This is more than a profession, it’s a calling.
If you’re a doula or midwife, you’ve experienced it all: touching moments as someone welcomes their baby into the world; heartbreak; confusion; the vulnerability of somebody going into labour.
For most, this work is more than a profession, it’s a calling. From the lead-up to the birth to the moment when labour or birthing experience starts, to the minute they see their baby for the first time, you see it all. You’re the go-to person on one of the biggest days of their life.
That’s why you might be wanting to round-out your education and upgrade the quality of support you give.
As a doula or midwife, you help parents build a birth plan. You answer logistical questions and guide the flow of labour. You’ve done this so many times but for many parents, this might be their first experience. Because of that, you offer a steady, informed presence during a high-stakes moment.
But birth isn’t only physical it’s emotional, psychological, and often layered with vulnerability. And for many of the people you serve, it’s not just a day. It’s a monumental turning point in their life.
That’s why having some level of mental health training—even if you’re not a therapist—is one of the most valuable ways to deepen the support you provide.
Mental health training for doulas: The benefits of upgrading your education
Mental health training for doulas (and other perinatal professionals) doesn’t mean becoming a therapist. It means gaining a foundation in the emotional realities that many parents face during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. It includes learning about mood disorders that are unique to this period of life—like postpartum depression (PPD), postpartum anxiety (PPA), intrusive thoughts, and perinatal OCD.
It also helps you understand birth trauma, and the impact of loss, miscarriage, pregnancy termination, secondary infertility, and so much more.
In short: it gives you the language, knowledge, context, and confidence to recognize when someone is struggling—and to respond in a way that helps them feel supported, safe, and seen.
Whether you’re a doula, midwife, or another type of birth worker, here’s why adding mental health training to your toolkit is so valuable:
1. You’re Guiding Someone Through One of the Most Important Days of Their Life
Birth is not a neutral event. It’s a high-stakes, emotional, identity-shaping experience. People may arrive in your care with excitement, but also fear, self-doubt, overwhelm, or past trauma. (Like a difficult relationship with their own parents, past birth trauma, or a difficult fertility journey.) These emotions are really complex and just can’t be addressed through physical guidance alone.
Having mental health training allows you to understand and hold space for that emotional weight with more confidence, empathy, and clarity—helping the people you serve feel genuinely supported, not just medically cared for.
2. You Might Be Working With Someone Who Has a History of Loss
Stillbirth, miscarriage, infant loss, termination, fertility challenges… These experiences are often so hard to process and stay with people. They often shape how someone feels in a subsequent pregnancy, sometimes adding anxiety, grief, guilt, or fear that something might go wrong again. Even if those emotions aren’t spoken aloud, they’re often just below the surface.
When you have mental health training, you’re better equipped to recognize those layers of experience, offer trauma-informed care, and help someone feel seen—not just managed.
You’ll also be more sensitive about what to say, what not to say, and know how to avoid comments that might do harm.
3. Pregnancy and Labour Can Intensify Mental Health Challenges
The perinatal period can amplify or trigger mental health symptoms such as anxiety, depression, OCD, low self-worth, self-doubt, overwhelm, and intrusive thoughts. Many people also struggle with the identity shift that comes with becoming a parent. These changes are so big and happen in such a relatively short time period that it can be really hard for mental patterns to catch up with reality.
For some, these feelings show up quietly; for others, they feel overwhelming. For example, a conversation might go from physical details about the birth to a flood of anxiety-driven questions about what’s supposed to happen afterwards!
Your support can be pivotal. By recognizing the signs and knowing how to respond appropriately, you’re not only helping someone feel safe—you may also be the first person to catch something that needs further support.
4. Their Questions Will Go Beyond the Where and How of Birth
Yes, people want to know how and where they’ll give birth. They want to be prepared for what to expect in the hospital or birthing centre, and what to expect with their body and the overall experience.
But they’ll also ask questions like: What if I panic? What if I can’t parent the way I want to? What if I don’t bond with the baby? What if I fail as a parent from the very beginning? How will I know I’m doing the right thing?
These are emotional questions rooted in vulnerability. With mental health training (like knowing when to speak, knowing when to be silent and listen, understanding how to validate emotions, and what not to say), you’re more prepared to hold those conversations with sensitivity and strength—making people feel less alone in their fears.
5. Knowing What to Say Means Your Support Lands Deeper
Your words matter. New parents will always remember how you made them feel. They’ll remember whether or not you really understood them. They’ll remember that moment where they let out a sigh of relief because thankfully, you got it!
Sometimes, the most meaningful part of your work is how you show up… not just what you do. Mental health training helps you learn the language of support, validation, reading between the lines, recognizing what they’re actually saying, the differing needs of parents depending on their identities, and presence.
And when someone is struggling, the difference between a well-intentioned comment and a truly supportive one can shape how they remember their entire birth experience. Mental health training (like our course on grief and loss, for example) will show you common mistakes care providers make… and what to say instead!
6. Sometimes Things Don’t Go According to Plan
Loss, birth trauma, emergency interventions, and NICU transfers aren’t just medical events. These are actually life-changing moments that are extremely difficult for most people.
They’re moments when people need to be given the proper space to process, heal, and cope.
As a doula or midwife, it’s likely that you’re coming across these moments of grief, loss, and shock all the time! Having mental health training gives you the tools to show up compassionately and skillfully during some of the hardest, most painful moments someone might face.
7. You Might Be Their Rock in the Early Days Postpartum
For many new parents, you’re the most trusted person in the room (even more than their nurse, partner, or doctor!). That’s a pretty big deal and it’s understandable if it sometimes feels like a lot of pressure for you.
In certain cases, you might also be the only consistent person that they can count on in the early postpartum days. That’s especially true for single parents, those who have recently moved/relocated, parents without family nearby, or parents who are the first in their friend group to have a child.
They may turn to you for reassurance, grounding, or with important questions. Mental health training helps you show up as your most attuned, patient, emotionally steady self, ready to meet them where they are with grace and care. It’s actually such a big deal to be able to offer that to someone!
8. People Deserve the Best Support in High-Stakes Moments
Becoming a parent is a major moment for so many reasons. The people you work with deserve time, space to articulate their thoughts, accurate information, compassion, and the strength of a support system when they may not feel so strong themselves.
When you’re trained to recognize and hold emotional experiences alongside logistical or medical needs, you bridge the gap. You become a more complete, trauma-informed care provider. And the people you serve feel that difference. Both at the time, in the period after, and for subsequent births.
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Mental health training doesn’t turn you into a therapist—and it’s not meant to. But it does equip you to respond with deeper empathy, proper context and education, awareness, and clarity when someone needs emotional support. In the world of birth work, those moments happen every day so it’s best to be as up to date as possible.
At The Perinatal Collective, we believe that doulas, midwives, and birth workers are essential allies in perinatal mental health. Our Perinatal Grief + Loss Course is designed specifically for professionals like you—people who want to offer better care, build confidence, and feel supported in doing this important work.
Ready to deepen your support? This course takes three hours and takes you through everything from complicated fertility journeys, NICU situations, pregnancy and infant loss and more. Learn common mistakes providers make and the solutions on how to show up instead, what language to use, context to keep in mind, and signs to watch for. Learn more here!
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