Who we are…
If you've been considering doula training, you're in exactly the right place. Our 4-day immersive course has been designed to fully equip you with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to support women and families through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Not only will you leave feeling empowered to make a difference, but you’ll also have everything you need to build your own successful doula business.
The Doula Training Foundation Course is the result of decades of passion, learning, and hands-on experience. Jemma and Anne-Marie, two of the busiest and most experienced doulas in the North West, have spent nearly 20 years collectively supporting families in every kind of birth scenario. From hospital and home births to hypnobirthing classes and postpartum care, they’ve seen it all-and now, they’re ready to share their expertise with you.
This course is truly unique because it combines the best elements of formal training with invaluable real-world insights. Jemma, a former midwife at one of the UK’s largest teaching hospitals and a successful doula since 2016, and Anne-Marie, a qualified “train the trainer” coach and doula since 2017, bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise. Together, they’ve supported hundreds of families through pre-conception, IVF, high-risk pregnancies, elective caesareans, free births, and everything in between.
With their infectious passion and engaging teaching style, Jemma and Anne-Marie create an inspiring, supportive, and fun learning environment. Their aim is not just to teach you the skills of a doula but to help you uncover the kind of doula you want to be. The course is also an opportunity to explore and reflect on your own experiences with pregnancy, birth, and postpartum in a safe, nurturing space.
The atmosphere is warm, welcoming, and empowering-a perfect balance of calm, inspiration, and motivation. By the end of the course, you’ll leave feeling confident, prepared, and excited to start your doula journey, knowing you’ve been trained by two of the best in the field.
If you’re ready to turn your passion into a meaningful career, this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. Let us guide you on the path to becoming a compassionate, skilled, and successful doula.
“It was such an amazing experience to become certified as a doula with The Doula Training Foundation and I loved every minute of the course. Jemma and Anne-Marie shine in their role as doulas and their passion for this work is clear. The course content was extensive, relevant and thought-provoking and so many topics were covered that will help prepare us to support clients during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. The course was delivered in a relaxed and inclusive atmosphere which immediately brought us all together and allowed us to feel safe in sharing our own thoughts and feelings along the way. Jemma and Anne-Marie were welcoming and open and shared their vast knowledge and experiences, helping us to feel prepared and know what to expect in many different circumstances. Since the course has finished, they have continued to provide support in helping us to start our doula careers and this support is ongoing as we begin to navigate working in this field. Jemma and Anne-Marie are truly inspirational women and I would recommend the Doula Training Foundation to anyone interested in becoming a doula!”
Hannah Lee
About Anne-Marie
Meet Anne-Marie – Doula, Mentor, Trainer & Champion for Families
Birth & Postnatal Doula | Doula Mentor | Doula Trainer | Hypnobirthing Teacher | Co-Founder of The Doula Training Foundation
Anne-Marie is dedicated to supporting families through pregnancy, birth, and the early days of parenthood. In a society where traditional postpartum support has been lost, she believes that having a doula transforms the journey to motherhood in the most powerful and positive way.
She has attended home births, free births, hospital births, and caesarean births, always advocating for families to receive the care and respect they deserve. By helping parents ask the right questions, make informed choices, and challenge an often inflexible system, she empowers them to take ownership of their birth experience.
Alongside her work as a doula, Anne-Marie also offers night-time support, a starting solids course, and specialises in ‘mothering the mother’-guiding women through the profound transition into matrescence.
With a background in social housing, project management, human resources, and business improvement, Anne-Marie brings a wealth of mentoring and training experience to her role. Since becoming a doula in 2017, she has successfully built her business to the point where this is now her full-time, soul-filling career.
As a doula mentor, trainer, and co-founder of The Doula Training Foundation, Anne-Marie is passionate about helping new doulas step into this life-changing role with confidence. She knows what it takes to build a thriving business and make a real impact-and she’s here to help you do the same.
Want to learn from Anne-Marie? Explore our Doula Training Courses and take the first step in your journey today.
