We educate the maternal health workforce.
ICEA-affiliated curriculum, adaptable formats, and a Louisiana-rooted commitment to expanding who has access to skilled birth support. Our flagship is birth doula training; we also train bereavement specialists, breastfeeding educators, and contract-customize for hospitals and partner organizations.
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Rho Cohort · July 28–31, 2026 · Baton Rouge
Schedule, tuition, what’s included, scholarships, attendance requirements, and the application.
Five programs, one workforce.
Our birth doula training is the entry point and the most-requested. Beyond it, we offer postpartum, bereavement, breastfeeding, and customized curriculum for partner organizations.
Birth Doula Training
An ICEA-approved birth doula training. Hybrid or fully in-person formats, thirty-three contact hours, evidence-based curriculum developed by ICEA Approved Trainer Madeline LeBlanc, ICCE, ICBD, RN, IBCLC.
- Physiology of birth and comfort measures
- Newborn care and postpartum mental health
- Scope of practice, BRAIN framework, SDOH screening
- Volunteer-track scholarships available
- Available in Spanish by request for partner organizations
Postpartum Doula Training
Specialty training for doulas who want to support families through the first weeks at home. Newborn care, infant feeding, sleep coaching, parental mental health, and the recovering mother.
- Postpartum physiology and recovery
- Infant feeding (breast, bottle, paced)
- Lactation support fundamentals
- Postpartum mood disorders and escalation
Bereavement Doula Specialty
An ICEA-approved specialty training for doulas, nurses, and birth workers who want to bear witness to families through pregnancy and infant loss. Fully online, self-paced, with six months of access and 16 ICEA CEUs.
- Trauma-informed care for pregnancy and infant loss
- Hardcover textbook + reflective workbook included
- Online & self-paced
Breastfeeding Education
Two complementary programs in development. Breastfeeding Basics for every birth worker; Breastfeeding Not-So-Basics for advanced cases. Curriculum designed by an IBCLC; first cohort dates announced soon.
- Latch, positioning, and the first hour
- Common challenges and when to refer to an IBCLC
- Returning to work and complex cases (advanced)
Customized Curriculum
We adapt our curriculum for hospitals, universities, and partner nonprofits, including Spanish-language delivery. Past partners include Our Lady of the Lake University and Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University.
- CEU programming for nursing teams
- Spanish-language doula curriculum
- Workforce development partnerships
- On-site or hybrid delivery
The next three sections are about our flagship.
Format flexibility, the route to ICEA Certified Birth Doula, and the path from credential to career are specific to our birth doula training. Other programs (postpartum, bereavement, breastfeeding) have their own structure.
We meet you where you are.
For our birth doula training only, we offer three scheduling formats. Bereavement is fully online and self-paced; postpartum and breastfeeding programs have their own structure.
Weeknight evenings online plus a single in-person Saturday. Best for trainees with weekday work commitments who can travel only once.
Two weeknight evenings online plus a full weekend of hands-on practice. Our most-requested format, used by the Rho Cohort.
Three back-to-back days for organizations and groups that prefer immersive, fully in-person delivery. Often used for partner contracts.
Your route to ICEA Certified Birth Doula.
Specific to our birth doula training. Our trainees follow ICEA’s traditional Birth Doula Pathway. Active MHN volunteers receive free exam-prep support. (The Bereavement specialty has its own ICEA CEU pathway built into the online course.)
Complete coursework
Pre-work, all live sessions, and skills check-offs.
Earn three births
Attend a minimum of three births of at least six hours each.
Submit to ICEA
Package your evidence and submit through ICEA’s pathway.
Pass the exam
Sit for the proctored ICEA exam (separate fee, paid to ICEA).
From credential to career.
Once you are a credentialed birth or postpartum doula, here are the two practical questions every trainee asks about practicing in Louisiana.
Joining the Louisiana Doula Registry
Louisiana’s Department of Health maintains the official Doula Registry. Practicing as a registered doula in the state requires a few specific steps:
- Hold a current credential from an approved training organization (ICEA-credentialed graduates qualify)
- Submit your registry application to LDH with documentation
- Complete state-required training in trauma-informed care, implicit bias, and child abuse reporting
- Maintain CEUs to keep your registration active
The full requirements live on the LA Department of Health doula registry page; we walk our graduates through the application as part of the Workforce Development pillar.
Billing insurance for your services
Louisiana state law now requires both Medicaid and commercial insurers to cover doula services for eligible clients. Once you’re on the state registry, you can:
- Bill Louisiana Medicaid for prenatal visits, labor support, and postpartum visits
- Bill commercial insurance for the same services under the parity provision
- Use HCPCS codes the LDH publishes for reimbursable doula encounters
Reimbursement rates and exact code requirements are set by LDH; we cover the practical side of billing in our post-graduation Volunteer Coordinator support sessions.
Hands-on, every cohort.
Real classroom moments and comfort-measure practice from our most recent trainings.
Get our training materials directly.
Whether you’re joining a future cohort or training your own team, the texts, decks, and field guides our trainees use are available in our store.
The Pocket Doula deck, The Everything Guide, the Bereavement Doula bundle, the Data-Driven Doula textbook, and the full Bereavement online course.