Enroll today!
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Enroll today! 〰️
Become a Certified
Postpartum Doula
Transform Lives, Support Families, and Build a Sustainable Career.
More than a Certification...
It's the foundation for a career built on trust, expertise, and deeply impactful care.
The APPD Postpartum Doula Training is designed to equip you with everything you need to confidently support families during the postpartum period, blending practical skills, intuitive awareness, emotional care, and business readiness.
If you’re feeling called to:
Support Families with Confidence
Offer Intuitive Care
Build a Meaningful and financially successful career
Expand Your Skills
Make a Real Difference
You’re in the right spot.
About Our Training Program:
Families trust postpartum doulas to guide them through one of the most vulnerable and transformative times in their lives.
This program ensures you’re prepared to meet that trust with skill, knowledge, and compassion.
Be ready to:
✅ Feel Equipped: Gain practical skills that set you up for success in real-life postpartum scenarios.
✅ Stand Out: Learn modern postpartum practices that elevate your care.
✅ Build Trust: Establish yourself as a reliable, compassionate, and knowledgeable professional.
✅ Grow Professionally: Gain the tools to build a business with confidence and clarity.
✅ Transform Lives: Walk away knowing you’ve positively impacted the families you’ll serve.
What’s Included in the Training?
Comprehensive video modules, including in-depth lessons on scope of a postpartum doula, newborn care, postpartum recovery, and sleep.
Tools and resources, such as sample agreements, intake forms, and workflow templates.
Robust Business Foundations modules and lessons on how to land paying clients.
Access to bonus lessons on marketing, revenue opportunities, and preventing burnout.
Designed with you in mind
With this training, you’re not just learning skills—you’re creating a career you love while making a lasting impact on the families you serve.
Designed to be:
✓Accessible: Neurodivergent-friendly, flexible, and crafted to fit into your life.
✓Comprehensive: Covering everything you need, from hands-on newborn care to creating a thriving doula business.
✓Empowering: Focused on helping you feel confident and prepared to step into your role as a postpartum doula
✓Innovative: Integrating evidence-based practices with intuitive, holistic care methods.
We understand you don’t need another overwhelming or outdated training.
That’s why we designed this to be accessible and easily fit into your life while delivering immediate value.
How the Program is Delivered:
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Real-time learning with interactive sessions taught in a private Zoom Room.
Round 1: Feb 19, 20, & 26
11am - 12:30pm EST
Round 2: Fall 2025, Winter 2026; Dates TBA -
In-depth, 15-20 minute lessons you can revisit anytime.
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Connect with your cohort and access all program materials in one place.
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One week of direct access to Melissa for questions, support, and insights.
(Runs concurrently with the Live Classes onl)
What You’ll Learn:
The Curriculum
Includes 24+ hours of evidence-informed trainings
*Confirming a Student’s Certification?
E-mail melissa@theatlantappd.com or call 785-615-1366
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The Foundation:
Clarify the role of a Postpartum Doula
Client Centered Care & Boundaries
Caring for the Family Unit: Dynamics, managing sibling support, and partner involvement
PPD vs. Night Nanny vs. NCS vs. Night Nurse
Effective Communication
Structuring Overnight and Daytime Shifts for Client Success
Shift Documentation & Communication Systems
Preparing for Your First Session
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Core Knowledge:
5 Pillars of Postpartum Recovery
3 Steps to Emotional Support a client with suspected PMADs
Skills and Tools to support your clients
Postpartum Recovery Course + Guide/Handout
Postpartum Concerns, Remedies, & When to Worry (Guest: Lynn Earman, CNM, WHP)
PMAD's and Perinatal Mental Health
Nervous System & Emotional Support
8 Steps of Postpartum Sleep Hygiene
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Skills & Safety:
Newborn Care Course + Guide/Handout
AAP Safe Sleep Guidelines for US Doulas
Sleep - from Newborn to 4 months
NICU Babies - How to Support the Family
How to support families with twins and more as a Postpartum Doula (Coming soon)
Handling Emergencies
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Coming Soon
Breastfeeding
Breastmilk & Formula Storage Guidelines
Formula Feeding
Paced Bottle Feeding
Troubleshooting Feeding Challenges
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Confidence & Success:
Must-Have Business Tools & Systems
Pricing, Packaging, and Structuring Your Services
Understand policies that protect you and your clients.
