Doula Training & Mentoring
WA State Approved
Doula Training
& Mentorship
Next Trainings in 2025
July 26th, 27th to August 2nd, 3rd
November 1st, 2nd to November 8th, 9th
BBI Certification Program $755
$700 if registered two month in advance
Blissful Birth Initiations Doula Training
State-Approved & Medicaid-Ready
Blissful Birth Initiations (BBI) is a Washington State-Approved Doula Training program offering 32 hours of comprehensive, in-person education. This training fully meets the requirements for doulas to apply for Washington State Doula Certification, a vital step toward enrolling with ProviderOne (Medicaid) to bill state insurance for your services.
Designed to prepare birth workers for confident, compassionate, and culturally responsive care. This course covers essential skills and knowledge for supporting families through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. From the foundations of birth physiology and trauma-informed care to client communication, ethics, and community resources. You’ll leave with a strong foundation to launch or deepen your doula practice.
As a Washington state-approved doula training, BBI is qualified to deliver comprehensive training for aspiring and experienced doulas. The BBI certification ensures meeting the state’s rigorous standards thorough, up-to-date, high-quality programs. BBI provides four 8-hour days of doula training, including childbirth and lactation education required for WA State Doula Certification. This trusted training equips you with the skills and knowledge to excel as a doula and pursue state certification.
This training prepares you to support expecting families effectively, covering: childbirth education, comfort measures, lactation, communication, and postpartum care. BBI also offers mentorship and ongoing professional development to keep you updated with best practices and equipped to run your business. Training with us builds a strong foundation to provide exceptional client support without burnout.
Why take the Blissful Birth Initiations in-person Doula Training?
Blissful Birth Initiations has 16 years of experience in birthwork, teaching, and mentoring birth professionals. Doulas who train with BBI receive comprehensive, high-quality education and hands-on skills that cannot be learned in an online class. The training prepares participants to meet the demands of supporting expecting families during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. BBI provides ongoing professional development to ensure that doulas stay up to date with the latest evidence-based practices and techniques. By training with BBI, doulas build a strong foundation of knowledge and skills, enabling them to provide exceptional support to their communities.
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BBI personalized approach fosters professional and personal relationships. The class sizes enable us to provide individualized support to participants.
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BBI offers a variety of mentorship options that will help you build your doula practice, prepare for the birthing room, problem-solve, navigate interpersonal issues, and prepare you for the unpredictable.
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Our hands-on training approach will facilitate your learning how to be a birth detective by focusing on body mechanics, body alignment, and solutions.
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Class participants learn through role playing, application of skills, group discussions, small group activities, and visual aids.
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The in-person model allows us to form relationships with the doulas and give instant feedback as they acquire skills. This immediate observation helps you refine your techniques, correct mistakes in real-time, and gain confidence.
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Bonus opportunity: Participants who complete the Blissful Birth Initiations Doula Training will also have the option to attend Stefanie Anderson’s Childbirth Education and Lactation Education classes—a fantastic way to deepen your knowledge and support skills. Spots are limited to two participants per month through her solo practice, Foveo Birth & Baby.
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Doulas who complete our training have the opportunity to apply for mentorship. BBI offers a variety of mentorship models tailored to support each doula’s unique goals, needs, and preferred level of guidance.
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After completing our Blissful Birth Initiations doula training, you’ll have the opportunity to be added to our trusted BBI doula referral list, which is shared with local providers and educators to help connect you with families seeking support. It’s a great way to start building your practice with real community connections.
Meet the Instructors
Diksha Berebitsky CD, BRM Pro
Diksha is the owner of Blissful Birth Initiations (BBI) and a Washington State-approved doula trainer with over 16 years of experience in birth work. Her passion for birth work began with her own transformative pregnancies, inspiring her to support families through the deeply personal journey of childbirth.
Originally from Germany, Diksha has called Olympia, WA, home since 2006. As a solo practice doula, she provides personalized, one-on-one care, building trust and tailoring her support to each family’s unique needs.
Diksha has been certified through DONA International, The Matrona, WA State, and The Body Ready Method®. She offers a wide range of services, including birth doula support, birth photography, infant massage classes, and Body Ready Method® alignment sessions and classes. She is a triple-certified Placenta Specialist and trained in Spinning Babies and OSHA standards.
A self-proclaimed birth nerd, Diksha is passionate about global birth equity and serves with an international organization working toward birth justice and education in Kenya and Nigeria. She also loves to travel and brings a rich, cross-cultural lens to her birthwork.
Stefanie Anderson RN, BSN, IBCLC
Stefanie is a dedicated nurse, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, birth and postpartum doula, and childbirth educator. She has a passion for nurturing families through every stage of the childbearing journey. With over a decade of real-life experience working in maternal and infant health, she brings a unique blend of clinical expertise and heartfelt support to her work with new and expectant families. She is excited to nurture the next generation of doulas and believes they are essential to transforming birth experiences and creating more positive outcomes for birthing families. Her approach to doula training is warm, inclusive, and hand-on, designed to foster confidence and help create informed and empowered birth professionals.
Stefanie works as an inpatient lactation consultant at Providence St. Peter Hospital, as a maternity support services public health nurse through Step by Step, and manages her business offering lactation consultations and childbirth education through Foveo Birth & Baby. She is married and a mother of 4 children. Originally from California, she came to Washington in 2005. While not working with families she enjoys reading, walking outdoors on beautiful PNW trails, and Batdorf & Bronson coffee.
WA State Approved
Doula Training
Classes take place over two consecutive weekends and are held in person to allow for hands-on learning, peer connection, and immersive support.
