As a doula, you pride yourself on inspiring the women you serve to make informed decisions about birth. You spend time with them ensuring they have a strong foundational understanding of the benefits and risks of each birth option – but when it comes time to support breastfeeding? Your heart is there. But your breastfeeding expertise? Your pulling from a “breastfeeding basics” class in doula training that left more questions than answers, your OWN personal breastfeeding experiences (or lack thereof), and repeating things you’ve heard from other birth professionals. But the truth? When breastfeeding gets tricky, you feel imposter syndrome as you try to provide breastfeeding support that just doesnt’ seem to be “enough”.

It’s not your fault… there’s a systemic issue where doulas are on the frontlines of feeding issues, but lack structured breastfeeding support skills.
 

Table of Contents: 

Doula Training Lactation Education Requirements 

What Doula Training Doesn’t Prepare you for  

How Doula Lactation Training Protects You and Your Clients 

Choosing the Best Breastfeeding Classes for Doulas  

Breastfeeding Beyond the Birth Plan: Online Breastfeeding Education For Doulas 

 

Doula Training Lactation Education Requirements 

 

On paper, you’ve been “trained to support breastfeeding” right? Most doula training programs touch on the benefits of breastfeeding, and require you to attend either a breastfeeding class or breastfeeding support group. The problem here is subtle, but real. Most breastfeeding classes and support groups are parent facing. That means they’re designed for mothers, not doulas. So if you attend a breastfeeding basics class or a breastfeeding support group as a doula, you’re receiving information, but not application context.

This means you understand the basics of a “good latch” and you know milk supply is based on supply and demand. But what no one taught you was the nuance of HOW to help a mom get a good latch when her baby isn’t cooperating. No one taught you how to help a mom navigate concerns about milk supply.

The bottom line? Most doula trainings are not doing enough when it comes to breastfeeding education, and you and your clients are both paying the price. The good news? As a doula, you can choose to continue your lactation education and refine your breastfeeding support skills without having to become a CLC or IBCLC.  

 

What Doula Training Breastfeeding Education Forgot
 

For many doula training programs, breastfeeding education might be taught by a Certified Lactation Educator, Registered Nurse, Certified Lactation Counselor, or IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant). This is the first issue – There is no standardization of who is teaching what. A Registered Nurse without specialized lactation credentials is missing context and experience in supporting complicated breastfeeding situations during postpartum. Whereas an IBCLC is experienced not just in the mechanics of breastfeeding or the basics, but understanding the nuance of how to provide triage support at the first signs of trouble.

To keep it “safe” and “simple” most doula training breastfeeding curriculum focuses on things like: benefits of breastfeeding, breastfeeding positions, how breastmilk is made, how to support breastmilk supply, and then touch briefly on other infant feeding options. All of that is very important for doulas to understand to have a foundation of infant feeding options. However, most doulas are left wondering HOW to support breastfeeding.

When I’m working with doulas who feel imposter syndrome when it comes to breastfeeding support, they ask questions like:  

 

“What do I do if the nurse is guiding mom into an uncomfortable latching position?” 

“What do I say if the nurse tells mom she can’t breastfeed?” 

“How do I help if the nurses are giving a bottle of formula and saying the baby needs it?” 

“How do I help if the latch looks good but mom is still in pain?” 

 

And this is exactly what doula training breastfeeding classes don’t cover. And going to a parent-facing breastfeeding class or a community based breastfeeding support group will not teach you how to navigate those scenarios either.  

 

How Doula Lactation Education Protects You and Your Clients 

 

Doula breastfeeding continuing education cannot be considered optional, in fact it is CRITICAL for risk reduction and harm prevention. I spoke with one doula who told me she breastfed her own babies and thought that being a doula & a mom who breastfed equipped her to help new moms breastfeed. But then it was HARD. So she got her CLC training, and found that breastfeeding support felt like taking on too much responsibility and liability. The pressure to make sure her advice was protecting the mom’s goals and the baby’s needs without undermining medical staff recommendations was overwhelming. 

