What you’ll learn in this post:

• Why some midwifery programs require doula training before you can apply
• What “labor sitting” means and why it’s a skill every midwife needs
• How to know if you want clinical responsibility or if doula work is your destination
• The practical benefits of doula work while you’re in midwifery school
• How to be intentional if you’re using doula training as a stepping stone

Maybe you already know that midwifery is your end goal. Or maybe you’re curious about birth work and want to get your feet wet before committing to years of clinical training. Either way, you’re wondering: Should I become a doula before midwifery school?

The short answer is yes. But the longer answer is more useful.

I’ve trained many doulas who went on to become midwives, and I’ve also trained doulas who thought they wanted midwifery but discovered that doula work was exactly where they belonged. Both paths are valid. What matters is understanding what doula training will and won’t give you on the way to wherever you’re going.

Why Some Midwifery Programs Require Doula Training First

Some midwifery programs actually require student midwives to work as doulas before beginning their clinical training. There’s a good reason for this: they want students to learn how to “labor sit.”

Labor sitting means staying with someone through labor without providing midwifery care. It’s the practice of offering emotional support, comfort measures, compassion, and advocacy without crossing into clinical decision-making. These are skills every midwife needs, and doula work is one of the best ways to develop them.

Programs like Bastyr University’s Master of Science in Midwifery require completion of a DONA International-approved birth doula training as a prerequisite for admission. They know that students who arrive with hands-on birth experience have an advantage over classmates who have only studied labor in textbooks.

What Doula Work Teaches You About Birth

Midwifery programs teach clinical skills, physiology, pharmacology, and how to manage complications. What they can’t fully teach in a classroom is what birth actually feels like, hour after hour, in all its messiness and beauty.

Doula work gives you that.

You’ll learn how labor unfolds in real time, not just in textbooks. You’ll see how people cope with pain, make decisions under pressure, and navigate the hospital system. You’ll witness births that go smoothly and births that don’t. You’ll learn to read a room, to sense when someone needs encouragement versus space, to recognize the shift when active labor begins.

This kind of pattern recognition is hard to teach. It comes from being present at birth after birth, paying attention, and reflecting on what you saw. By the time you start midwifery training, you’ll have an intuitive understanding of normal labor that many of your classmates won’t have yet.

What You’ll Learn About Yourself

Doula work is also a test drive. Before you invest years and significant money in midwifery education, you’ll know the answers to some important questions.

Can you handle the unpredictability? Birth doesn’t follow a schedule. Clients go into labor at 3 AM on holiday weekends. Labors last 36 hours. Plans change. If the on-call nature of birth work doesn’t suit your life, better to find out now.

How do you respond in intense moments? Some people discover they’re calm under pressure. Others find that the intensity of birth feels overwhelming. Neither response is wrong, but knowing how you react helps you make an informed decision about a clinical career.

Do you want clinical responsibility? As a doula, you support the birth. As a midwife, you’re responsible for clinical outcomes. Some people love doula work precisely because they can focus entirely on emotional support without carrying the weight of medical decisions. Others are frustrated by the limits of the doula role and want more.

How do you feel about the medical system? Doula work will expose you to how hospitals, providers, and insurance systems actually function. You’ll develop opinions about what works and what doesn’t. This perspective will shape how you practice as a midwife.

The Practical Benefits of the Doula to Midwifery Pathway

Beyond the educational value, doula work offers some concrete advantages as you prepare for midwifery.

Income while you’re in school. Midwifery programs are time-intensive, and many people need to work during their education. Doula work is flexible enough to fit around classes and clinicals, and it keeps you connected to birth when you’re stuck in lectures. Several of my former students who went on to midwifery school have told me that doula work was a great way to build income and help pay for their education while still practicing the labor sitting skills they were learning.

Professional connections. As a doula, you’ll meet midwives, OBs, nurses, and other birth professionals in your community. These relationships matter when you’re looking for clinical placements, mentorship, or job opportunities later.

A head start on your birth numbers. Some midwifery programs give credit for births attended as a doula, depending on how they were documented. Even if they don’t formally count, the experience counts in ways that show.

