Childbirth Educator - Certification Requirements

You DO NOT have to attend a workshop. There is no additional charge for certification and no requirement for membership or recertification. Certification as a Childbirth International Childbirth Educator is for life!

You will receive a comprehensive set of study guides which build up to form an impressive reference library that you can refer to again and again. Each study guide contains a variety of reading material, learning activities and exercises which you complete in your own time. The course is made up of three modules - Communication, Physiology and Teaching Skills. As each module is completed you simply submit an on-line evaluation form. You will receive individual feedback from your trainer. 

To gain knowledge and see the techniques another childbirth educator uses, you will observe a childbirth course of 12 hours. You can choose either private or hospital based classes. Once you have observed the course, you submit an evaluation to your trainer. This activity asks you to be reflective about the course you watched and comment on things that worked well and those that could have been done differently. This class is observed after you begin your training - classes that you attended for your own pregnancy are not able to be used for certification purposes since the perspective is very different when you are observing as a childbirth educator rather than participating as a class member. If a full 12 hour course is not available locally, you can observe two courses to make up the 12 hours.

To help you understand the birth services that are available to women within your community, you will complete a brief online survey looking at the options available for women when they are expecting a baby. This helps to build up a resource for the families you are working with, as well as provide you with information on potential opportunities for furthering your involvement with childbirth.

To broaden your knowledge and become exposed to different viewpoints, you will read five books that are relevant to work as a childbirth educator. You can choose any five books you like from the extensive reading list. Take a look at the reading list here.

During the course of your training you will complete the assignments at your own pace. The first, a communication assignment, is a written account of one of your own births, or an event in your life that was significant to you if you have never had a baby.

The second assignment is an open book test of multiple choice questions on different aspects of pregnancy, labor, birth and the early postpartum period. You can use any reference materials, including your student manuals, to research and find the answers to the quiz.

The final assignment is looking at teaching methods. You will provide answers to a series of questions on active teaching skills, activities for use in childbirth classes, and scenarios of possible situations you may experience as an educator. These will be reviewed by your trainer and feedback will be provided.