Doula Training
Cape Town ~ Johannesburg ~ Online
Mama Bamba doulas are taught to hold a strong, still, supportive space for their clients in labour. When both parents are free of fear, the mother naturally moves into an altered state of consciousness.
Babies born into this sacred birthing field remain connected to a high frequency of consciousness resonating with unconditional love and wisdom.
Our doula training course prepares doulas to care for their clients,
by providing comprehensive experience in:
Hands-on Labour Support Techniques
Doula-Client Interaction
Scope of Practice
Mission
Statement and Standards of Practice
Ethics and Responsibility
Stages of Labour and Comfort Measures
Postpartum and Newborn Care
Caesarean Birth and Vaginal Birth After Caesarean
Emotional care of the Labouring Woman
Listening Skills
Managing Difficult Situations
The Birth Partner
Looking after the Doula
Marketing and Business Practices
In-Person Doula Training
8 Full days in- person training in Johannesburg or Cape Town
Usually divided into 2-3 sets of 3-4 consecutive days
The course fee includes:
– A comprehensive training manual
– 8 face to face training days
– One supervised orientation visit to a local MOU or birth center.
– Training manual
Online Doula Training
The course runs over 8 weeks
It includes weekly live sessions – Wednesday evenings, 17h30 to 20h00
as well as ongoing practical, experiential and written exercises to be completed each week.
The course fee includes:
Access to our comprehensive course content via our online learning platform
20hrs of live training plus additional video lectures
Weekly practical, experiential and written exercises to complete
Download your Doula Training Info pack here!
Please choose the information stream you are interested in.
Online
Cape Town
Johannesburg
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“You are a birth servant. Do good without show or fuss.
If you must take the lead, lead so that the mother is helped, yet still free and in charge. When the baby is born, they will rightly say: ‘We did it ourselves!”
~ tao te ching
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cOURSE cONTENT
Module 1
Spacious stillness
What is a doula?
Mama Bamba Ethics and Standards of Practice
Significance of birth & its long-term impact
Physiology of labour & hormones of labour
Doula’s role in the various stages of labour
Becoming calm and centered
Guiding your clients in releasing resistance
Techniques for emotional care
Module 2
Hospitals and how to negotiate the space
The birth partner’s role
A doula’s role in difficult labours and informed decision making
C-section & VBAC
Listening skills
Module 3
Sacred birth and the incoming soul
Newborn care
An introduction to breastfeeding
Postnatal care
PPD
Module 4
Cultural competency
Sexual abuse
Death & grief
Module 5
The business of being a doula
Prenatal care and birth plans
Looking after the doula
Post course support
Review, closing & feedback
Facilitators
Amy Mongie
Angela Morton
Tertia Alkema
Mentorship
STUDENT DOULA MENTORSHIP
You’ve done your doula training with Angela and Amy or Angela and Tertia and attended your orientation in either Cape Town or Johannesburg.
And now for the real thing – attending your first certification birth!
This can indeed be really daunting…… Am I able to apply what I’ve learned on the course? What if the mom doesn’t get on her surfboard? What if I mess up and the care provider thinks I’m an idiot? What if I let the parents down? What if I don’t know what to do? What if I do too much or too little? What if I can’t handle all the bodily fluids….?
Tertia and Angela offer their services as mentors to students. We doula the student doulas! We hold space for you as you discover your own way of being a space holder for the parents. We gently offer guidance where necessary, answer your questions, encourage you and help you debrief after the birth. We are also available via WhatsApp if you are at a birth and need assistance.
For further information and mentorship fees.
Contact:
Angela in Cape Town +27 73 665 5884 or Tertia in Johannesburg +27 61 778 1327
Debdriefing
THE IMPORTANCE OF DEBRIEFING FOR ALL DOULAS AFTER ATTENDING BIRTHS
Part of the self-care we need is debriefing. We need to talk through our experience in order to process the event, and also to have our feelings validated and possibly re-framed.
We need to be heard just as much as the parents do, and part of our postpartum involvement is listening to the parents debrief their birth story.
Doulas need that too, doulas need to be seen and heard just as much as the parents do.
Ream more about debriefing here
Pricing 2026
Early bird discount
R7250
R1000 deposit + balance paid in full before 22 January 2026
Standard
R8250
R1000 deposit + balance paid in full before 19 February 2026
Payment Plan
R9500.
R1000 deposit + 4 x monthly payments of R2125 paid in full by 1 July 2026.
For this payment option please provide proof that you have set up a monthly stop order for the amount.
The course fee includes:
– A comprehensive training manual
– 10 face to face training days
– One supervised orientation visit to a local MOU or birth center.
