info@youniquepostnatal.co.uk
07802 976 432
Younique Postnatal is the only Doula UK accredited provider of courses and workshops that focuses purely on postnatal doula skills
Younique Postnatal is the only postnatal-only Doula UK accredited course provider. We are passionate about supporting parents after a birth - and want to share our experiences with other people who would like to explore what it means to be a postnatal doula.
The postnatal doula movement is growing in the UK and we hope you will become part of it! We believe the support we give can have a positive and profound effect on parents for years after their baby is born.
Supporting parents after a baby’s birth can be a subtle and complex path. With cuts in public services and a society where families are not always close, the need for postnatal doulas is greater than ever. As a postnatal doula, you will be able to give new parents the emotional, practical, physical and informational support so many of them need. Making the special time after a baby is born as positive as possible is something a postnatal doula can most definitely help with!
Our aim is to provide excellent courses and workshops in initiating and developing postnatal doula skills. We offer a grounding in the preparation and knowledge building required to be a postnatal doula. On completion of our training course, you will have a wide repertoire of skills to confidently pursue a career as a postnatal doula and begin the process of setting up your practice. A career as a postnatal doula is rewarding and flexible - you can make it fit your lifestyle in whichever way you want!
We offer four courses and six workshops year round in venues across the UK and online.
Our courses are based on lively and interactive learning, with visual aids, group work, hands on experience and practice exercises. The topics we cover highlight evidence based information, current guidelines and new areas of research in postnatal care.
We also offer support before and after your course is over, a debrief with one of us, an extensive manual, an additional Doulaescence Mentoring Scheme and access to a private Facebook group of postnatal doulas.
Why Become a Postnatal Doula?
What do Postnatal Doulas do?
Postnatal doulas give emotional, physical and practical support to families with a new baby. They will also signpost families to helpful resources and give up to date and evidence based information on topics of the family's choice within the postnatal doula's knowledge base. They can help parents make informed choices and have their needs met, using advocacy and active listening skills. As a result, postnatal doulas can build confidence in parents to observe and understand their baby, trust in their parenting instincts and support how they choose to feed their baby.
Emotionally doulas can: reflect on a couple's birth experience and explore a mother or birthing person's feelings about what they have just experienced, listen to parents as they voice their thoughts about their baby's needs, be alongside them as they talk through their emotions and feelings during their transition to parenthood and direct them to sources of further emotional and mental health support.
Practically and physically, doulas can: help parents feel on top of household management, take away the stress of getting behind on tasks, preserve a babymoon so they can get to know and bond with their baby, allow a mother/birthing person space and time to recover by looking after the baby for a while, nourish a mother/birthing person with food and hydration, prevent parental depletion and provide physical comfort to a mother/birthing person who may be suffering from postnatal pain or discomfort.
Postnatal doulas can offer daytime sessions, nighttime or around the clock support.
Why are Postnatal Doulas important?
New parents are being sent home from hospital sooner than ever. They may return home less than 24 hours after their baby's birth and have limited or no support waiting for them. With cuts in community midwifery services, a mother/birthing person may find they have limited contact with essential support and care. Extended family may not be able to support for a variety of reasons and parents can find themselves increasingly alone with a newborn. The saying 'babies don't come with a manual' can ring loud and clear for many new families. Postnatal doulas can help families navigate their way through a myriad of conflicting advice and information - enabling families to feel confident in their choices.
Postnatal doulas can be of particular benefit to families having multiple babies, premature babies, multip families, single parent families and those with additional needs and disabilities.
What, statistically are the benefits of having a postnatal doula?
With breastfeeding at 6 weeks: 96.4% women who gave birth supported by a doula initiated breastfeeding, and of those 81.4% were still exclusively feeding at 6 weeks (as compared to the national figures of 73.9% and 47.2%).
In one study, the results showed that postnatal doulas facilitate parental responsiveness and competence in 11 different areas including: self-care and infant care.
Some studies suggest postnatal depression may be minimised or prevented.
Who can become a postnatal doula?
Anyone with an interest in supporting parents with a new baby, who can offer compassion, kindness, patience and a willingness to develop active listening and postnatal skills.
How do postnatal doulas differ from maternity nurses or parent helpers?
Maternity nurses differ in that they often focus on the baby by providing around the clock babycare and advice on feeding the baby, bathing, sleeping, clothing, establishing routines and physically performing all of these tasks as required. They often live in with the family.
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Parent's helps focus on offering practical support such as entertaining other children and helping out with household tasks/chores, particularly those that relate to the children in the household.
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Postnatal doulas primarily offer support to the parents as well as care for the baby. Support is flexible and agreed with the parent, usually as in home but not living in care. Postnatal doulas can support with parental emotional and physical recovery and the transition to parenthood.
The value of training with Younique Postnatal
There are wonderful training courses in the UK which focus on becoming a birth doula as birth needs so much support and is a powerful physical and emotional rite of passage. I set up Younique Postnatal because I felt, however, the time supporting parents after birth was not focused on in the way it deserves. The transition to parenthood and the postnatal period lasts a longer time than birth; once a baby is born, there is no handing a baby back and this process of coming to terms with the full time input a small human needs, combined with the often overlooked process of physical and emotional recovery, a shift in identity, hormonal changes and the journey to finding out what it means to be a parent needs sensitive, knowledgeable and involved support.
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We believe postnatal doulas need to feel confident in the support they give and if they feel prepared and build their skillset, they will not only create a more positive impact on their clients but also develop a thriving and sustainable practice. The Younique Postnatal Doula Course is based on 12 years supporting parents in person and remotely and draws on a combination of evidence, embedded experience and intuitive observation. We share our insights with you from supporting a wide range of parents and families: with multiple babies, premature babies, parents from a variety of cultural backgrounds, babies with disabilities and additional needs, surrogate, solo and LGBT+ parents, parents who have experienced pregnancy loss and baby bereavement, parents in challenging situations and who have mental health needs.
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You will begin your postnatal doula practice feeling prepared, having greater awareness of the needs of postnatal parents, with additional skills and with steps to follow to lay the foundations of your business and practice. Previous Younique Postnatal doulas have created profitable businesses that they can fit round their own needs and families.
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Victoria x
Crafting yourself a career in postnatal doula 'ing could be the transformatation in your professional life you have been looking for
“The course was everything and more than I was expecting it to be. It was great to be able
to talk about the different areas during the Zoom calls, as well as doing some self-studying
when working through the modules online. The course offered space to be able to explore different options, beliefs and cultures to find our own unique (Younique) style. Victoria is an amazing teacher; she went above and beyond supporting my journey to becoming a postnatal doula. My confidence and self-belief has grown massively.”
Jemma H.