This doula workshop is for anyone interested in quickly and effectively learning how to support moms and dads through birth with comfort, information, and spiritual presence.
We have put together an awesome training with tons of useful handouts we will be giving out in each session including articles, recipes, tools, forms, and the GEM Doula Quick Reference Guide.
This course is designed to give a more detailed basis of knowledge to doulas and midwifery students and help women get a taste of all that being a midwife entails to help them decide if they want to become a midwife
(and how to do that if they do want to)!
This is our foundational 7-week course required both for GEM doula certification as well as a prerequisite for enrollment in the GEM Midwifery Academy.
GEM's Midwifery Academy provides step-by-step guidance through the education requirements for out-of-hospital midwifery certification for working in the United States or Internationally.
The Academy provides a curriculum for guided self-study with due dates and completion rewards, online coaching & mentorship, in-person & online study groups, connection to apprenticeship opportunities, plus spiritual development, and business resources.
Prerequisites Needed:
Doula training and Intro to Midwifery Course.
The final step in completing your Midwifery Training.
With this workshops you will learn and improve your skills to be a well prepared and supportive midwife for all the moms and families you get to work!
When you become a certified doula with GEM you can confidently offer your services and be more valuable to clients because of your willingness to continue learning and deepening your knowledge and skills. The certifying process helps push you to achieve those learning goals by requiring you to read, take a more in-depth course, and practice by attending at least 2 births!
Also, if you want to work for certain organizations like clinics or hospitals or doula collective business that hire doulas to work for them, they will often require proof of certification for assurance that you have the knowledge and experience they are looking for.
Jana Johnston, CPM
GEM Director and Co-Founder
Rachel Schwepler, CPM
GEM Doula Director and Co-Founder
Kelly Jenson, CPM
GEM Spiratural Director
Mary Arthur, RN IBCLC
GEM Instructor
Carol Gautschi CPM, LM
Experienced Midwife Consultant
Mary Bernabe
Experienced Midwife Consultant
A “Doula” is a non-medical support person who provides physical comfort, emotional-spiritual support, and informational support to a mother and father or other present family through pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum.
A “Midwife” is a medical care provider for childbirth who provides vital monitoring care for both mother and baby through pregnancy with prenatal care visits, labor and delivery, and postpartum. Midwives typically are more holistic in their approach to care for the mother’s spirit-mind-body and often provides many natural alternatives for the health and well-being of mother and baby.
Yes, we have our doula guide available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Armenian. We also teach the doula workshop and some midwifery skills courses in Spanish.
The GEM Midwifery Academy is a monthly membership subscription model that costs $100 per month.
Yes, you can complete all the requirements for GEM Doula certification even with a doula training course from another organization.
See the GEM Doula Certification application here for more details.
The 2-Day Doula Workshop costs $250. If you are unable to afford that, you can apply for our financial need scholarship for a 30% discount: GEM Doula Financial Need Scholarship Application
No, GEM Doula Certification costs a one-time processing fee of $50 after which you are certified for life and there is no membership or renewing costs.
Doulas are not regulated or licensed professionals because they are non-medical support people, similar to a friend or family member. Therefore, technically you do not need a certification in order to practice as a doula! However, the purpose of certifying is to grow in knowledge and experience so that you can confidently offer your services and be more valuable to clients because of your willingness to continue learning and deepening your knowledge and skills. The certifying process helps push you to achieve those learning goals by requiring you to read, take a more in-depth course, and practice by attending at least 2 births!
*Also, if you want to work for certain organizations like clinics or hospitals or doula collective business that hire doulas to work for them, they will often require proof of certification for assurance that you have the knowledge and experience they are looking for. They may even specify certain organizations they accept doula certification from. SO be sure to investigate the exact requirements of any organization you hope or intend to work for!
First of all, the CPM credential is not a license but a certification from the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM), which is a private business organization in the USA. NARM is not government run! Rather it is a business started by homebirth midwives in the 1990’s that created a process for out-of-hospital midwifery training and credentialing that has become generally accepted as the standard in the USA.
Now, separately from midwife certification, some states have created midwife licensure which can be obtained by completing individual state requirements, which IS government managed. In some states, the CPM certification is all that is required to obtain Midwife Licensure with the state by some kind of registration process with the state. In other states there are other requirements in addition to CPM certification and in some cases midwifery licensure can be obtained even without a CPM certification. It just depends on each individual state's requirements. In some states midwifery is still illegal and there is no pathway to licensure nor legal practice within the state for professional out-of-hospital midwives.... although in those states usually nurse-midwives, family physicians, or Obstetricians may practice homebirth legally if they choose to.
I explain more about state laws and requirements for midwives in our 7-week Intro to Midwifery Class if you are wanting to learn more about that you can check out that course here: https://gemmidwife.com/7-week-intro-to-midwifery-course/
In most cases, women after completing their midwifery training and gaining their CPM credential will start their own private practice midwifery business. In some cases, particularly in bigger cities, you may be able to get a job working for another midwife in her homebirth practice OR get a job at a local free-standing (out-of-hospital) birthing center that hires professional midwives (some birth centers only hire certified nurse midwives).
It has been a great program, I have enjoyed how affordable the program is and that I am able to work at my own pace. I have been learning because each question makes you dig deeper into what you are learning, like going on a rabbit trail which is amazing because then you learn more than just the question.
I highly recommend GEM Academy, the students are wonderful, the midwife is incredibly knowledgeable in everything birth, and if she doesn’t know she finds out. Very affordable and easy instructions. The midwife who started this is in the business of training women to become wonderful midwives. This is her passion so she pours into her students.
The format of this course is very different than most, and I wasn’t totally sure what I thought about it at first. But I really, really like it. I like that we have to go out and find the information ourselves rather than just watching something that tells us the answers. It makes the information stick so much better when we have to go and find it ourselves, especially from multiple sources. I also really like the weekly meetings with the ability to ask questions, hear stories, and get to know our fellow students.
I would mention that this program is suited for people who want to keep things simple and not fancy or high-tech. Some people want huge productions and videos and all that, but I love how simple and down-to-earth this program is, and I especially love how affordable it is! I also love that it’s a Christian program.
It took me a couple of years of looking around at different programs, but once I found GEM Academy I knew it was the school for me! I love that it's self-paced, and that works well with my lifestyle. I also love that this program is Christian-based! I've been learning new things every day! This has made me a more knowledgeable doula and I'm very excited for this midwifery journey!
If you're being called to be a midwife, answer the call! Let Jana be your guide on this midwifery journey! It's very affordable, and self-paced so it works with most schedules! I'm a mom of two with one on the way, a business owner, and a birth doula, and I can carve out a bit of time each day to study and progress on my midwife journey! You can do it too!
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