Registration is Now Open; Dates and Prices Here

DONA International values presenting quality and impactful continuing education to birth and postpartum professionals from around the world.  With that in mind, DONA Leadership plans for both virtual and in-person events.  The annual conference for 2024 will be held live, online from October 28-29th, 2024.  While the live event will offer an opportunity for interaction of participants, speakers, and leaders, the live event will be followed up with 60 days of on-demand viewing of all sessions for registrants.

The conference will offer keynote speakers, concurrent speakers, a member meeting, and a virtual exhibit hall.

We invite DONA members and doulas from all backgrounds to join us as we connect with one another in a way that helps make this work sustainable, through education and meaningful relationships!

Registration is Now Open; Dates and Prices Here

Learning and Continuing Education Credits

The Summit will focus on key areas for professional growth offering continuing education hours for recertification with DONA International and other organizations that accept DONA contact hours. As the schedule is solidified, we will share the number of available contact hours.  Participants will get credit for sessions in which they attend and complete the post-test questions for afterward via DONA Elevate.

The DONA International Summit is one way we continue to provide the highest standard of evidence-based training and education to our members. The core conference qualifies as formal continuing education for doula recertification and trainer reapproval with DONA International as well as most other childbirth certification organizations.

It is the registrant’s responsibility to ascertain whether this offering meets the requirements of other certifying organizations.

About Our Speakers

The DONA International Speaker Selection Committee is hard at work cultivating an excellent speaker line-up.  The committee will be incorporating excellent keynote addresses alongside working sessions in which doulas can develop leadership skills with tangible take-homes that can be incorporated at the local, national, or international levels.

We’ll be pursuing topics relevant to birth and postpartum doula work.  You can expect sessions to enhance your doula skills, as well as practical business sessions, and other relevant professional development topics.

Successful and impactful birth/pregnancy practitioners need knowledge and skills to engage in equitable practices with populations that experience poverty, immigrant populations, and people of color.  There are avoidable and unjust inequities in access to healthcare, quality of care, childbirth, and birth outcomes based on social identities such as race, immigration status, and class.  According to the CDC, black mothers in the U.S. die at three to four times the rate of white mothers, one of the widest of all racial disparities in women’s health. A black woman is 22 percent more likely to die from heart disease than a white woman, 71 percent more likely to perish from cervical cancer, but 243 percent more likely to die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related causes. In a national study of five medical complications that are common causes of maternal death and injury, black women were two to three times more likely to die than white women who had the same condition. About one in five black and Hispanic women report poor treatment from hospital staff due to race, ethnicity, cultural background, or language. Compared with 8% of white mothers, 21% of black mothers and 19% of Hispanic mothers report experiencing poor treatment while hospitalized to give birth. These data reflect social, economic, institutional, and systemic inequities that require immediate action on the part of birth/pregnancy practitioners. That action starts with education about and a commitment to health equity.

Count the Kicks is a dynamic public health program developed in 2008 by Happy Birthday Inc. centering on stillbirth prevention. Their goal is for it to be standard care for all birthing people to count kicks in the third trimester. In this session (recorded Dec 2023), Christine Tucker, Health Equity Coordinator, and TaKiesha Smith, Indiana Ambassador, from Count the Kicks will share evidence on Count the Kicks and discuss ways the doulas can integrate It with their clients. 

1.0 Contact Hours- DONA Town hall that took place on December 7, 2023

https://countthekicks.org/ 

The International Childbirth Initiative is a global movement that includes obstetricians, midwives, and doulas working together to advance safe and respectful MotherBaby-Family-centered care. Throughout 2023, we added hospitals and birth centers around the world and have worked to advance training and support for doulas around the world. In this session, Debra Pascali-Bonaro and Michelle Skaer Therrien, Executive Director of the International Childbirth Initiative (ICI) share the 12 steps for safe and respectful care, the role of doulas, and our work to improve collaboration among healthcare professionals and integration of doulas into health systems.

1.5 DONA Contact Hours

https://icichildbirth.org/

In this session, Everyone Wants to Hold the Baby, Who Will Hold Mother?® we will discuss the universal needs of all mothers and birthing people. The session will contribute to the understanding of why perinatal mental health is a public health imperative, and recognize the continuum of perinatal mood disorders and how they affect the perinatal family.

