Can I tell you something?
For most of my life, I was very good at looking like I was coping. School, university, a career in big agencies. Tick, tick, tick. From the outside it all looked shiny. On the inside I was exhausted.
I'm autistic and I have ADHD. Back then I didn't have the words for it. I just knew that sitting in a room, being talked at, made something in me shut down. I'd nod. I'd take notes I'd never read again. And I'd go home completely drained.
So when I decided to build my own doula training, I made myself one promise. Nobody would have to learn like that on my watch.
The classroom was never the point
Here's what I've learned from over 100 births. Birth doesn't happen on a slideshow.
It happens in dimly lit bedrooms and busy labour wards. It happens at 3am, in the quiet bits between contractions, in the look you share with a partner who's terrified and trying not to show it. You can't learn that by copying bullet points off a screen.
You learn it with your body. With your hands on a rebozo. With your voice, practising what you'll say when a woman tells you she can't do this anymore.
So what does doula training look like instead?
Becoming Doula is a blended doula training course. That's a fancy way of saying we learn in lots of different ways, because people do.
Three hands-on days in Manchester, where we move, practise, role play and talk.
Six live online sessions, in focused chunks you can join from your sofa with a cuppa.
Four supported births, with me mentoring you until you qualify.
It takes about four months, start to finish. Long enough to sink in. Short enough to keep the fire lit.
Who it's for
If you've ever sat at the back of a training session wondering why everyone else seems to be keeping up, this is for you. If you're neurodivergent, suspect you might be, or just know you learn better by doing, this is for you.
And if you simply want to support women in a way that feels alive and real, you're very welcome too.
The bit I want you to hear
The way you learn isn't a problem to fix. It's information. It tells you what kind of support you need to thrive, and that's exactly the kind of insight that will make you a brilliant doula.
If something in here sounds familiar, I'd love to meet you. Book a discovery call and ask me anything. Or have a read about what makes Becoming Doula neurodivergent friendly.
Han x
