Doula Mentorship
A six-week live mentorship for doulas who want their skills, their confidence and the business side of their practice to catch up with their training.
You do not need to be newly trained to join, and you do not have to have trained with BBU. If you have already completed a doula training, you can enroll — including if your certificate has expired and you want it reviewed. This page is not an initial training: if you have not trained as a doula yet, start there first.
Start with the initial doula training
One price for the whole cohort. Everything included is listed below.
Participants in Anna's mentorship programs describe them in their own words. Captions are available on each player.
Reviews from BBU doula training participants.
“I have completed multiple other labor doula courses over the years and I can confidently say this is the most informative and useful course I have taken.”
“The course was incredibly informative, well-paced, and full of practical details that truly prepared me for the day-to-day work of being a postpartum doula.”
“Anna is extremely knowledgeable about birth and radiates that passion onto everyone she teaches. I would highly recommend taking any and all courses with Anna!”
“Even as a birth worker I had so much to learn from her.”
“Her knowledge and how she structures the information makes this training accessible, easy to follow, and overall a great resource to come back to.”
“What I loved about her training is that she incorporated her years of experience as a doula into it and made it personal with tips and advice for new doulas.”
“This wasn’t just a general refresher, it truly helped me fill in gaps, sharpen my approach, and walk away with practical, evidence-based tools I’m already using with clients.”
“Anna’s training actually changed how I do things!!”
“Her classes are interesting, engaging and full of useful information.”
From choosing your cohort to receiving your Doula certification, in the order it happens.
The October cohort meets six times, on October 13, 20 and 27, November 3 and 17, and Monday November 9, at 12:00 p.m. Central. Each session runs about 90 minutes.
$300 through BBU, covering the six live sessions, the workbook and the cohort resources.
Your workbook, the session recordings and the cohort resources open up in Learn, BBU’s learning platform.
Add your prior doula training — the certificate or the proof of training — privately in Learn. An expired certificate can be submitted for review.
All six sessions are required. If you miss a live session, a recording BBU has approved can stand in for it.
BBU staff review your prior doula training proof and completion of all six sessions. Once both are approved, you receive your three-year Doula certification for the appropriate discipline. An approved recording may satisfy a missed live session.
Mentorship is not itself a training program, so it does not by itself make you a certified doula. It can lead to a BBU credential when your prior training is approved and you complete the program.
Training teaches you the work. Mentorship is for the parts that come after — the client in front of you, the business behind you, and the decisions in between.
Bring the situations you are actually sitting with and work through them with a mentor and a cohort of doulas.
Systems, pricing, time and growth — the parts of doula work that training does not cover.
Move through the program with a group of doulas and keep access to the resources and the community after it ends.
Six live sessions. Bring a real client situation, a question you have been carrying, or the part of your practice you have not had time to work on.
Note the Monday session on November 9. All times are Central. Completion requires all six sessions. If you miss a live session, an approved recording can stand in for it. BBU staff review your completion and the proof behind it before the certificate is issued.
Six sessions, six themes. Each one starts from what the doulas in the room are dealing with.
Mentorship is not a passive program. The workbook is where the session work happens, between and after the live calls.
Pages for the work you do inside the cohort: setting your direction, working through client relationships, and the practice systems that carry the business side. The full workbook is included with the program.
Three selected pages are shown here. The full workbook is included with the program and is not published as a public download.
The program is designed by BBU’s founder and led by a practising doula and mentor.
Mentor · leads the cohort
Chelsea leads the live sessions. She mentors doulas in practice, so the sessions stay on the situations doulas are actually bringing — not on theory.
Designed the program · BBU founder and lead faculty
Anna Rodney is an educator, doula, and mentor who has supported more than 25,000 families and trained thousands of doulas and newborn care professionals. As founder and owner of Chicago Family Doulas, she leads a team of more than 500 birth and postpartum doulas.
Anna holds a master’s degree in education and spent more than a decade as a Special Education teacher. Her teaching combines evidence-informed education with practical guidance on communication, professional boundaries, problem-solving, and compassionate, individualized support.
Anna designed the Doula Mentorship program to help practitioners build judgment, confidence, and sustainable professional relationships. Her approach is warm, practical, and grounded in the realities of supporting families. Chelsea Derrico leads the live cohort.
Read more about Anna opens in a new tabSix live sessions with Chelsea, the workbook, and a group of doulas working on the same things you are.
The program runs with a small cohort. October capacity is limited. Completion requires all six sessions. If you miss a live session, an approved recording can stand in for it. BBU staff review your completion and the proof behind it before the certificate is issued.
One price for the cohort, the workbook and everything that comes with it.
The October cohort meets on October 13, 20 and 27, November 3 and 17, and Monday November 9, at 12:00 p.m. Central.
Plan for about 90 minutes per session.
It can, if you have already trained as a doula. Completing all six sessions and having your prior training approved by BBU staff makes you eligible for a three-year BBU credential for the appropriate discipline. Mentorship is not itself a training program, so it does not certify you on its own, and eligibility is confirmed by BBU staff rather than granted automatically.
Yes. Doulas who trained elsewhere can enroll and submit their certificate or proof of training for review. BBU reviews proof case by case; it does not publish a list of accepted providers, and it does not approve anything automatically.
You can still enroll, and an expired certificate can be submitted for review. BBU reviews it rather than accepting it automatically.
You do need prior doula training to be eligible for the credential. If you have not trained as a doula yet, start with BBU’s initial doula training, which is a separate, standalone program.
Completion requires all six sessions. If you cannot attend a live session, an approved recording can stand in for it. BBU staff review your completion and the proof behind it before the certificate is issued.
$300 for the six live sessions, the workbook, the recordings and six months of access.
