Doula Essentials

05/01/2026

Happy International Doula Month!!🎉

Every May, DONA International celebrates the doulas who show up for families in life's most meaningful moments.

This year's theme is Doulas: Nurturing the World, One Family at a Time.💜 Your care doesn't just support one person - it ripples out through families, communities, and generations. That's the work you do, and this month we're here to honor it.

All month long we'll be sharing stories from our members around the world so stay tuned for those.💛

📲 And check out our social media toolkit and join the celebration: adobe.ly/4t6J6k1

Exciting things also happening this month - more to come on each of these:

🎊 IMPACT Program applications now open
🎊 Advanced Doula Certification applications now open
🎊 Virtual Summit Oct 26-27 - pre-sale registration now open

Find out more at dona.org and donasummit.com

04/03/2026

“WHO strongly recommends supporting women to have a chosen companion during labor and childbirth.”📣

The evidence is undisputed about the benefits of having that emotional, psychological, and practical support during labor and childbirth; benefits that include a shorter length of time in labor, decreased caesarean section rates, and more positive health indicators for babies in the first five minutes after birth.

Companions can:

👉🏿 bridge communication gaps between laboring patients and their healthcare team,
👉🏽 offer massage or hand-holding to help relieve pain, and
👉🏻 provide reassurance to help the person in labor feel in control.

And as an advocate, a labor companion can also witness and safeguard against mistreatment or neglect❗️

The World Health Organization (WHO) urges global actors to professional organizations and healthcare providers to community networks and women's groups to play a role in advocating for labor companions.

And couldn’t agree more.💪🏽

04/02/2026

04/02/2026

Chag Pesach Sameach To everyone celebrating Passover

03/31/2026

Some jokes hurt, please be sensitive this April Fool's day.

03/29/2026

03/29/2026

We are so proud to be continuing to share Phyllis’s groundbreaking work in the all new “When Survivors Give Birth” workshop releasing soon. Every DE will have this important training under their belt. Thank you Phyllis! 💜💜💜

12/22/2025

Run, don’t walk 🏃‍♀️