Want to offer parents the most positive births and easeful first weeks with their newborns? Empower women through the BirthWorks Experience – evidence-based best practices with a human-values approach that integrates mind-body-spirit in birth. Join high-quality, comprehensive training with personal Mentoring!

Path to Become a Childbirth Educator

Register

Workshop

Work at Home

Teach Classes

Be Certified

Path to Childbirth Educator Certification ~ CCE(BWI)

  • Register and receive your:
    • Childbirth Educator Certification Packet describing all steps
    • BirthWorks Childbirth Educator Workshop Book
    • BirthWorks Childbirth Educator Manual of over 550 pages — one of the most highly-acclaimed comprehensive manuals available today
    • Access to BirthWorks Childbirth Preparation Curriculum – to teach your classes
    • Access to a BirthWorks Childbirth Preparation Workbook – given to parents when you teach
  • Connect with your Personal Mentor for support and start interactive training online – to enhance growth on key topics and receive feedback on your work via our learning platform
  • Complete reading and written requirements from home – details
  • Visit maternity facilities
  • Interviews
  • Take the BirthWorks Childbirth Educator Workshop at any time!
  • Take the open-book Comprehensive Essay Exam based on the Manual
  • Teach your BirthWorks Childbirth Preparation Practicum classes to parents
  • Become a BirthWorks Certified Childbirth Educator!

BirthWorks Is Different

Truth

Right Action

Peace

Love

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Truth

Right Action

Peace

Love

Nonviolence

Truth

Right Action

Peace

Love

Nonviolence

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Complete all steps and questions in the online learning system
  • Write up your Autobiography including Birth Experiences and Birth-related Events (750 words)
  • Read 10 books from our reading list and do book reports for each (250-500 words)
  • Fulfill the requirement for breastfeeding preparation – attend a program such as a LLL meeting, lactation consultant or other breastfeeding class OR watch the Breast is Best film and report on what you learned (500 words)
  • Tour maternity floors in two local hospitals and complete a Survey of Maternity Services for each. Interview a homebirth midwife then write a summary of both (500-750 words)
  • Attend all hours of the BirthWorks Childbirth Educator Workshop and receive your Certificate of Attendance and BirthWorks-Inspired status
  • Critique two Medical Studies on VBAC 
  • Write three topic papers on physiological effects of safety, impact of nutrition in the primal period, and one of your choice
  • Take the open-book Comprehensive Essay Exam based on the BirthWorks Childbirth Educator Manual 

Teach your Childbirth Education Practicum Classes for at least two birthing couples, ask evaluations from participants and record one hour of you teaching.

Our blended-learning combines both online education including regular interactions, support and feedback from your Mentor, with face-to-face classroom experiences in the workshop, as well as you actually offering childbirth preparation classes. Our professional programs include transformational self-development work and training that is evidence-based and holistic – after completion you will be confident and highly-trained to be a fabulous, successful BWI professional.