The truth is, as a doula, you have more impact than you realize. What you say to a mother you’re working with during her most vulnerable moments matters.

So if you tell her that whatever she’s experiencing is “normal” she’ll trust you… and ignore possible red flags, delaying care for way too long.

Similarly, if you panic because you think everything is a red flag, or you just “want to be safe”, that can cause her to panic unnecessarily.

This is why you need doula-centered breastfeeding education that focuses on risk reduction.
 

Choosing the Best Breastfeeding Classes for Doulas 

​

So if you’re reading this and you’re like, “Okay I get it! I NEED higher level breastfeeding education specifically for doulas to implement support well”, you’re probably also thinking, “How can i choose the best breastfeeding class designed for doulas?”

Here’s what I recommend looking for when choosing a breastfeeding class for doulas:  

 

• The class is taught by an IBCLC, someone with experience working as a doula is even better 

• The class focuses on these topics: 

  • Breastfeeding preparation during pregnancy: how doulas can help their clients create a breastfeeding plan that works   

  • How Birth Interventions Impact Breastfeeding 

  • Latching Support Skills for Doulas that help you understand the basics of oral function, red flags to look for, and techniques for ensuring a deeper latch 

  • Milk Supply: Understanding True Low Milk Supply vs. Perceived Low Milk Supply 

  • Avoiding Unnecessary Formula + Protecting Milk Supply when Supplementing  

  • Interactive discussions/activities to practice identifying problems, creating a plan, and escalating to an IBCLC appropriately  

• If the course is accredited or approved for Continuing Education Units this shows that it’s likely evidence based and has been vetted by someone beyond the instructor 

  •  Look for CEs from organizations like: ICEA (International Childbirth Education Association), DONA, Nursing Board, IBLCE, etc.  

  • Some Doula Certifications require ongoing continuing education and accept approved credits from aligned organizations 

 

Breastfeeding Beyond the Birth Plan: Online Breastfeeding Education for Doulas 

 

As an IBCLC, mom of 5, and former Birth and Postpartum Doula, I realized the gap in breastfeeding education for doulas. I began to notice this gap of breastfeeding support skills for doulas translated into a gap in breastfeeding success for mothers. What I often witnessed was mothers delaying breastfeeding support because their doula said there was no issue. On the other hand I’ve often seen mothers think they’re broken because their trusted doula didn’t know how to guide them. So I started talking to doulas to understand WHY – and I found that most doulas feel some degree of imposter syndrome when it comes to providing breastfeeding education and support. The other problem? Many doulas feel like they don’t know when to refer to an IBCLC or don’t have access to local IBCLCs to help navigate complex breastfeeding situations.

That’s why I created the Breastfeeding Beyond the Birth Plan Training for Doulas. Breastfeeding is no longer just a box to check on the birth plan. Clients will no longer plan to avoid formula “unless necessary” – rather you will be equipped to help them establish a basic breastfeeding plan, fix bad latches, and support milk supply without accidentally overstepping scope.  

 

What doulas learn inside Breastfeeding Beyond the Birth Plan:  

 

• Understand the barriers to breastfeeding success 

• Identify how birth experience may be impacting breastfeeding 

• Scenario based exercises to learn how to counsel clients concerned about the impact of birth interventions on breastfeeding 

• Oral function red flags that might be causing latch pain 

• L.A.T.CH. Technique to support optimal feeding positions 

• Perceived Low Milk Supply vs True Low Milk Supply  

• How to guide parents through avoiding unnecessary formula 

• S.M.A.R.T. Supplementing Framework to protect milk supply when mother chooses to supplement  

• Snecario based exercises following an SBAR format to ensure adequate and timely lactation referrals 

• Language to help empower mothers to advocate for quality lactation care from hospital staff, pediatricians, and lactation consultants   

• 5 ICEA Approved CEUs  

• IBCLC led breastfeeding program for doulas  

 

If you’re a doula ready to take your breastfeeding support to the next level, click here to stop feeling like an imposter and confidently support your breastfeeding clients.