Become A Birthing Partner

DO you think you could support a woman and her partner through the life-changing experience of giving birth?  If yes, then training to become an NCT Birth Companion could be for you.

NCT Birth Companions provide a doula service to women from diverse backgrounds, supporting a woman or couple through labour and birth. They improve the quality of mothers’ experience of labour, working alongside midwives and other health professionals.

One new mother said of her NCT Birth Companion: “Small gestures lik massage, sips of energy drink, a hand to squeeze, help in the shower really made a difference to me.”

If you have not already taken a Diploma course with NCT to become an antenatal teacher, breastfeeding counsellor or postnatal leader, training to become an NCT Birth Companion begins with the Orientation Programme which provides you with the basic knowledge and skills which are prerequisites for the NCT Birth Companions Course.

You can find out more about the Orientation Programme at one of four Expressions of Interest days next month in London, Preston, Newcastle and Worcester. You will have the chance to learn more about the role and training and meet the Orientation Programme Tutors and a qualified NCT Birth Companion. You will also have a brief ten minute interview so you and the tutors can get to know each other.

NCT Orientation Programme Tutor Mary Nolan said: “Doulas carry out an age-old traditional role in providing one-to-one, woman-to-woman support during labour. If you have no previous experience as a doula, the Orientation programme is the first step to taking the full NCT Birth Companions training course."

Expressions of Interest Days 2011
Friday 4 November, London, 11am – 3.30pm
Monday 7 November, Preston, Lancs, 11am – 3.30pm
Wednesday 9 November, Newcastle, 11am – 3.30pm
Saturday 12 November, Worcester, 11am – 3.30pm

You do not need to be an NCT member in order to apply for the Orientation Programme. If you are accepted onto the Programme, you will then need to become a member.

To find out more, email education@nct.org.uk. To attend an Expressions of Interest Day, download and fill out the form here.

There is a £20 fee to confirm your place.