  • Certification cost is $550US (including Mentoring during your 24-month training period). *Refunds are offered within 30 days of receipt of payment minus a $95US processing fee.
  • Your workshop, one of the certification requirements costs $475-$525US ($50US off early discount if paid 30 days before)
  • One-time $50US fee to cover your final Childbirth Educator Manual and shipping (it is over 550 pages), you pay this at the end of your certification.
  • You can do the Workshop first OR you can start your Certification work first – that is up to you!
  • FREE BirthWorks Membership during your 24-month training period!  ~ $135 Value
  • Your BirthWorks Childbirth Educator Certification Packet with all detailed requirements
  • Your comprehensive BirthWorks Childbirth Educator Workshop Book
  • Our highly-acclaimed BirthWorks Childbirth Educator Manual of over 550 pages — one of the most comprehensive, well-researched manuals available today, periodically reviewed and updated, and filled with evidenced-based current information.
  • Access to the BirthWorks Childbirth Preparation Curriculum and permission to purchase BirthWorks Childbirth Preparation Workbook given to parents when you teach your classes
  • Access to BirthWorks online learning platform to work toward certification from home any time you want. There you will access online resources, upload assignments, see your progress, and stay in communication with your Mentor. It includes significant reading topics and online questions to enhance your growth on key issues such as: beliefs and fears in birth, human values, Optimal Pelvic Positioning and pelvic bodywork, philosophy, reframing pain, grieving and healing, mother-daughter relationships, multisensory visualization, positive affirmation, medical procedures and drugs, nutrition and exercising, informed consent, breastfeeding and skin-to-skin, Primal Health and Nurture Science, postpartum care, group dynamics, marketing your own business, enhance positive energy around a birthing woman, non-pharmacological and other comfort measures for labor and birth, understand physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of giving birth, practicing Human Values in labor and in life
  • Your personal BirthWorks Mentor offers any guidance and support needed (throughout your 24-month training period) and also reviews and comments on your work (as you upload assignments) through our online learning system. You can reach out to your Mentor any time!
  • International recognition as a Certified BirthWorks Childbirth Educator from a highly-respected organization
  • Professional listing in BirthWorks online directory for referrals
  • Ability to set up your own small business, determine your own fees and keep all revenues
  • Opportunity to become a BirthWorks Mentor and a BirthWorks Ambassador to promote BirthWorks in your area and earn extra money!
  • Be part of an inspiring, passionate global network and community of birthworkers who are working together for a great cause!

We’re proud of the quality of our childbirth educators and deeply care about the character of those we train! Birthing parents come to childbirth classes at an exceptionally emotional, exciting, and changing time in their lives. They are influenced by their educator’s beliefs, attitudes, lifestyle, and if relevant how she gave birth. BirthWorks Childbirth Educators exemplify the importance of respecting one’s body, and taking care of self, family and home. This encompasses a lifestyle that strongly discourages smoking and recreational drug use. A BirthWorks Childbirth Educator:

  • Strives to be an excellent listener who is non-judgmental and open-minded
  • Believes in the instinctual knowledge born within women during birth and parenting
  • Seeks personal growth through life experiences
  • Supports safety of VBAC over scheduled repeat cesarean section in most cases
  • Promotes the nutritional and emotional benefits of breastfeeding as the healthiest way to feed
  • Understands the deep significance of the mother-baby-dyad and skin-to-skin contact for essential neurodevelopment of the baby
  • Honors all cultural traditions and perspectives
  • Keeps personal attire and language professional so her clients feel safe and welcome
  • Keeps her class environment clean and inviting so class participants feel safe and welcome

BirthWorks Childbirth Educator certification is set up to take 24 months – but it is flexible! You can choose to complete all requirements more quickly. If you need more time, just purchase an annual extension. Then, when all your work is complete, pay a mentoring fee for your final review and certification.

*Ideally, all written assignments and attendance at the Childbirth Educator Workshop should be completed within 18 months, so you have 6 months to study the manual, take your exam, and teach your practicum BirthWorks classes.

You chose what is best for you! You can start with the workshop – some people take it, then are inspired to become certified. You can also join the certification training and begin online learning as well as reading and written requirements, then do the workshop later. (The workshop is good for three years toward your Certification if you want to spread out costs.)

*Ideally, you attend the Childbirth Educator Workshop within 18 months of registering for certification, so you have 6 months to study the manual, take your exam, and teach your practicum BirthWorks classes.

Yes! It is important you learn to condense information into the most significant points – for that iw what you need to do when teaching class to avoid “information overload”.

If you can not find one, your Mentor can give prior approval to substitute a different book on the same topic.

Yes – it is an open-book Comprehensive Essay Exam based on the BirthWorks Childbirth Educator Manual. You work on it at home, on your own timeline. The process will give you so much knowledge and understanding of all key topics you can cover in your classes.

You receive this status after all of the following:

  • Full participation in all hours of the BirthWorks Childbirth Educator Workshop – afterward you are sent a Certificate of Attendance and you are granted BirthWorks-Inspired status
  • Successful completion of all BirthWorks Childbirth Educator Certification requirements, including the Exam, except for your Practicum (and related documentation)
  • Ongoing good standing with BirthWorks, with all certification (and if needed extension) fees paid in full

Provisional Certification brings you credibility to teach childbirth classes — because you can show support from an internationally-respected certifying organization. BirthWorks can provide a professional letter saying you may begin offering childbirth preparation and are almost completed with final certification. Provisional status may give you access to teach in venues where pandemic-related policies are limiting access.