This session was recorded as part of the 2023 in-person conference and the recording is presented with the slide presentation/audio.

The landscape of doula care is complex and ever-evolving, with insurance playing a crucial role in both the professional and personal lives of doulas. However, navigating these waters can be challenging without the right tools and knowledge. In this session, we delve into the intricacies of "Insurance 101" - giving participants an in-depth understanding of the insurance landscape as it applies to perinatal practitioners.

We also explore the routes to successfully navigate employee benefits packages, shedding light on how to leverage these pathways to ensure payment. But insurance isn't just about the here and now. It's a gateway to future security - health, disability, life, and retirement planning. We aim to make insurance work for YOU, transforming it from an abstract concept into a tangible tool for financial planning and stability.

This session serves a dual purpose. First, it provides doulas with the foundational tools needed to journey through the evolution of doula care in relation to public, private and employer insurance. Simultaneously, it aims to equip doulas with the information and action plans necessary for building a secure retirement or transition plan while practicing as a doula. Join us as we chart a course toward greater financial security in the doula profession.

*Note that insurance discussed in this session will center the personal doula, and is not a session regarding accepting insurance for payment of services from clients.*

This session was offered as a pre-con during the 2023 DONA Summit and is offered with audio and video of the slide presentation. 

Save with this Bundle, Priced at $50(members); $90(non-members)

-Designing a Successful Brand with Tiffany Tolliver

Branding is an eye-opening process that brand expert Tiffany Tolliver has had the pleasure of experiencing repeatedly with a variety of creative entrepreneurs. Her daily routine involves peeling back the layers of their businesses, uncovering their core values, and celebrating what makes each brand unique—activities she finds incredibly joyful. Throughout her career working with solopreneurs, small business owners, and online influencers, Tiffany has developed a fun and practical methodology that aids in developing beautiful brands and achieving 100% client satisfaction. Whether participants are preparing to bring visual presence to their brand for the first time or seeking an update, the steps outlined in her webinar "Designing a Successful Brand" will offer a deeper understanding of branding and its crucial role in designing a business.

-Successful Ways to Manage Your Doula Business with Stefanie Antunes

Running any business can be challenging. Learn all the necessary elements of achieving business success. From assessing your market and competitors, and setting your goals, to uncovering your own unique service offering, this session will reaffirm how to use the tried and true ways of running a business. It will also address aspects of business ownership (that you may have not considered) that are paramount to business success.

-Hero or Guide? Level Up Your Website by Centering Your Clients with Sarah Juliusson

When a potential client lands on your website, what is the first emotion they feel? Our goal is a happy exhale, knowing that they have found their dream doula. Too often, families experience information overload instead of resonance and excitement. We get so caught up in sharing all the details about WHAT WE DO that we inadvertently position ourselves as the hero rather than the guide. The result? We miss fostering the sense of connection & empowerment they need to click on the BOOK NOW button.

In this session, Sarah Juliusson, a Certified StoryBrand Guide, and Web Designer, will share simple ways to level up your online presence by centering the families you want to work with.

When a potential client lands on your website, what is the first emotion they feel? Our goal is a happy exhale, knowing that they have found their dream doula. Too often, families experience information-overwhelm instead of resonance and excitement. We get so caught up in sharing all the details about WHAT WE DO that we inadvertently position ourselves as the hero rather than the guide. The result? We miss fostering the sense of connection & empowerment they need to click on the BOOK NOW button.

In this session, Sarah Juliusson, a Certified StoryBrand Guide, and Web Designer, will share simple ways to level up your online presence by centering the families you want to work with.

This course satisfies the Breastfeeding Education requirement for certification with DONA International. This course also offers 3 CH for DONA recertification. 

Postpartum is a sensitive time that is honored by traditions and rituals for healing. Rituals also provide the protective social structures to achieve culturally safe care that honors and incorporates beliefs, culture, and encourages cultural humility.   Join Debra and Robin as they share examples of postpartum healing rituals, discuss the similarities and differences across cultures and invite you to connect with and create a list of the cultural beliefs and traditions from your community. Understand the importance of a doula's role in cultural humility and cultural safety for clients and their families.

1 Contact Hour