If you’ve been thinking about becoming a postpartum doula, you might have heard of DONA International. They have a large training and certification program designed to help people become certified postpartum doulas. The certification process through DONA is thorough. It includes a postpartum doula training, building a resource list, breastfeeding course, positive evaluations from families that you have served, and a reading list. (For more about DONA International’s postpartum doula certification, we’d encourage you to look at their infographic on postpartum doula certification and their handy guide.
Here we are going to focus on the reading list. While the reading list for certification as a postpartum doula may look overwhelming, I’d like you to remember that there are limits to the number of books in each category. You have eleven categories on this list and are required to read at least one book from each category.
If you have already read some of the books in that category, you may want to choose another book to expand your horizons. I like to think of these lists as a challenge. While I might not read every book on the list before I’m certified, there is a lot of information that might be helpful to me in my practice. Therefore, I’d like to read them, even after I am not required to do so.
If you find yourself gravitating towards a particular book category, go with it. Sometimes your heart and brain just know what you need. You are not required to start at group one and read to group 11. So feel free to skip around. Perhaps you’ve already got clients and those clients have special needs. Let’s say you have a client with twins, you might want to jump down and read something from the multiples section before moving forward with some business book.
How do you tackle a huge list? You might decide how many pages a book is and how long you want to take to read it and simply divide the number of pages by days available. Maybe you want a more laid back approach. If you are capable of reading more than one book at a time, you might have a couple of these piled up on your nightstand. Try to remember to always have a book with you for those stolen moments of nothing to do. Don’t pull out your phone (unless you’ve got the Kindle app) and play games, read! Before you know it, you’ll be done.
Below is DONA’s Postpartum Doula Reading list with affiliate links. You may also buy these books at your local bookstore, trade with other doulas and birth professionals, use your library, or find them at yard sales and second-hand stores.
- Misconceptions: Truth, Lies, and the Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood by Wolf 2013
- Mothering the New Mother: Women’s Feelings and Needs after Childbirth: A Support and Resource Guide by Placksin 2000
- The Year after Childbirth: Enjoying Your Body, Your Relationships, and Yourself in Your Baby’s First Year by Kitzinger 1996
- The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know about Your Baby from Birth to Age Two by Sears 2013
- The Mother of All Baby Books: The Ultimate Guide to Your Baby’s First Year by Douglas 2012
- The Wonder Weeks: How to Stimulate Your Baby’s Mental Development and Help Him Turn his 10 Predictable, Great, Fussy Phases into Magical Leaps Forward by Plooij 2013
- Touchpoints: Birth to Three: Your Child’s Emotional and Behavioral Development by Brazelton 2006
- Your Baby is Speaking to You: A Visual Guide to the Amazing Behaviors of Your Newborn and Growing Baby by Nugent 2011
- Your Amazing Newborn by Klaus
- Breastfeeding Made Simple: Seven Natural Laws for Nursing Mothers by Mohrbacher and Kendall-Tackett 2010
- Dr. Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding by Newman 2014
- The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Wiessinger and West 2010
- Working and Breastfeeding Made Simple by Mohrbacher 2014
- And Baby Makes Three: The Six Step Plan for Preserving Marital Intimacy and Rekindling Romance After Baby Arrives by Gottman 2008
- Becoming a Father: How to Nurture and Enjoy Your Family by Sears 2003
- Fathering Right from the Start: Straight Talk about Pregnancy, Birth, and Beyond by Heinowitz 2001
- The Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know about Your Baby from Birth to Age Two by Sears 2013
- Bonding: Building the Foundations of Secure Attachment and Independence by Kennel and Klaus 1996
- The Vital Touch: How Intimate Contact with Your Baby Leads to Happier, Healthier Development by Heller 1997
- Helping Baby Sleep: The Science and Practice of Gentle Bedtime Parenting by Gethin & Macgregor 2009
- Sweet Sleep: Nighttime and naptime Strategies for the Breastfeeding Family by La Leche League International 2014
- I’m Listening: A Guide to Supporting Postpartum Families by Honikman 2014
- Postpartum Depression and Anxiety: A Self-Help Guide for Mothers by Pacific Postpartum Support 2014
- The Hidden Feelings of Motherhood by Kendall-Tackett 2005
- The Postpartum Husband: Practical Solutions for Living with Postpartum Depression by Kleiman 2001
- This Isn’t What I Expected: Overcoming Postpartum Depression by Kleiman 2013
- The Birth Partner: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions by Simkin 2013
- The Complete Book of Pregnancy and Childbirth by Kitzinger 2004
- The Doula Book: How a Trained Labor Companion Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier, and Healthier Birth by Klaus, Kennell, and Klaus 2012
- Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn: The Complete Guide by Simkin, et al 2010
- Mothering Multiples: Breastfeeding and Caring for Twins or More! By Kerkhoff Gromada 2007
- Having Twins and More: A Parent’s Guide to Multiple Pregnancy, Birth, and Early Childhood by Noble 2003
- Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year: A Guide to Health and Comfort Before and After Your Baby is Born by Noble 2003
- Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn: The Complete Guide by Simkin, et al 2010
- The Year after Childbirth: Enjoying Your Body, Your Relationships, and Yourself in Your Baby’s First Year by Kitzinger 1996
- Nurturing Beginnings: Guide to Postpartum Care for Doulas and Community Outreach Workers by Pacali-Bonaro 2014 (Kindle Only)
- Nurturing the Family: The Guide for Postpartum Doulas by Kelleher 2002
- Body of Work: Finding the Thread That Ties Your Story Together by Slim 2013
- The Doula Business Guide: Creating a Successful Motherbaby Business by Brennan 2014
- The Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need by Karsh and Fox 2014
- Winning Grants Step by Step: The Complete Workbook for Planning, Developing and Writing Successful Proposals by Neal-McElrath 2013
- Worth Every Penny: Build a Business That Thrills Your Customers and Still Charge What You’re Worth by Petty and Verbeck 2012
- You, Inc: The Art of Selling Yourself by Beckwith and Clifford
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