DONA International

DONA International (formerly Doulas of North America) was founded in 1992 and is the first and largest doula training and certification organization. The current president of the non-profit is Erica Lane (2026), Angela Daniel is the president elect (2027), and Telia Anderson (2025) is the immediate past president.

History

In the 1980s, Marshall H. Klaus, John H. Kennell, Phyllis Klaus, Penny Simkin (1938–2024), and Annie Kennedy first formed a partnership of doulas and medical professionals. Klaus (1927–2017), a neonatologist, and Kennell (1922–2013), a pediatrician, gave credibility to doulas Phyllis Klaus, Simkin, and Kennedy by supporting their work through the research of parent-child bonding in the 1960s at Case Western Reserve University.[citation needed]

Doulas Of North America (DONA) was formally founded in 1992 and the organization was the first of its kind to both train and certify the non-medical birth support of doulas and marked the start of professional doulas on a nationwide basis. Kennedy (who had originally founded the Pacific Association of Labor Support in 1989 in Seattle, WA with Simkin alongside the doula training at Seattle Midwifery School) become the first president of the organization.

In 2004, the organization re-branded as DONA International.

By 2026, there were over 14,000 doulas certified through the organization.

Training and certification

DONA International offers birth and postpartum doula training and certification. To certify as a doula, an in-person, virtual, or hybrid workshop is mandatory, along with supplementary text reading, lactation training and childbirth education, and clients experience. The workshop is taught by approved trainers who are able to the required coursework which includes emotional support, physical support or comfort measures, communication, interventions, ethics and professional behavior.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "DONA: Our Mission, History & Research". DONA International. 7 August 2014. Retrieved September 11, 2026.
  2. ↑ "Meet our DONA International Board of Directors". DONA International. August 28, 2026. Retrieved September 11, 2026.
  3. ↑ Green, Penelope (April 25, 2024). "Penny Simkin, 'Mother of the Doula Movement,' Dies at 85". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 11, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 Simonds, Wendy; Rothman, Barbara Katz; Norman, Bari Meltzer (October 23, 2013). Laboring On: Birth in Transition in the United States. Routledge. ISBN 9781135939984.
  5. ↑ Roberts, Sam (August 25, 2017). "Dr. Marshall H. Klaus, Maternity-Ward Reformer, Dies at 90". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 11, 2026.
  6. ↑ Vitello, Paul (September 21, 2013). "John Kennell, Advocate of Infant Bonding, Dies at 91". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 11, 2026.
  7. ↑ Darby, Alexis (June 25, 2018). "DONA International (1992– ): The Embryo Project Encyclopedia". embryo.asu.edu. Retrieved September 11, 2026.
  8. ↑ "How to Become DONA Certified". DONA International. July 29, 2026. Retrieved September 7, 2026.
  9. ↑ Gilliland, Amy L. (2016). "What Motivates People to Attend Birth Doula Trainings?". The Journal of Perinatal Education. 25 (3): 174–183. doi:10.1891/1058-1243.25.3.174. ISSN 1058-1243. PMC 6265612. PMID 30538414.