After registering, participants will receive a 4-hour pre-training module by email to complete before in-person sessions begin.
Whether you’re just beginning your doula journey or looking to meet state requirements for certification, Blissful Birth Initiations equips you with the tools, confidence, and support to make a meaningful impact in your community.
Training Format
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History of Midwifery and Obstetrics
Scope of Doula Practice Why do you want to be a Doula?
Prenatal Wellness
Maternal Anatomy Overview
Stages of Labor
Signs and Symptoms of Labor
Variations of labor
Warning signs Intuition
Cervical Changes
Comfort Measures and the emotions of labor
Relaxation Practices and Emotional Balancing
Positions for the Different Stages of Labor
Hands-on practice of skills
Spiritual and Cultural Practices, Group Discussion of Believes
Review of the Stages of Labor
Health Challenges of pregnancy and how these affect the emotions and birth and how care changes
Inductions Methods
Interventions for labor and PP and risks vs benefits
Pain Medications
Pharmaceutical Pain Management
Termination and Loss
Being a detective and recognizing body types and positions
Labor Scenarios Group Activity
Immediate Postpartum what to expect and how to help
Birth Plans
Breastfeeding Basics
Benefits of Breastfeeding
Nipple preparation
Physiology of Breastfeeding
Milk composition
Breastfeeding Basics
Common problems
Newborn Routines and Appearance
Basic Newborn Care
PP Healing and Family Adjustment
Postpartum Doula Support and Mood Disorders
Value Clarification and Ethics
Medical Racism and Advocacy, Black and Indigenous perinatal crisis LGBQT /Gender Inclusive Care
Business of Being a Doula
Where do you go from here now that you have had a Doula Training?
WA State Doula Certification application
Medical Billing
Self-Care and Safety
How to Access Community Resources - When and how to refer out
Labor Scenarios Small Group Activity
Communication with Medical Professionals
Guest Speakers
We’re honored to welcome Makeda Akoma
Makeda Akoma is a culturally rooted birthworker, ritualist, and healing guide with a deep commitment to nurturing and supporting individuals through sacred transitions. As the founder of House of Akoma and creator of MaMaKeda Natural Essentials, she brings a powerful blend of ancestral wisdom, spiritual insight, and holistic care to her work as a Birth Keeper, Childbirth Educator, Ordained Ceremonialist, and High Priestess of Ifa.
Makeda will be teaching a special 2-hour session on Culturally Attuned Care.
This vital class will help our doulas deepen their ability to offer inclusive, respectful, and heart-centered care.
We’re so thankful to welcome Meghan Lanese Licensed Social Worker, Family Counselor
Megan has a private telehealth practice offering therapy to parents during the perinatal period and early parenting years. She specializes in the treatment of postpartum mood disorders and trauma.
She will be teaching about:
How to support a family with a negative outcome.
PPD and Anxiety: How to recognize and when to refer out or call 911.
The normal transition for the birthing person, the newborn, and the entire family during the postpartum experience.
We are thrilled to welcome Denise Robinson, EAMP
Denise has been offering Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in the Olympia community through Olympia Family Acupuncture since 1999. With 22 years of hands-on experience in family medicine, her dedication to reproductive and pediatric health has deeply impacted countless families.
Her talk will focus on women's health during pregnancy and birth, drawing from her extensive background in fertility, maternity care, pediatrics, and gynecological conditions. She will also show us the most important acupressure points for labor.
Denise brings warmth, wisdom, and a wealth of knowledge, and we are so honored to have her join us. Don’t miss this powerful opportunity to learn from one of Olympia’s most respected holistic health practitioners!
We’re tickled to welcome Alison Imel, Board-Certified PA
Alison specializes in urogynecology and metabolic medicine for women. She’s also a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Fellowship-trained Functional Medicine clinician, and your go-to heart-centered women’s health high priestess!
She’ll be sharing her wisdom with us on:
Pelvic floor dysfunction
Hormones and how they impact birth and beyond
This is a don’t-miss opportunity to deepen your knowledge with someone who blends science, soul, and deep clinical expertise. We can’t wait to learn from her!
Doula Mentorship
Doulas have the option to sign up for a mentorship with Blissful Birth Initiations after they have completed our 4-day Doula training. There will be different levels of mentorship depending on the individual doula’s experience level, needs, and wants. Doulas can shadow Diksha in person for up to 3 births and a minimum of 20 hours. They will receive support for any kind of questions that arise as they open their doula business and start serving families. There will also be monthly support meetings in which the doulas receive ongoing education and a place to process their experiences with families.
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Receive personalized guidance, resources, and regular check-ins to build your confidence and deepen your doula skills without attending any births.
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Includes all the support of Tier 1, plus the opportunity to shadow a single birth. Learn firsthand by observing the flow, communication, and hands-on techniques in a real birth setting.
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Our most immersive option. In addition to mentorship and resources, you’ll shadow three births, gaining deeper insight and confidence through direct observation and reflection.
“I met Diksha the day my first son was born. A couple years later, I was on my own path of becoming a doula and reached out to Diksha to see if she would consider being my mentor. She took me under her wing and shared her knowledge and tools, the kind of wisdom that comes with experience and a true passion for birth work. We shared reflections and ideas and I always felt respected, like there was a mutual exchange of knowledge between mentor and mentee that are testament to her natural disposition of teacher and lifelong learner. Diksha shared the raw challenges of life on call with a family of her own and the business logistics. Working alongside her, I witnessed Diksha in her element and to this day, I try to channel that Diksha energy when supporting people through hard times. We developed a professional relationship and lifelong friendship that has been a treasured bond as I walk my own path of personal and professional caregiving.”