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A message from our founder, Bianca Sprague:
I remember one of the lowest points of my life, and it was right around the time I became a mom. It was 2007. I was poor, I was lonely, I had undiagnosed postpartum depression, my family lived over 4,000 kilometers away, and I was in an abusive marriage with no idea what the hell I was going to do with my life. I would lay in bed awake at night for hours, wondering how my life was going to take shape. How I was going to get my daughter and me out of poverty. I felt so much shame around my poor choices. And yet, my ambition and my desire to change the world were fighting to burst out of me.
I thought about my birth and the first weeks of my parenting journey. They were so isolating. My plans to go to medical school felt impossible to achieve. And I kept thinking about how much I loved my doula, the one who lovingly prepared me for my birth. One night, at 4 a.m., with my three-week-old daughter in my arms, I found myself Googling doula training online. A wave of excitement flooded over me. My birthday was the following week, and my parents paid for my certification as my gift. Sadly, it was an in-person weekend training, since that was the only thing available at the time. This was so challenging to attend with a newborn who was at home with a sitter. Trust me, the engorgement pain was real!
That training was the spark. I completed my course and devoured everything I could find about pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. I met my founding business partner who has since stepped away from reproductive health work, and together we built bebo mia inc. What started as a small local business quickly grew, we eventually bought Baby & Me Fitness and expanded into a chain of prenatal and postnatal fitness centers. Over time, we transformed again into what bebo mia is today: a global training organization for birth professionals and change makers.
learn more about Doula-ing
Why Online Doula Training Matters
When I reflect on the last almost 2 decades of business, I am so proud of what I have built. My founding partner and I each put in $25 as our start-up costs, along with countless hours of sweat equity, because we wanted to change how people experienced birth and parenting. We wanted to build a business that allowed us to raise our children at home while being supported by a community of peers.
From the beginning, our mission has been the same: to connect women and queer folks to their intrinsic value and power. And as we listened to our students and our community, it became clear that the way doula training was being offered needed to be reimagined. Traditional programs often looked like weekend crash courses: two or three long days in an urban center, no business training, and little to no follow-up support. For many mothers, who are the primary audience for doula trainings, this format was not accessible.
So we flipped the model on its head. We built a live, online doula training program that stretched over 16 weeks, with mentorship, continuous support, and a diverse faculty. We were nervous at first. Would we lose the personal touch that had defined our in-person work in Toronto? What we discovered was the opposite: in digital space, we actually created more connection.
Learn more about Bebo Mia, hear testimonials and incredible doula stories!
Why Online Can Be Just as Transformational as In-Person
Many people assume that in-person learning is always better, especially in fields like birth work. But we’ve found that online doula training is not only as powerful, it can be even more transformational in certain ways.
Here are some of the incredible ways:
Accessibility is everything. Parents with young children, people living rurally, or those with visible and invisible disabilities can all access the classroom without leaving their homes. This levels the playing field for who gets to enter the field of doula work.
Community is amplified. When you’re in a digital classroom, you’re not limited to the people who live in your city. Our students come from across Canada, the United States, and 51 other countries around the globe. They share their stories, their cultural practices, and their wisdom, enriching the learning experience for everyone. As one doula training institute puts it, online programs “can be more advanced than traditional in-person workshops,” because they allow flexible learning, regular updates, and ongoing discussion that doesn’t end when the weekend is over.
All learning styles are supported. When you are taking your doula training online, you get the benefit of watching live class and then rewatching the replays. Yup, over and over and over if your heart desires. We make sure you have access for life, so you can reference your previous classes whenever you feel you need to. You also get the benefit of all learning styles being nurtured. We offer learning opportunities and mediums for every person to understand and feel confident with the information.
Inclusivity thrives online. Moving our program online gave us the freedom to embed practices that were absent from the traditional models. We removed gendered language from our teaching manuals, added land acknowledgments, partnered with Indigenous communities, and created online group therapy offerings for students processing trauma while learning. Yup, all our students get free therapy! We are the only organization to do this.
This wasn’t just about convenience. It was about radical inclusivity and making sure our students were fully supported in every aspect of their training journey.
