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Certification or Bust!

Why I Chose Not To Get Certified

[This is also an episode of Friday Free Talk on The Tranquility Tribe Podcast on iTunes. Listen here.]

I wanted to dive into the topic of "certification" in the doula world. It is one of the questions that seems so tell-tale that someone doesn't truly understand the role of a doula, nor do they understand how little "certification" actually means.

Tranquility by HeHe is a much more than a doula service. It's a method. It is an approach that is so comprehensive that it feels luxurious. This is because I am not just a doula. The weekend doula course was just a piece of the puzzle for me. It was actually the final piece for me so it was a pretty significant piece. It was a review of the female anatomy and the birthing process which I had studied in depth while getting my masters. I trained with a well-known organization and thought it was extremely helpful. I learned physical support, pain relief, and comfort measures for labor, and it was a great review of female anatomy (I had been out of school for a hot minute there), but it didn't talk anything about previous trauma or anxiety and how to help those clients. It didn't talk about the disparities in birth and how to combat those. It didn't talk about the commitment or financial piece or how to run a business. These were thing I had learned in college or past jobs. So between all of my experiences, I have this complex approach and get to help families approach transitional periods in their lives and find the resiliency and skills to being able to accommodate the change and plan for the new lifestyles.

Why Not Get Certified?

When I left doula training, I knew I was ready to begin my business. I knew I was ready to support people from start to finish on this journey of parenthood. This final puzzle piece was finally in place. MAGIC! For the emotional and mental health piece, I have formal education for that as for the development piece of what's happening with your body and your baby's body and your body's working together. The experience in the fields of family support and dynamics, Early Childhood, mental health institutes, and now birth has given me this fascinating ability to approach situations from a multi-perspective type of thinking.

Here's something you might not know about being a doula: there is no governing body over doulas. There are certifying organizations, but no one to govern those. To be "certified" varies from organization to organization. So some are on line, some in person. Some a training course, some months long. Some require a certain number of births, some don't require any. See where I'm going here..? Also, you must consider the monetary investment associated with being certified? I didn't need to pay someone a couple thousand dollars to tell me that I am equipped and qualified to be someone's birth support. I knew I could do that. 

Full Steam Ahead 

Ya know, I have never looked back since starting TBH. Once that final puzzle piece was in place there was no turning back. It had ignited such a fire that can't be put out. This intentional mindset and exploring of options isn't for everyone, but for people who love education, love to pamper themselves, trust their bodies, and understand they can prepare for their birth in an intentional way, this is the approach for you! 

Don’t forget to join our private Facebook, The Tranquility Tribe Podcast, and follow us on Instagram at @tranquilitybyhehe!

"Welcome to the Tranquility Tribe"

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