Application advantages. When you apply to midwifery programs, having doula experience demonstrates a commitment to birth work. Admissions committees see that you understand what you’re getting into and have already proven you can show up for families.

The Full Circle Moment: Why This Path Creates Better Clinicians

Do you know what brings me immeasurable joy? Walking into a hospital to support a client and finding a nurse or midwife who was once my doula student.

There’s something absolutely special in watching someone I trained years ago expertly care for the laboring person and the baby. They are confident. They are knowledgeable. They are exactly the right health care provider to help this family welcome a new baby.

I had one former student who became an L&D nurse and then a certified nurse-midwife. When she started working at a hospital that wasn’t particularly doula-friendly, she advocated for the L&D staff to better understand what doulas do. She arranged for the hospital to pay for all their L&D nurses to talk to me over several listening sessions. Because she had been a doula, she understood the value we bring. And because she was now a clinician, she had the credibility to make that case to her colleagues. That hospital has made great strides at being more doula friendly, which is great for doulas, and even better for their patient.s

My clients notice when their nurse or midwife really gets what a doula does. There’s a different energy in the room when everyone understands their role and respects what each person brings. When a former doula is providing clinical care, they don’t see the doula as competition or an inconvenience. They see a teammate.

I’ve also seen many doulas go on to become certified professional midwives who attend homebirths. Some homebirth midwives now require first-time homebirthers to have a doula, because they understand the value of that continuous emotional support alongside clinical care. Working with a midwife who was once a doula is always a gift.

What Doula Training Won’t Teach You

I want to be clear about what doula work doesn’t include, because these are often the things that draw people to midwifery in the first place.

Doulas don’t do clinical assessments. We don’t check dilation, listen to fetal heart tones, or evaluate whether labor is progressing normally. We don’t prescribe, diagnose, or make medical recommendations.

If the part of birth that fascinates you is the clinical piece, doula work might feel limited. You’ll be in the room, but you won’t be the one making clinical decisions.

Some people find this frustrating. They watch a birth and think, “I want to know what the midwife knows.” That’s a sign that midwifery might be right for you.

Others find relief in it. They think, “I love being here without the pressure of clinical responsibility.” That’s a sign that doula work might be your destination, not just a stop along the way.

How to Make the Most of Doula Work on the Midwifery Path

If you’re using doula work as a stepping stone to midwifery, be intentional about it.

Keep detailed notes. Document every birth you attend. Note what you observed, what questions came up for you, what you’d want to learn more about. These notes become valuable when you’re studying later.

Ask questions (appropriately). When the timing is right, ask the midwives and nurses you work with about what they’re observing and why they’re making certain decisions. Most providers are happy to teach when you approach them respectfully.

Work in different settings. If possible, attend births in hospitals, birth centers, and homes. Each setting will teach you something different about how birth can unfold.

Build relationships with midwives. Let midwives in your community know you’re planning to pursue midwifery. They may become mentors, references, or clinical supervisors down the road.

Stay open to what you discover. You might confirm that midwifery is your calling. Or you might discover that doula work is exactly where you want to be. Either answer is a good one.

What If You Change Your Mind?

Some people complete doula training expecting to move on to midwifery and realize they don’t want to. That’s not a failure. It’s valuable information that saves you years of education in the wrong direction.

I’ve watched doulas discover through their work that they want to help families in different ways. Some become L&D nurses. Some become childbirth educators or lactation consultants. Some stay doulas for decades and build thriving practices. As they grow in the field or as their lives change, their path shifts too.

Doula work is meaningful in its own right. It’s not less than midwifery. It’s different. The doula role exists because families need support that’s separate from clinical care. If you discover that this is where you belong, you haven’t taken a wrong turn. You’ve found your place.

Starting Where You Are

If midwifery is on your horizon, doula training is a smart first step. You’ll gain experience, build confidence, and test your commitment before investing in clinical education.

But don’t treat doula work as something to rush through on your way somewhere else. The families you serve deserve your full presence, even if you’re planning to move on eventually.

Be the best doula you can be right now. Let that experience shape what comes next. Whether that’s midwifery school, a thriving doula practice, or something else entirely, you’ll be ready for it.