Online doula training starting on September 18th, 2025
The Evidence: Why Training—Online or In Person—Transforms Birth
Skepticism around online learning is understandable… many people assume that the intimacy of birth work can only be taught face-to-face. But the reality is that what shapes a powerful doula isn’t the medium, it’s the depth, quality, and accessibility of the training itself. And the evidence makes it impossible to ignore: trained doulas transform outcomes for families. A landmark Cochrane review found that continuous support from a trained doula is linked to shorter labors, a 25% reduction in cesarean births, fewer medical interventions, and higher satisfaction with the birth experience. More recent studies confirm that doula care also reduces low birth weight, preterm birth, and complications, while increasing breastfeeding initiation (PMC, 2023). Medicaid pilot programs in the United States even showed that when doulas were covered, families not only had healthier outcomes, but the system saved an average of $1,675 per birth (Verywell Family, 2023). Globally, doulas are recognized for improving physical, emotional, and economic markers of perinatal care (Wikipedia).
When we take this powerful body of evidence and deliver it through online training, something incredible happens: access explodes, barriers fall away, and communities that were once excluded finally get a seat at the table.
Online doula training doesn’t dilute the transformational potential, it amplifies it. It brings world-class education into rural kitchens, across international borders, and into the homes of parents learning with their babies in their arms. The conclusion is undeniable: online training is not a lesser version of in-person learning…it’s the next evolution, one that makes the life-changing work of doulas more inclusive, more connected, and more impactful than ever before.
And we absolutely adore seeing all the places that folks attend their classes. Some of our favs? In the middle of Disney Land (like, literally in front of the castle sitting by the fountain), in an ambulance parked at the emergency bay of the hospital, on a plane, on a cruise ship, and even in the hospital while in labor (we lovingly kicked them out of class so they could focus on having their baby). We wanted to have folks access the classroom anytime and anywhere.
solve all your doubts about the training and this beautiful job with Bianca this sept 10th at 2:00 pm – ONLINE
Why We Do Online Differently at bebo mia
When we transitioned our training online, we knew we didn’t want to replicate the shortcomings of the old system. We wanted to design something that would be deeper, more supportive, and more inclusive than anything else out there.
That’s why our Maternal Support Practitioner training isn’t just birth doula training online. It’s a full-spectrum program, covering postpartum, fertility, and loss alongside birth. Because real families don’t live in silos, and neither should the training that prepares you to support them. Each stage informs the next stage and you can’t just be an expert in one of them and provide wonderful care.
We pair live classes with mentorship, 24/7 access to faculty and peers, and an intentional focus on inclusivity. Many of our staff are parents themselves, working from home with their children, modeling what sustainable and flexible entrepreneurship can look like. Our students graduate not just with a certificate, but with the confidence, business skills, and community connections to build thriving practices that truly change the birth landscape.
For those of you looking for something significantly shorter and birth focused, we built our Birth Doula Training which is everything you need to get started, including your birth business in a box! Use the code FIRST200 to get $200 off. If you decide to go into the full spectrum training, we offer an easy breezy transfer program!
Birth Doula training with $200 OFF! Your first step to Doula
Every “Why?” Sparks Change
Perhaps the most powerful part of this journey has been watching our graduates carry the work forward. Every time a birther pauses and asks:
Why does the hospital intake form still say “mother” instead of “birther”?
Why are induction rates pushed when evidence suggests waiting is safer?
Why am I not being spoken to directly about my own care?
Why are things happening TO me, rather than being my decision?
Each of those “whys” represents the heartbeat of radical change. Every time a graduate raises the question, they’re practicing radical feminism. They’re challenging outdated norms, dismantling systems of shame, and creating space for inclusive, evidence-based care.
And so, online or in person, the truth remains: doula training is transformational. The medium does not diminish the depth. What matters is intention, accessibility, and support, and on those counts, online learning has opened more doors than it has ever closed.
Wrap up: when it comes to online doula training…
If you are standing at your own crossroads, tired, overwhelmed, but pulled toward something greater, know this: you don’t have to choose between parenthood, work, and making a difference. Signing up for a doula training online has made it possible for countless students across Canada, the US and beyond to step into their power without sacrificing their lives to logistics.
The question is not whether the online training is “good enough.” The question is whether you are ready for the transformation it offers.