Who is your ideal client / target market?
Sales Training - Oct 2023
Navigate reimbursement programs confidently.
Working with an Agency
New Module added:
How to land Paying Clients
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Pathway 1: For New or Less-Experienced Doulas
Pathway 2: For Experienced Providers
Reading Materials
Final Exam - Pathway 1
Bonus Lessons you’ll also receive:
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Access essential templates, agreements, and workflows to simplify your doula practice. This module equips you with everything you need to stay organized and professional as a doula.
Sample Client Agreement
Sample Client Intake Form
Business Tools/Systems Guide
Client Workflow + Bonuses
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Includes an in-depth class on effectively using Social Media for marketing your doula business.
Visibility & Marketing copy on Instagram
Your Templates and Sample Copy
Organize Canva Templates
SM Strategy & Prompts
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Bonus Classes and Trainings on increasing your Revenue. Includes:
Preventing Doula Burn out
How to Doula as a Stay at Home Parent
Make More Money Workshop
Mapping Out Your Biz Offers for The Year
How to Get Paid for Market Research
Business-to-Business (B2B) Selling
BONUS: Make it Sustainable: Recurring Revenue Model
*NEW* Ways to Make RR
2023: How to Make $2k: Black Friday for doulas
2024: Black Friday for Doulas
The APPD makes becoming a postpartum doula a breeze
We understand that traditional certification programs can feel overwhelming, rigid, and time-consuming.
Which is why we’ve designed a unique Certification Process that works with your life, not against it.
Certification Requirements:
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Tailored to You
At APPD, we recognize that every student comes with unique experiences and aspirations. That’s why we offer two Certification Pathways.
Whether you’re just starting or have years of experience, our Certification focuses on practical application, knowledge integration, and personal growth.
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Our Certification Requirements were designed with these features in mind:
Ease of Completion: A streamlined process that values your time while delivering potent results.
Knowledge Checks: Summarization tasks to reinforce what you’ve learned in classes and lessons.
Hands-On Experience: Build real-world skills and confidence through practice.
Self-Reflection: Prompts designed to foster awareness, growth, and deeper integration of class content.
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Certification Requirements:
Actively participate in the Live calls or replays
Participation in the Peer Voxer discussions
Watch the modules & lessons in its' entirety
Read books from the curated list
Provide care for 3 clients
Final Exam: Achieve a score of 90% or higher to pass.
Submit your Completed Certification Portfolio
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Certification Requirements:
Actively participate in the Live calls or replays to refine and refresh your skills.
Participation in the Peer Voxer discussions
Submit your Completed Certification Portfolio;
Your portfolio includes:Summaries of live class learnings.
A Professional Experience Summary detailing your background and work.
Client Summaries documenting 24+ hours of care across 3 families.
A self-reflection narrative on your career journey and approach to postpartum care.
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Primary - Required for Certification Pathway 1
1) The Postnatal Depletion Cure
2) The Next Level Postpartum Doula: A Comprehensive Guidebook - Marjon Murphy
3) Nonviolent Communication - Marshall B. Rosenberg PhD
Secondary - if desired; to deepen your training experience
1) The Fourth Trimester - Kimberly Ann Johnson
2) Nurturing Beginnings - Debra Pascali Bonaro
3) Mothering the New Mother - Sally Placksin
4) Fair Play - Eve Rodsky -
A vital aspect of our training and values, we provide ongoing professional development through new modules, lessons, and up-to-date best practices.
To maintain certification, students must complete continuing education requirements, ensuring they stay at the forefront of advanced pregnancy and postpartum care.