About Jemma
Meet Jemma – Doula, Mentor, Trainer & Advocate for Birth Choices
Birth & Postnatal Doula | Doula Mentor | Doula UK Area Rep | Doula Trainer | Hypnobirthing Teacher | Closing the Bones Facilitator | Co-Founder of The Doula Training Foundation
Jemma has dedicated her career to supporting, educating, and empowering families through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. With years of experience as a birth and postnatal doula, she has built a thriving business-not once, not twice, but thrice-after relocating from Northamptonshire to Cheshire and then to West Wales. She knows firsthand the unique challenges of setting up a doula business outside of London and is passionate about helping others do the same.
With a background in midwifery, Jemma trained in some of the busiest hospitals in the UK. While she loved aspects of the role, she became disillusioned with a system that often sidelined women’s voices. Knowing she could never truly put women at the centre of their own care within the framework of the NHS, she chose to leave midwifery behind and step fully into doula work-a decision she describes as the best one she ever made.
Jemma has a deep passion for home birth, free birth, supporting "high-risk" clients, and working with those who have experienced birth trauma or PTSD. She thrives on seeing the transformation in families-watching fear turn into confidence, trust, and excitement as they prepare to welcome their babies.
Through The Doula Training Foundation, she now shares her expertise with aspiring doulas, providing in-depth training, mentorship, and ongoing support to help them build fulfilling careers in birth work.
Want to learn from Jemma? Explore our Doula Training Courses and take the first step in your journey today.
Our Why…
It’s actually quite simple… we LOVE what we do! And we want to share that passion with as many people as possible. The more doulas there are, the more women and families can be supported through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum journey.
Birth and the early postpartum period are completely transformative. They can build you up, break you down, and reshape you in ways you never imagined. Some women leave their birth experience feeling empowered, euphoric, and unstoppable, while others are left traumatised, unheard, and broken. We believe every woman deserves a birth that leaves her feeling strong, respected, and in control.
But here’s the reality: Birth trauma rates in the UK are shockingly high.
According to The Birth Trauma Association:
4-6% of women develop PTSD (that’s 30,000-37,000 cases every year in the UK).
Another 30% (approx. 200,000 women) experience symptoms of trauma that deeply impact their postpartum experience.
And more often than not, the trauma isn’t caused by what physically happened—it’s caused by how women were treated.
How Doulas Help Change the Narrative
Doulas help to prevent birth trauma by providing continuous emotional, physical, practical and informational support. They give women the knowledge and power to make decisions that are right for them. Feeling heard, respected, and in control is vital-yet too often, women are left feeling the opposite.
Doulas offer a powerful solution, including:
Advocating for the birthing person’s choices
Improving communication with medical staff
Providing reassurance, comfort, and a calming presence
Decreasing interventions and improving birth outcomes
Lowering rates of postpartum depression
Doulas make a difference. The Lancet says “evidence is clear: when birthing people have continuous support, outcomes improve, birth trauma decreases, and maternity care becomes more equitable and person-centred.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) agrees, stating:
“Continuous companionship during labour and birth is recommended for improving women’s satisfaction with services.”
They go on to say that the benefits are “even greater when the birthing person has support from a doula—someone outside the hospital staff and their personal social network.”
This is why we are so passionate about training new doulas. The world needs more doulas, now more than ever. Will you be one of them?
“Meeting these two wonderful ladies in person just confirmed my initial opinion of them at the taster session. They are the kindest, most nurturing, well-informed, generous, caring women I have met in a long time. They really know their stuff! They generously share all their wisdom and provide ongoing support after the course. The course itself is so interesting I was riveted every day, fascinated with the level of detail that they include. I looked forward to each day and found myself thoroughly engaged with their interesting and sometimes appropriately humorous delivery. I would highly recommend Jemma and Anne-Marie both for Doula training and their Doula services. These women care passionately for the families they engage with and support. And this care and passion comes across in their training. I feel very prepared and confident to enter the Doula world afterwards. Thank you ladies!”
Rev. Cynthia Keating