If you’re thinking about becoming a doula, one of your first big decisions is where to train, and the options can feel overwhelming. There are more than 300 doula training programs, and they vary widely in quality, length, depth, and the teaching credentials of their instructors.

Over the past several weeks, one person has been sending a steady stream of upsetting emails about DoulaMatch.net and about me, Kim James. Some of those emails have gone to my employers and to professional organizations I'm part of. Most recently, this person shared a post on social media urging doulas to "stay far away" from DoulaMatch.

If you've seen that post, or received one of these emails, I want you to have the honest context. I'm not going to share this person's name. My goal isn't to shame anyone. It's to explain what happened, how we responded, and why we've chosen to not engage.

The single most powerful thing you can do for your DoulaMatch.net profile takes about ten seconds: update your availability calendar. Do it often, and you stay at the top of search results where families are looking.

If you’re a doula deciding where to spend your marketing dollars, or a parent looking for support, you’ve probably seen both DoulaMatch.net and Bornbir. They both connect families with perinatal professionals, but they work in opposite ways. Here is how they differ and why we believe DoulaMatch.net is the better choice for doulas and for families.

After reviewing the nearly 300 organizations that claimed to certify doulas, we removed 115 organizations from our database that were either defunct or could not pass our litmus test as a certification organization.