Childbirth International (CBI)

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Childbirth International (CBI)

Childbirth International provides comprehensive online training for today's informed birth and lactation professional CBI was born in 1998.

We wanted to provide birth and lactation professionals with the tools they needed to help clients define their own path. We wanted to provide training that was consistent, comprehensive, and culturally respectful. The first courses we launched were Birth Doula and Childbirth Educator. We began teaching these face to face in 1998 (as Parentlink, Singapore), and then started providing distance train

ing from 1999. In 2008 we launched the Postpartum Doula and Lactation Counselor courses. In 2009 we launched the Business of Birth course. The past year has seen us seen us significantly increasing our focus on social media and launching our new website. We have been updating all of our course materials with the most recent research and responding to our student requests to include more topics. We gave the Business of Birth module a facelift and included it in all our training and certification programs. We have added the option to purchase gift cards so your loved ones can give the gift of training (in full or part) to you. We also added the Business of Birth module as a standalone course option for those who are not CBI students but would like to develop their business. Students can now choose business mentoring to guide you through the Business of Birth module, and can have private mentoring of up to four hours to guide you through challenging problems. We continue to work on our Advanced Birth Doula course which will be available later in the year. Our philosophy has remained consistent. We now provide training for birth and postpartum doulas, childbirth educators and lactation counselors. We remain true to the belief that training should be flexible, without time limits, or rules telling you who you can and cannot work with, or what you should charge.

06/09/2026

10 books for birth professionals to add to their reading list

Birth work asks us to keep learning. Not just about physiology and evidence, but about the people, systems, identities, and experiences that shape the way families experience pregnancy, birth, and parenthood.

Education doesn't only happen in a classroom. Sometimes it happens when we encounter a story that challenges our assumptions, introduces us to an experience different from our own, or makes us ask better questions.

Which book would you add to this list? Tell us in the comments!

04/09/2026

Everything we encounter on a day-to-day basis seems to be run by AI now. Every flyer online looks the same, all of our social media platforms are inundated with AI bots in the comments, and who can even say how much content is created by or processed through AI tools? We’re in a unique time and position where so many of us are trying to build our small businesses both online and in-person. As professionals and business owners, how can we manage the impact of our “online” presence potentially having a different “voice” than how we communicate and relate to our clients in person?

How we communicate matters, and how we share information and ideas matters. They are the foundation of how we make strong, human connections with our clients and our community. Our work as birth and lactation professionals calls on us to respond in the moment, react to the environment around us, synthesize information and our client’s goals, plans, and expectations, in a way that takes time to learn, requires practice, and can’t be skipped without impacting our client’s experience accessing doula or lactation support. As you’re faced with an ever-present pressure to relegate the bulk of your online communication to AI, take a step back and ask yourself how you can ensure your clients and prospective clients are meeting the real you, in your authentic tone and voice, both in-person and online.

01/09/2026

Mayor Mamdani announced expanded access to New York State-funded doula care beginning January 2027. This is great news for CBI doulas as Medicaid in NYC continues to recognize Childbirth International birth doula graduates as potential support people for those seeking Medicaid-funded doula support. Are you a CBI doula based in New York? Check out the New York State Department of Health website for more information on becoming a doula provider.

31/08/2026

A recent study evaluated how antenatal intervention might mitigate the risk of childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder. While there is a clear and present need for continued research and investigation, especially ensuring that individuals with existing mental health diagnoses are included, signs suggest that key interventions prenatally can support more positive outcomes for parents and families.

As birth professionals, we can consider how we can support our clients in creating birth plans, advocating for those plans with their care provider, and working to open communication with their care team about concerns, worries, or fears they have about labor and giving birth.

Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/birt.70053

27/08/2026

Do you love podcasts and want to learn more about supporting trans families? This podcast interview brings together a midwife and doula to talk about conception, pregnancy, and birth from a trans lens, and how trans people looking to grow their families can prepare to advocate for themselves within the healthcare system.

Listen here: https://translash.org/podcasts/translash-podcast/families-a-guide-to-trans-pregnancy-and-birth/

23/08/2026

“Babies are like little suns that, in a magical way, bring warmth, happiness, and light into our lives.” Kartini Diapari-Oengider

19/08/2026

Around the world, healthcare workers and humanitarians continue to serve families through conflict, disasters, displacement, and humanitarian crises. Access to respectful maternity care should never depend on geography, income, or circumstances, and these professionals are working to fill gaps so parents and families can access compassionate, evidence-based care.

Today, we recognize everyone working to ensure safe pregnancy, birth, newborn care, and lactation support, even under extraordinary conditions.

15/08/2026

“I loved being able to be hands on with my clients. I felt like the readings were really good and I enjoyed the forums where I could read about others experiences that were also taking the course.” Miranda T. PPD

Learn more about becoming a doula by checking out our “Becoming a Doula” guidebook!

12/08/2026

Young parents tend to experience trauma at greater rates than the average birthing parent, and are often stereotyped as unfit to parent or make independent decisions about their care or their baby’s. A recent study evaluated how, using human-centered design, we can improve the outcomes and experiences of young parents throughout the perinatal period.

Research continues to show that respectful maternity care improves experiences and helps build trust in healthcare, especially for populations who have historically experienced bias or inequitable treatment. This is where the “Beyond the Bump” program came to fruition, offering doula services to pregnant teens. Clients in the program experienced lower rates of intervention, higher rates of breast/chestfeeding initiation, and relatively high rates of continued breast/chestfeeding after 12 weeks.

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0266613825000361

08/08/2026

Working with parents and families in our community often involves supporting them in understanding their options and the evidence around the decisions they may need to make as parents. Evidence doesn't tell families what to choose, nor do doulas or birth professionals. Together, we help families understand their options.

Evidence-informed care combines:
- the best available research
- clinical expertise
- each family's values, preferences, and circumstances.

This is where informed consent begins. Education isn't about creating one "right" birth, it's about creating confident decision-makers. As birth and lactation professionals, we can support our clients in learning more about their options, practicing self-advocacy skills, and preparing to use decision-making models to guide their conversations and birth/postpartum/infant feeding plans.

Share your favorite tools and resources for supporting informed decision-making and evidence-based care in the comments!

Address

19e Blake Street, Ponsonby
Auckland
1011

Website

http://www.childbirthinternational.com/

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