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.
19/12/2025
Did you know? A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of midwifery continuity of care found significant impacts on labor, birth, and maternal/infant outcomes. Birthing parents were more likely to birth vaginally and after 37 weeks gestation, and less likely to have a cesarean, episiotomy, or induction of labor.
Consider what continuity of care looks like in your community, alongside access to midwifery care. How might you support clients in your community in advocating for greater continuity where it’s an option for them?
Jen McLellan () recently gave a TedTalk about how people in larger bodies access healthcare and the treatment they receive. Check out her talk! It’s a great resource for care providers, birth/lactation professionals, and parents who are preparing to advocate for themselves and/or their partner while accessing healthcare.
10/12/2025
Human Rights Day commemorates the publication of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document facilitated by the United Nations that outlines fundamental human rights as a global blueprint for informing laws and policies at every level of governance. It “enshrines the inalienable rights that everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, s*x, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
This year’s theme is “Human Rights, Our Everyday Essentials,” serving as a reminder of the core rights each individual should expect to have every day and to share and explore what the everyday impact is of having, or not having, these rights respected and attainable. In our role as birth and lactation professionals, we can consider how we advocate for families in our communities on an individual and community level, ensuring that they continue to have access to safe, supportive care and the rights to choose where they give birth and what kind of care provider they want to have.
With the holidays approaching, one of the most common questions to come up in our doula groups is especially relevant! Many new doulas wonder what gifts other doulas give their clients at the end of their contracted time together. Small gifts or tokens can be a great way to close out our time together while also offering a little memento of the support we gave. From a practical perspective, they can be handy little promotional tools, too, as they increase the overall value of our support and help clients stay connected to our business. If we’re lucky, we’ll make such an impact that they’ll share our business with their friends and family!
A quick and easy DIY gift is bath salts. You need minimal supplies, can make them in bulk, and can use them for client gifts or offer them as samples when doing community events.
Supplies:
- small mason jar + lid (or) cone bag + twist tie
- Epsom bath salts
- dried lavender
- small bowl and spoon for mixing
- branded sticker or tag
- ingredients and instructions tag
Optional:
- pink himalayan bath salts
Instructions:
1. Combine 3 parts Epsom bath salts and 1 part dried lavender to a small bowl (optional: 2 parts Epsom bath salts, 1 part pink bath salts, 1 part dried lavender)
2. Mix well, then add to jar or cone bag.
3. Top with a sprinkle of dried lavender before tying off or sealing jar
4. Apply a branded sticker or tag with ingredients listed
03/12/2025
The theme for International Day of Persons with Disabilities is “Fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress.”
The WHO Factsheet on disability shares, “Health inequities arise from unfair conditions faced by persons with disabilities, including stigma, discrimination, poverty, exclusion from education and employment, and barriers faced in the health system itself.” When we consider our role in the birth world, we want to reflect on how we’re complicit in supporting ableist ideas and practices as we are supporting our clients. We can also investigate how parents with disabilities navigate our community, including the barriers they face in accessing care, support, and resources. It can be important, too, to evaluate how we present our services through social media and our webpages, and whether we’re excluding disabled parents by not actively including their experiences in the resources we create, posts and stories we share on our social media, and in the professional development we do to grow our knowledge, understanding, and skills.
Universal Human Rights Month seeks to promote the basic human rights of all, across nations and at every level of governance. A key way we can contribute to the protection and promotion of universal human rights is to learn about the people, cultures, and communities around us - locally and internationally. You may want to take some time today to research the experiences of pregnant, birthing, and postpartum parents in different countries and parts of the world to help broaden your understanding of the intersection between birth and human rights.
28/11/2025
Did you know? All of our core courses include our “Business of Birth” mini-course to help you get started on your business and marketing plan while you move through your doula, lactation counselor, or childbirth educator studies with us.
25/11/2025
“Some women and girls, such as those in vulnerable situations or humanitarian crises, migrants, LGTBI, indigenous people or those with disabilities, face greater risk.
Violence against women continues to be an obstacle to achieving equality, development, peace as well as to the fulfillment of women and girls’ human rights.” United Nations
This year, the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women kicks off a 16-day campaign focused on “ending digital violence against all women and girls”. The UNITE initiative brings forth a call-to-action for governments, tech companies, the media, and individuals to address and speak out about violence against women. The goal is to grow a movement that builds on a foundation of enforced laws criminalizing digital violence, safer and more transparent tech platforms, investment in feminist organizations, and challenging harmful and normalized online behaviour.
In your own work as a birth/postpartum professional, you might explore what action you can take in your community and online spaces to reduce violence and call out harmful behaviour towards the creation of safer spaces for all women and girls.
Do you have any pre-made playlists you can pop on for clients who realize they want music but haven’t prepared anything themselves? What music do you like to work to on admin days? What helps you stay up at night when you’re doing overnight postpartum doula work? Share your favorites in the comments!
20/11/2025
Transgender Day of Remembrance is observed annually to honour the memory of trans people who were victims of anti-trans violence. On this day, with Transgender Awareness Week, we work to increase the visibility of trans people and issues facing the trans community. Trans women and people of colour are at exceptionally high risk of experiencing anti-trans violence, including in the healthcare setting.
The United Nations offered an Independent Expert on s*xual orientation and gender identity, evaluating the struggle of trans and gender-diverse persons. In their article, they state, “Today, however, the vast majority of trans and gender-diverse persons in the world do not have access to gender recognition by the State. That scenario creates a legal vacuum and a climate that tacitly fosters stigma and prejudice against them.” You might reflect on the challenges and experiences faced by trans and gender diverse people and families in your community.
The World Health Organization’s theme for 2025 is “Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures,” and this theme continues with World Prematurity Day. The goal of this day on the WHO health calendar is to raise awareness of preterm birth and advocate for quality care for every baby. One of the WHO’s key messages revolves around supporting families in caring for their preterm babies, which is especially relevant to our work as birth and postpartum professionals:
“Supporting families is a vital part of care for preterm babies.
Behind every preterm baby is a family navigating fear, uncertainty, and emotional strain. Parents often face long hospital stays, financial stress, and the trauma of watching their newborn fight to survive.
Evidence shows supporting families is not optional – it’s essential to improving outcomes for preterm babies.”
After reviewing over 60 studies involving more than 7,000 birthing parents, the findings are clear. Babies and birthing parents have better outcomes when they can spend the first hour after birth skin-to-skin. While this has been a recommended practice for some time, it may now be considered unethical to deprive birthing parents and their babies of this time together. Benefits have been noted to include improved breast/chestfeeding rates at one and six months postpartum, as well as improved blood glucose and temperature levels. Consider the resources you can create to help your clients learn more about skin-to-skin care and advocating for the golden hour after birth.
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Childbirth International (CBI) posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
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.
