details and to schedule an in-service.
Cancellation Deadline: TBA. Transfers and credits are available, per our cancellation policy.
CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
Within one year of course, participants desiring certification will:
- Complete take-home, open-book written exam.
- Complete and Infant CPR course and submit proof of certification.
- Compile a Community Resource List for Families.
- Assist 3 families in the postpartum period, and submit 3 parent evaluations and 3 self-reports.
Recertification is annual. $250 re-certification fee plus proof of attendance at a continuing education course must be submitted. If requirements are not met within 12 months of course, there will be a charge of $100 for certification.
TOPICS COVERED
- Ethical guidelines for Postpartum Doulas.
- Social, political and personal reasons why women don’t breastfeed.
- Benefits of breastfeeding to mothers, infants, fathers, grandmothers and society
- Communication skills to help address mothers concerns about breastfeeding, newborn care and postpartum.
- Anatomy of the lactating breast and the physiology of how the breasts make milk.
- Nutritional components of breastmilk and how they are uniquely suited to support the growth and development of human infants.
- Supporting the breastfeeding mother and get the baby latched on correctly.
- Management of breastfeeding so it works for the mother.
- Common problems of breastfeeding and parenting the growing baby.
- Attachment Parenting and Child Development in the first year.
- Kangaroo Mother Care—a method of caring for newborns which promotes physiological regulation of the newborn.
- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and two approaches to prevention: Back to Sleep and Co-Sleeping.
- The role of the Postpartum Doula as a member of the maternity care team.
- The impact of birth interventions on breastfeeding.
- Normal and abnormal adjustments to motherhood in the postpartum woman.
- Care and assessment of full-term newborns.
- Physical care and emotional support for postpartum women.
- Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders including Baby Blues, Postpartum Depression and Postpartum Psychosis and appropriate resources for help.
- Newborn care and soothing methods.
- The impact of perinatal loss on families and working with families after a loss
- Reducing parenting stress.
- Types and signs of child abuse and neglect and appropriate referral mechanisms.
- The Postpartum Doula’s role in helping clients become a family.
- Safe Food Handling Guidelines.
COURSE LEADERS
Cordelia Hanna, MPH, CHES, ICCE, CLE, CBA- Principal Course Leader
Email: Cordelia.Hanna@Motherbabysupport.net
Hair & Make Up & Photo by Heidi Light (1heidi1light)
Cordelia Hanna, MPH, CHES, ICCE, CLE, CBA, obtained her Masters in Public Health (MPH) in Health Education and Promotion/Maternal Child Health from Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California in 2008 and her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Dance from Indiana University, Bloomington in 1986. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES), the gold standard for professional health educators, accredited by NCHEC. Cordelia is also an ICEA-Certified Childbirth Educator, CAPPA-Certified Lactation Educator, and ALACE-Certified Birth Assistant who since 1991 has taught Childbirth Preparation Classes and Breastfeeding Education to hundreds of couples in private practice, clinics, public health, hospital and community settings. She is an apprenticeship-trained midwife, who has worked as an Assistant Midwife and Labor Companion/Monitrice in homes, birth centers and hospitals throughout Los Angeles County. Cordelia worked for The Pasadena Public Health Department Black Infant Health Program from 2002-2012, a California Department of Health-funded program to reduce African-American perinatal health disparities. Here, she initiated and managed a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor Program and established the very first community-based Doula Program for African-American families in Los Angeles County. Cordelia is passionate about promoting midwives, doulas, promatores de salud (community health promoters) and breastfeeding peer counselors to address ethnic health disparities such as low rates of breastfeeding, high rates of prematurity and cesarean section, and to reduce maternal mortality globally. Cordelia is a mother of two home-born, breastfed and family-bedded children who are now bright and capable young adults and she is a grandmother of two young girls and is expecting a new grandbaby in August.
Nakeya Fields, LCSW, PPSE – Co-Course Leader
Nakeya Fields, LCSW
Nakeya T. Fields, LCSW, PPSE, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, Trauma-Informed Yoga Practitioner, is a mental health entrepreneur, author, speaker, and empowerment coach.
Nakeya is an alumna of the University of Southern California (USC) where she received a BA in Communication, a Master’s in Social Work and a Pupil Personnel Services Credential in School Social Work and Child Welfare and Attendance. Nakeya is also a Registered Play Therapist – Supervisor and a certified field instructor and clinical supervisor. Nakeya is a 200 HR TT Yoga instructor, certificated in trauma informed restorative yoga and is certified in Mini Yogis Yoga for Kids yoga. She is licensed by the Board of Behavioral Sciences as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the State of California.
She is the owner of Fields Family Counseling Services, which specializes in mental health services that serve the complete family unit. Nakeya is also the Founder, President and Chair of the Board for The Therapeutic Play Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to build a healthier, more resilient world for those in disadvantaged communities through empowerment, education and play. And she is the Director of The Feel Well Empowerment Center which offers wellness resources such as community workshops (chakra healing, acupuncture, parenting, restorative yoga), books, candles, and aromatherapy.
Nakeya is the best selling author of “Mental Health Entrepreneur – Gain Freedom and Escape the 9-5 Grind: How To Treat Mental Illness and Monetize Your Expertise”, released In April 2018. Her second book, The “Manifest It! Action Planner: An Accountability Tool for the Powerful”, will available in January 2020.
Further, Nakeya acts as a program development and staffing consultant to develop progressive health and wellness programs that incorporate creative modalities within educational, corporate and community-driven organizations. She also provides in-service seminars and is available for book signings, expert panels, speaking engagements, and consultation.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Cancellation must be made in writing by deadline (30 days prior to course). Tuition will be reimbursed less $50.00 administrative fee if notification received by this date. After this date, there will be no refunds. However in extenuating circumstances such as documented illness or emergency, the tuition is fully transferable to another person or training (this course or another topic); credit is good for the amount of training. If course registering into is higher price, the additional balance will be required. If it is a lesser price, there will not be any refund of balance. Credit will be honored for one year from the training. If not used by that time, the credit will expire.
Special Cancellation Policy for Doulas: If you are “on call” and have a birth during the training, please notify instructor as soon as possible that you will not be attending. The full tuition will be transferred to another person, or different training (this course or another topic) to be used within one year of the training date.If course registering into is higher price, the additional balance will be required. If it is a lesser price, there will not be any refund of balance.