Childbirth International provides comprehensive online training for today's informed birth and lactation professional CBI was born in 1998.
We wanted to provide birth and lactation professionals with the tools they needed to help clients define their own path. We wanted to provide training that was consistent, comprehensive, and culturally respectful. The first courses we launched were Birth Doula and Childbirth Educator. We began teaching these face to face in 1998 (as Parentlink, Singapore), and then started providing distance training from 1999. In 2008 we launched the Postpartum Doula and Lactation Counselor courses. In 2009 we launched the Business of Birth course. The past year has seen us seen us significantly increasing our focus on social media and launching our new website. We have been updating all of our course materials with the most recent research and responding to our student requests to include more topics. We gave the Business of Birth module a facelift and included it in all our training and certification programs. We have added the option to purchase gift cards so your loved ones can give the gift of training (in full or part) to you. We also added the Business of Birth module as a standalone course option for those who are not CBI students but would like to develop their business. Students can now choose business mentoring to guide you through the Business of Birth module, and can have private mentoring of up to four hours to guide you through challenging problems. We continue to work on our Advanced Birth Doula course which will be available later in the year. Our philosophy has remained consistent. We now provide training for birth and postpartum doulas, childbirth educators and lactation counselors. We remain true to the belief that training should be flexible, without time limits, or rules telling you who you can and cannot work with, or what you should charge.
10/04/2026
A recent study explored what factors in pregnancy and postpartum may relate to a parent’s infant feeding decision-making. It found that there is a correlation between vaginal birth, a postpartum without complications, and a smooth start to lactation which is important to consider when exploring how public health interventions can respond to low lactation rates.
When you are supporting clients, you might consider how you can help them prepare for postpartum and the early days of lactation so they have the knowledge, understanding, and skills to navigate potential challenges.
This World Health Day 2026, WHO unites and mobilizes the world under the theme “Together for health. Stand with science.” to highlight the role of science-led innovations improving the health, with special focus on One Health – the interconnected and coordinated health of humans, plants, animals and the environment.” World Health Organization
Looking at your community, consider how your work and your clients’ lives are interconnected with the world around you, the environment, and the innovations that continue to shape our reality. How can you continue to support parents and families while adapting to the changing landscape of medicine, perinatal support, and social stability.
“The communications module was a complete game changer for me. This was my second time taking a Postpartum Doula Certification course, and the depth and breadth of this topic is unparalleled. While it took me much longer to complete this part of the program, I believe I needed that much time to digest and integrate the content.” Nichole, PPD
31/03/2026
Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility.
It’s been found that many people identify as having never met or known a trans person, and that most people learn about trans people from the media, whether that’s TV, film, news, or social media. More often than not, trans people are not consulted or included in deciding how trans people will be portrayed through media portrayal, leading to significant amounts of misinformation, stigmatization, and stereotypes.
Last year, GLAAD put together a series of interviews with trans elders to learn more about their stories, experiences, and to help others “meet” trans people in an accessible, approachable way.
A recent review of 13 studies on the use of prophylactic oxytocin in the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage found that lower doses may offer the best results and greatest level of safety. The researchers note, though, that the studies reviewed offered limited representation of high-risk birthing parents and included unreliable consistency in reporting adverse outcomes. While it is helpful to know that lower doses balance efficacy and safety best, there is a clear need for greater research with consistent frameworks to increase the quality of the findings.
Goal setting and follow-through is often tied to our motivation, and as self-employed professionals, we often need to hold ourselves accountable to work that needs to be done and skills that need to be developed. This TEDtalk offers strategies for building your intrinsic motivation, cutting out the middle to make goals more achievable, and finding sources of positive feedback to help you grow and develop your skills!
“Racism, xenophobia and related discrimination and intolerance exist in all societies, everywhere. Racism harms not just the lives of those who endure it, but also society as a whole. We all lose in a society characterized by discrimination, division, distrust, intolerance, and hate. The fight against racism is everyone’s fight. We all have a part to play in building a world beyond racism.” United Nations
One way we see racism and xenophobia in our communities is through the use of hate speech, both in-person and online. The United Nations campaign reminds us when we encounter hate speech to:
Pause - refrain from replying with angry words and don’t share with others - stop the spread of misinformation and hate.
Fact-check - look at the source of the information and determine whether it is accurate and reliable.
Engage - with family and friends in discussions highlighting how harmful hate speech is.
Challenge - undermine hateful comments with positive comments that emphasize tolerance and equality in defense of those who are targeted by hate speech.
Report - report hate speech on groups and platforms that you are on.
17/03/2026
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!
May the Irish hills caress you.
May her lakes and rivers bless you.
May the luck of the Irish enfold you.
May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you
13/03/2026
Superstitions and old wives’ tales around pregnancy and childbirth exist all over the world, with many having roots in traditional or folk remedies. What are your favourite ones that have come up with clients or that you’ve learned about over your time working as a doula?
