If you are comparing doula training programmes and you want specifics, here they are.
Abuela Doulas training is led by Mars Lord. Mars has been a doula for over 20 years supporting families through pregnancy, birth, bereavement and the postnatal period and has been training doulas and working as a birth activist for a significant part of that time.
She does not teach alone. The programme brings in new facilitators Thando Zwane and Nikita Akilapa, guest practitioners from across birthwork, advocacy, perinatal mental health, infant feeding and more people who are actively working in the field and bring current, grounded expertise to the room.
Trainees consistently name the quality and authenticity of the teaching as something that distinguishes Abuela Doulas from other programmes. One graduate described it as “inclusive, authentic and fierce.” Another said she could feel that the people teaching had actually done the work.
The training runs in small, intimate cohorts, sized to allow quality teaching, deep conversation and the kind of relationships that do not dissolve when the course ends. Formats available: cohort, self-paced and hybrid.
Scope and role of a doula
What a doula does and does not do. How to work alongside midwives and medical practitioners without overstepping your scope. The legal and professional landscape for doulas in the UK.
Birth systems and power
The maternity care system in the UK — how it works, where the power sits, and what the data shows about disparate outcomes for Black and brown families. This is not a brief mention. It is a full module.
Pregnancy support and birth preparation
How to support a person through pregnancy, how to help them prepare for birth, how to facilitate informed decision-making about their care.
Birth support in practice
What you actually do in the birth room. Presence, attunement, physical support, how to read a room, how to advocate in real time, how to support a birthing person through the full range of birth experiences.
Postnatal support, recovery and safety
The fourth trimester in practice. Physical recovery, emotional adjustment, what families actually need in the weeks after birth and how to provide it. What to watch for. When to flag.
Infant feeding
Breastfeeding, chest and body feeding support; the knowledge, the practical support, the limits of your scope, and how to signpost effectively.
Working with loss and bereavement
Baby loss, pregnancy loss, traumatic birth. What doula support looks like in these contexts. How to be present for families navigating grief. What you need in place to do this sustainably.
Perinatal mental health
Understanding perinatal mental health conditions, how to support clients experiencing them, when and how to signpost to appropriate services.
Consent, informed choice and advocacy
What informed consent means in the birth context. How to support a person to make decisions that are genuinely theirs. How to advocate without overstepping. The difference between advocating for a person and speaking for them.
Business sustainability
The practical reality of working as a doula: how to structure your practice, how to talk about what you do, how to set rates and boundaries, how to build sustainably without burning out.
Graduates remain part of an active community. There is an ongoing WhatsApp group full of first births attended, new practices launched, hard days in the system, and people lifting each other through the work. There are virtual meetups. Mentoring from experienced practitioners is available.
This is not a graduation-and-goodbye model. The people who trained with Abuela Doulas in 2020 are still there.
The curriculum above is thorough. What makes Abuela Doulas different is what it asks of you alongside it.
Trainees undertake ancestral birth research: examining the birth history and traditions of their own heritage. This changes how you understand your work and how you show up for the families you will support.
There is also birth story work. Many trainees process their own birth experiences in the training room, often for the first time. The training holds that. It is part of how you become the doula you are going to be.
One graduate described the course as “breaking my brain — a period of unlearning.” Another came in as a trained midwife and left having dismantled assumptions he had carried for years.
The intersectionality embedded in the curriculum: disability, sexuality, gender identity, body size is not a separate module. It is present throughout. Because inclusive practice is not a topic. It is a way of working.
“The course is not wishy-washy. It is very factual.”
“I wanted the cultural side of it — I wanted to make sure I’d covered all bases and had a rounded course where I could support all types of people.”
“What I got from the course: courage, confidence and comradery.”
“I chose Abuela Doulas for their clear advocacy — not every doula course is willing to recognise the intersecting factors that birthing people come into the birth space with.”
“If you are looking for inclusive doula training which is anti-racist and queer and trans safe at its core then this is the one.”
The Abuela Doulas training costs £1,600. It is open intake — no clinical background required. Formats available: cohort, self-paced and hybrid. Mentoring is available post-qualification. Graduates join an ongoing community.
If you are ready to find out whether this training is right for you, get in touch.
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Abuela Doulas recognises that as well as doing the work, they need to support the work of others. With that in mind, here are some links to support not only us, but other organisations that we are involved in.
