Nona Birth Foundations Doula Training

Aligning the mind and body for birth™

Nona Doulas are Mindful Doulas

Our Foundations Birth Doula Training integrates a physiologic approach to birth with the neurohormonal science behind the mind-body connection. This in-depth training helps doulas learn how to support birthing parents in maintaining the mindset needed to meet the intensity of labor while reducing unnecessary suffering.

Why Nona Is Different

The Nona Foundations Doula Training is developed and taught by a perinatal expert in childbirth education, doula care, and perinatal counseling. This allows us to integrate advanced mindfulness and psychotherapeutic techniques into your foundational training, with opportunities to deepen your skills through advanced coursework.

✅ Already a trained doula? Explore our advanced trainings

What you will learn:

Core Knowledge and Skills

The anatomy of labor, birth, and the immediate postpartum
Common hospital protocols and procedures
How to support clients navigating medical systems
Pain management techniques
Optimal fetal positioning and birth positions
Physiological approach to labor and birth
The doula’s role, ethics, and legal considerations
Supporting partners
Starting and sustaining a doula business
Professional relationship building and collaboration
Maternal health statistics and disparities

Mindfulness and Emotional Support

Mindfulness for doulas and birthing parents
Mindfulness as a method of coping with pain
Language use and the mind-body connection
Neuro-hormonal physiology and emotional regulation
Trauma-informed practice
Non-judgmental support and psychological safety
Basic psychotherapeutic tools for labor support
Identifying and referring perinatal mood and anxiety disorders
Navigating personal bias and using mindfulness to prevent interference in client support

Cultural and Historical Context

Social, cultural, and historical influences on birth in the U.S.
How systemic factors have shaped birth practices

What Sets Nona Doulas Apart

Mindfulness training is not an add-on at Nona—it’s foundational. Here’s how it transforms your doula practice:

Mind-Body informed Support
Nona Doulas understand the nervous system and hormonal physiology of labor, and use mindfulness-based techniques to support normal labor progression.
Support When Birth Takes a Turn
When interventions become necessary or birth does not go as planned, Nona Doulas help clients use mindfulness to manage fear and make grounded decisions.
Truly Non-Judgmental Support
Nona Doulas examine the psychology of bias and use mindfulness to stay present, avoid reactivity, and offer support without agenda.
Mindfulness for Pain Management
You’ll learn how mindfulness complements and enhances other coping strategies, offering parents more tools to manage pain with agency and awareness.

Training Details:

The Nona Foundations Doula Training is a hybrid training with both synchronous and asynchronous online learning. Students enroll as a cohort from January through April and have access to the training materials and community for one year with the option to subscribe to the community for continued support after the first year.

Access to the first two modules will begin on January 12th, 2026
Scheduled live virtual meetings for connection and Q&A are scheduled every 2-3 weeks
Modules are unlocked by 80% score on quizzes and accessible after the corresponding Q&A----this helps students stay up to date with the course and with their cohort.
Students are required to keep up with the modules and be prepared to participate in live meetings with questions, comments, and discussion topics
Homework and community participation is required
Meeting times are Mondays from 6-8 pm: 1/26, 2/9, 2/23, 3/9, 3/30, 4/6, 4/20

*Attendance with cameras on is required for all scheduled online meetings to be eligible for certification.

Registration coming soon! Questions? Email Erica at [email protected]

Join the Waitlist