Writing materials, manuals, teas and snacks will be provided.
Participants bring something simple to add to the shared lunch each day.
Early bird
R7250
R1000 deposit + balance paid in full before 11 April 2026
Standard
R8250. R1000 deposit + balance paid in full before 9 May 2026
Payment Plan
R9500
R1000 deposit + 4 x monthly payments of R2125 paid in full by 1 September 2026.
For this payment option please provide proof that you have set up a monthly stop order for the amount.
The course fee includes:
– A comprehensive training manual
– 8 face to face training days
-One supervised orientation visit to a local MOU or birth center.
Writing materials, manuals, teas and snacks will be provided. Participants bring something simple to add to the shared lunch each day.
Early bird
R6600
R1000 deposit + balance paid in full before 7 January 2026
Standard
R7500
R1000 deposit + balance paid in full before 4 February 2026
Payment Plan
R8650
R1000 deposit + 3 x monthly payments (February, March, April 2026) of R2550 paid in full by 8 April 2026.
For this payment option please provide proof that you have set up a monthly stop order for the amount.
A deposit of R1000 confirms your spot! Pay here!
The online course fee includes:
– A comprehensive training manual
– 20hrs of live training plus additional video lectures
Doula Scope of Practice
Mama Bamba Doula Training Vision
Bringing compassion, love & depth back to birth.
Our Doula Training Mission
Providing wholehearted professional training to doulas, from all walks of life, to love and support birthing mothers.
Our Statement of Values
Mama Bamba doulas hold a strong, still space for their clients in labour. Mama Bamba Doulas strive to stand in their integrity and authenticity at all times whilst maintaining compassionate awareness for every individual in the birth space. Mama Bamba doulas recognize that true power is not competitive. This enables them to advocate effectively for their clients without losing integrity or creating conflict in the birth room. They create a trusting environment to assist clients to be free of fear and tension. This allows the babies to retain their innate wisdom and to birth with unconditional love.
Our Standards of Practice
I. Scope
a) Services provided. The doula provides emotional and physical support and guidance for women and their partners in labour. The doula creates a sacred birthing space that is trustworthy and dependable. The doula provides pre- and post-partum emotional support. The doula provides assistance to the client in making informed decisions about her care throughout the perinatal period. The advocacy role is best described as support, information, and mediation or negotiation.
b) Limits to Practice. Mama Bamba Doula’s do not perform clinical or medical tasks, diagnose or treat their clients. The Doula does not speak on behalf of or make decisions for the client.
c) Referrals. For client needs beyond the scope of the doula’s training, referrals are made to appropriate resources.
II. Provision of Care
a) The doula ensures that in the event of not being able to fulfill planned services the doula will provide back-up arrangements with another doula to ensure services to the client. If the doula feels unable to provide competent, compassionate care to an established client, it is the doula’s responsibility to notify the client and refer the client to an appropriate replacement.
III. Certification
a) Training. Attending a 10 day Mama Bamba Training Workshop. Attending a lactation workshop with an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Doulas who are certified by Mama Bamba will have completed all the requirements as set forth in the Mama Bamba Requirements for Birth.
b) Membership. To maintain certification Mama Bamba doulas are required to pay an annual membership fee.
IV Code of Ethics
I. Conduct
a) Appropriate behavior. The doula will display professional conduct at all times when working as a doula.
b) Competence and Professional Development. The doula should become and remain proficient in the professional practice through continuing education, and associations with other birth doulas.
c) Integrity. The doula should maintain the highest standards of professional integrity.
II. Responsibility to Clients
a) The doula’s primary responsibility is to the clients. The doula promotes empowerment in the clients. The confidentiality and privacy of the client is non-negotiable. The doula honours all commitments made to the client.
b) Fees, services provided, terms of payment and refund policies must be clearly stated to the client.
III. Ethical Responsibility to Colleagues
a) The doula should treat colleagues and clients of colleagues with professionalism, respect, courtesy, fairness and good faith.
b) The Doula should always be aware of her own professional conduct online on any of the social media platforms which include but are not restricted to, Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter. The Doula should always try to not cause disrepute to the training organization, or the Doula industry. The Doula should familiarized herself with the country and ethical laws governing defamation, hate speech, plagiarism and copyright. The Doula should also refrain from using names of people, institutions or organizations without their consent.
IV. Ethical Responsibility to the Birth Doula Profession
a) The doula should uphold and advance the values, ethics, knowledge, integrity and mission of the profession.
b) Community Service. The doula is encouraged to give back to the community and to foster love and sacredness in the birthing world.
c) The doula honours and respects the client’s caregivers. Behaving outside of the doula scope of practice brings the doula profession into disrepute.