08/03/2026
“Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls” is the theme for International Women’s Day this year, with a call to action to eliminate barriers to justice and human rights for all. Equal justice here means that your rights are acknowledged, defended, and protected. They are inalienable and the laws in place to protect them are enforced - for everyone. You might reflect on what you can do in your community to stand up for the rights, freedoms, and equality of all women and girls, and how you can continue to advocate for the parents and families you work with.
05/03/2026
Did you know that up to 80% of all medications prescribed to pregnant individuals are antibiotics? A recent review of antibiotic safety in pregnancy highlights new-to-market antibiotics, changes in labelling, and updates to previously included antibiotics from the original publication in 2015. You can learn more about the review here: https://doi.org/10.1002/phar.70010
02/03/2026
Bodily autonomy comes up in a lot of headlines and public debates. But in birth and lactation work, it tends to show up much more quietly.
It’s present in everyday interactions - in how questions are asked, how information is offered, and whether someone leaves a conversation feeling pressured or genuinely heard.
Bodily autonomy isn’t about convincing someone to choose one path over another. It’s about making sure that they have the information, time, and respect they need to decide for themselves.
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Our Story - A Different Way of Training Birth Professionals
CBI was born in 1998. At the time, there were few options for training as a doula, childbirth educator or breastfeeding counselor. You could choose a two-day workshop but we were seeing many birth professionals who felt unprepared and ill-equipped for the challenges of their role. We wanted to up the game. To help people feel confident in their skills, knowledgeable, and to be able to learn in a supportive environment. And we wanted to make training and certification more accessible for those who had families, jobs and lives outside their work!
But how to do this? How could we reach people who lived in areas where training wasn’t available? People in rural areas? People who worked full time or didn’t have childcare? People who wanted more than just the basics but wanted to feel prepared, confident and professional in their role? We looked at what skills and competencies were really important in working with birthing families. What really made the difference? What we discovered was that birthing families felt strong and empowered when they had knowledge. But they also needed tools to know how to use that knowledge effectively. And birth professionals needed to have time to not just absorb knowledge or practice a double-hip squeeze, but to reflect on their work, on the choices that clients make, on their own feelings about those choices. Time that just isn’t available in two days! We realized that our training would need to be different. We didn’t just change the rules. We made new ones! We made training a journey rather than a destination. A journey where the focus is on personal growth and building competency, rather than simply receiving a certificate. A journey that pairs students with a dedicated trainer to walk the path together, for as long as it takes, and access to a global peer community even after you complete your training.
Our first courses in 1998 were for Birth Doulas and Childbirth Educators. In 2008 we added Postpartum Doula and Breastfeeding Counselor courses. Over the past 20 years maternity care has changed. More technology and interventions are used and more rules exist within the health care system. Technology has also allowed clients to become aware of their options, seek out support, and communicate faster with others. The birth professional world has changed too with people wanting to learn ways to make their businesses successful and take part in lifelong learning to become even more skilled in their work. CBI has risen to these challenges by expanding our course offerings and giving our students, you, more options. Our Business for Birth Professionals course supports you in growing your business. The Trauma-Informed Professional advanced program prepares you to better meet the needs of clients who come to birth and parenting with trauma and to work towards eliminating obstetric violence. Advanced modules on a wide range of topics provide continuing education opportunities for you to develop specialist skills and build your professional portfolio. We have also seen a growing interest in health professionals - midwives, nurses, doctors - wanting to learn more about supporting families effectively and we have responded to this with the launch of professional development programs.
Through all of this growth, we have stayed true to our core values.
Inclusivity: CBI’s core values have always included the goal of offering a learning platform that is welcoming and inclusive of all individuals. We strive to develop reflection and empathy so our students can interact in their community with dignity and respect for all persons.
Diversity: We recognize the disparities in health care and outcomes for minority and marginalized groups and seek to be part of the solution to eliminating these through listening, understanding, dialogue, and education. We embrace and celebrate the diversity of humanity and continually seek out diverse perspectives.
Sustainability: We are committed to social, cultural, environmental, financial and personal sustainability and look for ways to minimize consumption of natural resources, support individuals in fostering healthy communities, and encourage a maintainable work/life integration through flexible employment and study arrangements.
In designing our training programs, we consider flexibility, affordability and an appreciation for the individual and unique needs of each student. We want to ensure that in choosing your training program, you are able to define for yourself what your business will look like and how that business will be run. That you can be successful in your training in a way that is flexible enough to adjust to your priorities and lifestyle, using online learning and adopting new technologies to make this easier for you. Training that enables you to feel supported and strengthened by your peers and trainers as you complete your learning and continue to grow for years to come.
We will always provide courses that identify best-practice, and teach skills that build competencies to support families in a way that enables them to have empowered, positive experiences through the childbearing years. We endorse the World Health Organization in their goal to “ensure that not only do women survive childbirth complications if they arise, but also that they thrive and reach their full potential for health and life” (WHO, 2018). Parents who are educated, supported and respected through this period are more likely to be strong advocates for themselves and their families. When families are healthy, communities are healthy.