Certification Awarded
Upon completion of all requirements and portfolio approval, you will receive your APPD Postpartum Doula and Infant Care Certification.
*Confirming a Student’s Certification? E-mail melissa@theatlantappd.com or call 785-615-1366
Create a Rewarding Career as a Postpartum Doula
Postpartum doulas are in high demand, with hourly rates ranging from $30 to $75 or more, depending on your location and expertise.
This fulfilling career offers the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in families' lives while earning a sustainable, flexible income. Whether you're drawn to nurturing newborns, supporting parents, or building a career in caregiving, becoming a postpartum doula allows you to turn your passion into a rewarding profession.
The APPD Postpartum Doula Training Advantage:
Innovative to support modern families.
The APPD Postpartum Doula Training is the perfect fit for motivated individuals looking to build a meaningful, heart-centered career with the flexibility to work on their terms.
With two flexible certification pathways, we offer a tailored, comprehensive training experience that aligns with your schedule and goals.
We need more Postaprtum Doulas
With a growing demand for postpartum support and a shortage of providers, now is the perfect time: Become a Certified Postpartum Doula and turn your dreams into a fulfilling career!
Meet Your Teachers:
Meet Melissa Fernandez
As a retired Cirque du Soleil acrobat, NCAA Hall of Fame athlete, Certified Postpartum Doula, and Level 3 Expansion Principle Practitioner, I’m on a mission to Revolutionize Postpartum care in America.
I lead the #1 postpartum agency in greater Atlanta and have built digital events and programs to bring my vision into reality.
Combining intuitive, values-based strategies with a focus on excellence, I craft informative, community driven spaces for families and birth workers to activate their most expansive version to come forward.
Meet Ashlee Kuchar
Certified Postpartum Doula &
APPD Postpartum Coordinator
A crucial contributor to the success of The APPD Agency and our most sought-after postpartum doula for clients, Ashlee is an invaluable player in our team.
As a a co-architect of APPD’s programs and a mastermind of our agency’s operations. Ashlee’s keen eye and efficiency keep us running smoothly.
Look out for her potent trainings and ask her any questions you may have - she’s a wealth of knowledge!
Frequently Asked Questions
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This is for you if...
You’re a motivated individual passionate about supporting families during the postpartum period.
You’re just starting out your doula career
You’re an experienced NCS or Night Nanny wanting to become Certified as a postpartum doula to accept Carrot Clients
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This training may not be the best fit for those unwilling to dedicate time to learning, are not self-motivated, or prefer in-person-only training formats.
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The cost of the APPD Training is currently $333 will be increasing to $555 in March 2025
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Your certification is valid indefinitely, with no renewal requirements.
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No, there are no recurring fees to maintain your certification.
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Yes! Pathway 2 of our certification options supports cross-certification for those who have completed other training programs.
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There is no time limit to complete the training and Certification Requirements.
It is done at your own pace. -
Certified postpartum doulas can work independently, join an agency, or collaborate with hospitals, birthing centers, and community organizations. Many doulas build flexible, thriving careers.
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Yes! The program is designed to be self-paced and flexible, allowing you to balance training with your other commitments.
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Due to the digital nature of the training, refunds are available within the first seven days after purchase, provided no log-in has been made to the training portal using your account.
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After purchasing, you’ll receive an email with access to our online training portal. From there, you can begin your journey at your convenience.
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Not at this time.
If you need more options please reach out to melissa@theatlantappd.com
Enroll Today - Payment Plans Available
PPD Training
$444
PPD Training + PPP Program Bundle
$1,222
PPD Training - Payment Plan
$111 x4
IN CASE YOU WERE CURIOUS.
What they are saying about working with Melissa
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What they are saying about working with Melissa •
Ready to Become a Certified Postpartum Doula?
Secure your spot and be part of a growing student community of like-minded doulas dedicated to elevating family care in postpartum.