Birth Doula Certification Booklist
The following are all the course requirements. You will find the complete booklist (and one video) required for certification. Eight books are required in total. Where it says a number next to the section, that's the number of books, the rest is your choice. All book reports must be turned in 6 months from your training date and extensions are given on an individual basis. You must write a book report for each book including a couple paragraphs about your biggest takeaway from that book. Once finished please email all reports in one email. All books are available for purchase here and all kickbacks we get when you shop through our affiliate page will support student scholarships.
Required to Watch
The Business of being born
Support - 2 Books
Special Women: The Role of the Professional Labor Assistant - Paulina Perez
The Doula Book: How a Trained Labor Companion Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier, and Healthier Birth - Marshall H., M.D. Klaus
The Birth Partner, Second Edition - Penny Simkin
The Nurturing Touch at Birth: A Labor Support Handbook - Paulina Perez
Birth Balls: Use of Physical Therapy Balls in Maternity Care - Paulina Perez
The Doula's Guide to Empowering Your Birth: A Complete Labor and Childbirth Companion for Parents to Be by Lindsey Bliss
Pregnancy - 2 Books
The Natural Pregnancy Book: Herbs, Nutrition, and Other Holistic Choices - Aviva Jill Romm
Nurture: A Modern Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, Early Motherhood and Trusting Yourself and Your Body by Erica Chidi Cohen, Jillian Ditner
Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn, Revised and Updated: The Complete Guide - Penny Simkin
The Pregnancy Book - William and Martha Sears ∙ Pregnancy the Natural Way - Zita West ∙ The Scientification of Love - Michel Odent
A Holistic Guide to Embracing Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood Karen Salt
Reclaiming the Spirituality of Birth: Healing for Mothers and Babies Benig Mauger
Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: The Wisdom and Science of Gentle Choices in Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting- Dr Sarah J Buckley
The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth
Labor and Birth - 1 Book
Sacred Birthing – Sunni Karll
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth- Ina May Gaskin
Birthing From Within -Pam England
Babies Are Not Pizzas: They’re Born, Not Delivered- Rebecca Dekker
Childbirth Without Fear: The Principles and Practice of Natural Childbirth by Grantly Dick-Read
Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care Paperback Jennifer Block
Birth Issues for Marginalized People - 1 Book
Birthing Justice: Black Women, Pregnancy, and Childbirth by Julia Oparah and Alicia Bonaparte
Black, Pregnant and Loving It: The Comprehensive Pregnancy Guide for Today's Woman of Color Yvette Allen-Campbell and Dr. Suzanne Greenidge-Hewitt
The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians: How to Stay Sane and Care for Yourself from Preconception through Birth Rachel Pepper
Where's the Mother? Stories from a Transgender Dad Trevor MacDonald
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts
Reproductive Justice: An Introduction (Reproductive Justice: A New Vision for the 21st Century Loretta Ross and Rickie Solinger
Radical Reproductive Justice: Foundation, Theory, Practice, Critique by Loretta Ross, Lynn Roberts, et al.
Battling Over Birth: Black Women and the Maternal Health Care Crisis 1st Edition by Julia Chinyere Oparah, Helen Arega, Dantia Hudson, Linda Jones, Talita Oseguera
Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet A. Washington
Required - 1
Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization First by Khiara Bridges
Breastfeeding
The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers: The Most Comprehensive Problem-Solution Guide to Breastfeeding from the Foremost Expert in North America - Jack Newman
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding - La Leche League International
Breastfeeding. – Suzanne Arms, Chloe Renfew
The Black Woman's Guide to Breastfeeding: The Definitive Guide to Nursing for African American Mothers by Katherine Barber
Breastfeeding Special Care Babies - Sandra Lang
The Breastfeeding Book: Everything You Need to Know About Nursing
Your Child from Birth Through Weaning - William and Martha Sears
The Complete Book of Breastfeeding - Marvin S. Eiger, Sally Wendkos Olds
Latch: A Handbook for Breastfeeding with Confidence at Every Stage Robin Kaplan M Ed IBCLC
Breastfeeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers Nancy Mohrbacher and Kathleen Kendall-Tackett PhD IBCLC
The Nursing Mother's Companion - Kathleen Huggins
Nursing Mother, Working Mother: The Essential Guide for Breastfeeding and Staying Close to Your Baby After You Return to Work - Gale Pryor
Work. Pump. Repeat.: The New Mom's Survival Guide to Breastfeeding and Going Back to Work Jessica Shortall
The Breastfeeding Mother's Guide to Making More Milk: Foreword by Martha Sears, RN, Diana West, and Lisa Marasco
Cesarean Birth
The Cesarean - Michel Odent
Open Season: A Survival Guide for Natural Childbirth and VBAC in the 90s (Critical Studies in Education & Culture) - Nancy Wainer Cohen
The VBAC Companion: The Expectant Mother's Guide to Vaginal Birth After Cesarean - Diana Korte
Give Birth a Chance: How to Prepare for an Empowered VBAC by Ilia Blandina CNM
Vaginal Birth after Cesarean: The Smart Woman's Guide to VBAC - Elizabeth Kaufmann
Birth after Cesarean: The Medical Facts - Dr. Bruce Flamm
Natural Birth after Cesarean: A Practical Guide - Johanne C. Walters, Karis Crawford
Second Chance: A Mother's Quest for a Natural Birth after a Cesarean Thais Nye Derich
Cut, Stapled, and Mended: When One Woman Reclaimed Her Body and Gave Birth on Her Own Terms After Cesarean Roanna Rosewood
Special Circumstances
When Hello Means Goodbye: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Dies Before Birth, at Birth, or Shortly After Birth – Pat Schwiebert
Empty Arms: Hope and Support for Those Who Have Suffered a
Miscarriage, Stillbirth, or Tubal Pregnancy - Pam Vredevelt
Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic - Martha Beck
Choosing Naia: A Family's Journey - Mitchell Zuckoff
Ended Beginnings - Claudia Panuthos
The Bereaved Parent - Harriet Sarnoff Schiff
Swallowed by a Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing - Thomas R. Golden
Preventing Miscarriage: The Good News by Jonathan Scher
Miscarriage: Women Sharing from the Heart by Marie Allen
We Were Gonna Have a Baby, But We Had an Angel Instead by Pat Schwiebert
Coming to Term: Uncovering the Truth About Miscarriage by Jon Cohen
The High-Risk Pregnancy Sourcebook by Denise M. Chism
Postpartum
The Postnatal Depletion Cure- Oscar Serrallach
The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother by Heng Ou
The Fourth Trimester: A Postpartum Guide to Healing Your Body, Balancing Your Emotions, and Restoring Your Vitality by Kimberly Ann Johnson
If you have any questions, please contact us.