About |
As part of our harm reduction approach to ending prison birth, Ostara Initiative offers an Advanced Prison Doula Certification. Certification training sessions are offered at regular intervals to experienced doulas working in carceral environments.
These trianing sessions prepare doulas to successfully care for, support, and empower pregnant and parenting people who are involved in the criminal justice system. Our trainers have decades of experience combined, both as doulas and as former birthing clients, and we take our aim to center the voices and experiences of directly-impacted parents seriously. Core learning includes:
Acceptance to this certification track will include a training workshop (in-person), a certification exam, and 6 required, monthly mentorship meetings with other trainees and an experienced prison doula. After passing the exam and completing the mentorship, Ostara Initiative will grant a lifetime Advanced Prison Doula Certification to the doula and maintain a registry of certified prison doulas nationally to share with carceral facilities looking to provide doula care to those who are incarcerated and pregnant or postpartum. |
Who Should Become Certified |
Ostara Initiative is seeking to teach, mentor, and certify trained and experienced birthworkers who are already working with justice-impacted populations and those who have a direct pathway to working within carceral settings, including juvenile detention, immigrant detention, community corrections, jails, and prisons. To ensure we are able to properly mentor each doula who completes the training workshop, we are only able to offer a limited number of spaces at each training. We will be saving every applicant's contact information and reaching out about future training opportunities, so if you are not selected to attend an upcoming training, you will be able to apply to one in the future.
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Application & Cost |
The training and certification fee will be announced as each workshop is planned and will not including travel or lodging costs. There may be opportunities for full and partial scholarships. These opportunities will be announced as workshops are planned.
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Need-Based and Inclusion Scholarships |
Equity and inclusion are foundational elements of Ostara’s community. To make the Advanced Prison Doula Training and Certification more accessible, we may provide scholarships. It is important to us that we create a deep sense of belonging at this training and in the birth work community. Ostara Initiative values vast dimensions of diversity and strives to uplift all interested birth workers, especially those belonging to BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and justice-impacted communities. We encourage everyone to apply.
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Questions |
Please reach out to diego@ostarainitiative.org with any questions. Bookmark this page for future announcements about our next training.
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