Your Practicum is your first opportunity to teach and one of the last requirements for full certification. A minimum of two couples is required, so you have a group experience. You must teach the full sixteen-hour series for it to qualify towards your certification. It’s important all the exercises be offered in-person. However, if requested and approved, a maximum of up to four hours may be virtual but this may NOT include demonstrations of Optimal Pelvic Positioning – these must be taught in-person. You are asked to provide evaluations from the parents and send in a one-hour recording of your teaching. (You must have permission from the parents and the recording must be easy to understand to be accepted.)

Your Practicum may begin after successful completion of all other requirements (including the workshop), except the exam. At that point, you will be able to apply the BirthWorks Philosophy, approach and experience in a deeper way – which assures you are more prepared and confident and that parents have the best experience possible with you as their childbirth educator. (You should charge for your Practicum class, but it can be discounted if you prefer.)

After certification, you choose! Some options are six-week (12 hour), eight-week (16 hour), ten-week (20 hour) classes or offer private sessions that include all required core topics.

The parent classes are broken into eight main topics, but once you are certified you have some flexibility on how you teach them. The general topics are as follows:

  1. Feelings, Philosophies
  2. Healthy Pregnancy, Optimal Birth
  3. Forces Driving Technology in Birth and What You Can Do
  4. Birth Physiology and Working with Labor Contractions
  5. Your Amazing Body and Beliefs About Birth
  6. Stages of Grieving, Healing Birth-related Losses
  7. Labor and Birth, Mothers and Daughters
  8. After the Baby Comes, Primal Health

You communicate with your BirthWorks Mentor through a transparent online learning system, where you can track your progress to completion of certification. You can reach out directly to your Mentor as well, and email info@birthworks.org or call with any questions.

With over 550 pages — it’s one of the most comprehensive, well-researched manuals available today, periodically reviewed and updated, and filled with evidenced-based current information. It is an invaluable resource that covers topics taught in classes such as:

  • Belief systems and attitudes about birth
  • Choosing a birth place & birth team
  • Nutrition and exercise
  • Pelvic bodywork
  • Informed consent
  • Variations and complications
  • Medical training of doctors
  • Grieving and healing
  • Physiology of birth and Primal Health
  • Optimal Fetal Positioning
  • Positions for labor
  • The concept of Educare – developing self-confidence through the practice of human values
  • Multisensory visualization and relaxation exercises
  • Value of a doula or birth companion
  • Medical procedures: risks and benefits
  • Anesthesia and analgesics – effects on labor
  • Communication skills and group dynamics
  • Postpartum
  • Breastfeeding and skin-to-skin mother/baby contact
  • Strategies for effective facilitating
  • Financial planning, publicity and marketing

After you are certified, you can Mentor others. Also you can become an Ambassador helping host local events or market workshops and earn a percent of the income. Some of our birth professionals join our Board of Directors and others become BirthWorks Trainers! Be Involved

Birth of a Childbirth Educator program!

Birth of a Childbirth Educator program!

In the 1980s, pregnant women were told to have repeat cesareans, even though research showed Vaginal Birth After Cesarean (VBAC) was usually safer! Cathy Daub deeply believed women should birth in the least risky way, so developed childbirth preparation classes so they could have faith that the knowledge of how to birth is already within them. In 1982, BirthWorks became a pilot program (part of International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN)) and later a Certification Program. The first workshop was in 1988 and since BirthWorks has certified Childbirth Educators and offered childbirth prep parents in the US and abroad!

Your certification organization matters!

Join a community that supports, mentors and cares for you… during and after your training!
Reach us with questions anytime info@birthworks.org or +1-609-953-9380.

Have a Question? Let’s Chat.

Please don’t hesitate to reach us, happy to be in touch.

Cristin Tighe
Executive Director & International Coordinator
info@birthworks.org
1-609-953-9380
1-202-276-3521 Mobile/WhatsApp