As a doula, you’re the compassionate guide who supports expectant parents through the transformative journey of childbirth. Your nurturing presence and deep understanding help ease anxieties and provide physical and emotional comfort before, during, and after labor.
Your adept communication skills foster open dialogues between medical professionals and families, ensuring everyone’s needs are met. While you’re skilled at handling the unpredictability of births, crafting a resume that captures your multifaceted expertise presents its own unique challenge.
Our doula resume examples are expert-written and have helped many other professionals find their dream jobs. Just follow our simple resume tips, polish things off by generating a cover letter, and get ready for the interview!
Why this resume works
- When mothers go into labor, they can’t wait to hold their bundle of joy on the other side. Your job ensures that’s the outcome you deliver for each of them and their newborns.
- To underscore your role in the best outcomes in your doula resume, ensure you highlight the numbers on positive outcomes and how you made the delivery process easy for the mom, the newborn, and the entire family.
Why this resume works
- It’s extremely important to prove your credibility in a certified birth doula resume. Prove your knowledge in birth education by adding in certificates like ICEA (International Childbirth Education Association).
- However, don’t shy away from the idea of using more. Leverage more specific accreditations, like a continuous education doula certificate to convey that you’re aware of the latest techniques for creating a healthy and happy pregnancy experience.
Why this resume works
- If you’ve recently entered this field then the best way to stand out from other applicants is writing down your impact in fostering wholesome pregnancy months.
- Include important skills such as Pregnancy+ (Sprout) and use Abigail’s first bullet point as an example where she states “Leveraged Pregnancy+ (Sprout) app…. shrinking 26% of pregnancy-related complications” to create a strong impression right off the bat in your birth coach resume.
Why this resume works
- Time is of the essence when handling labor and delivery cases. You must be a fast decision-maker and still achieve the best outcomes for your clients.
- Ensure you showcase your track record of handling high-stress situations and delivering positive outcomes for families in your postpartum doula resume and you’ll be going up the career ladder in record time.
Why this resume works
- Team collaboration at the labor bedside makes a big difference to the outcome of delivery processes. Your ability to work under pressure and support the best outcome is something your birth doula resume can capitalize on.
- For instance, highlighting your role in a team to navigate complicated birth cases will make it easy for birth centers to pick you for the job ahead of everyone else.
Related resume examples
Tailor Your Doula Resume to Match the Needs of Your Clients
The skills section is where you can display your special abilities and show that you’re a perfect fit for the role. Even when you’re in a rush, it’s crucial to edit your skills for each application to make sure they match the requirements of the job description.
For doulas, focus on skills like childbirth support techniques, pain management strategies, and prenatal education expertise. Since your role centers around personal interaction, you can also include a few soft skills.
Mention your ability to provide empathetic emotional support, foster trust, and maintain a calm presence in high-stress situations. In your work experience section, you can back these skills up with specific examples.
Need some inspiration?
15 popular doula skills
- Labor Techniques
- Prenatal Education
- Childbirth Support
- Birth Planning
- Pain Management
- Postpartum Care
- Bloomlife Pregnancy Tracker
- BirthBase
- Emotional Empathy
- Cultural Sensitivity
- Meditech
- Advocacy
- Record-Keeping
- Effective Communication
- Stress Management
Your doula work experience bullet points
From guiding parents through diverse birth plans to providing unwavering emotional support during challenging labor, your achievements are the core of your work, so they should also be the core of your resume.
Using active verbs and language emphasizes your impact and shows how your role significantly contributes to the emotional well-being of expectant mothers. Quantify successes with metrics—be it the number of families supported or the positive birth experiences achieved.
These metrics are the best way to show the depth and scope of your achievements in a format as concise as bullet points. You can impress recruiters with numbers and results now and interviewers with more details later.
- Highlight the total number of births you’ve assisted with, demonstrating your experience and breadth of practice.
- Consider including feedback or ratings from clients to showcase their satisfaction with your support.
- Share instances where your support contributed to smoother labor experiences, reduced intervention rates, or minimized complications.
- If you have repeat clients or referrals, mention the percentage of clients who return or refer your services.
See what we mean?
- Offered breastfeeding support that resulted in 93% of mothers successfully initiating and maintaining breastfeeding
- Educated families on newborn care, including diapering, bathing, and sleep routines, and contributed to a 34% decrease in postpartum stress and anxiety among mothers
- Helped reduce birth interventions by 14% through effective communication and advocacy during the labor process
- Achieved an average contraction tracking accuracy of 96%, ensuring timely medical intervention
9 active verbs to start your doula work experience bullet points
- Guided
- Facilitated
- Collaborated
- Empowered
- Advocated
- Fostered
- Tailored
- Supported
- Educated
3 Tips for Writing a Doula Resume Without Much Experience
- Demonstrate your compassion
- Even if you’re new to professional doula work, emphasize how you’ve shown compassion and support in various roles. If applicable, you can discuss volunteer work, community involvement, or even your own childbirth experience. Highlight how you’ve comforted and assisted others during pivotal life moments, showcasing your natural ability to provide emotional support.
- Highlight transferable skills
- Draw parallels between your past work experiences and the skills needed as a doula. For example, if you’ve worked in customer service, emphasize your ability to empathize and communicate effectively.
- Consider adding a career objective
- Your career objective should convey your passion for supporting mothers and families during childbirth. Explain your motivation for becoming a doula, commitment to positive birth experiences, and eagerness to contribute your unique qualities.
3 Tips for Writing a Doula Resume if You’re Already Experienced
- Quantify your impact
- Make sure to incorporate metrics whenever possible to demonstrate the tangible outcomes of your doula support. Mention the number of successful births you’ve assisted, the percentage of positive feedback received, or even the number of social media followers you built up through your promotion techniques.
- Highlight your doula specializations
- If you’ve honed expertise in specific aspects of doula work, like prenatal education, postpartum care, or supporting high-risk pregnancies, emphasize these specializations. Tailor your resume to align with the job’s focus, showcasing how your experience directly relates to the role you’re pursuing.
- Showcase your ongoing growth
- Mention recent certifications, advanced workshops, or conferences you’ve attended to demonstrate your dedication to professional development. You can also mention your involvement in relevant online communities, local doula associations, or attendance at childbirth-related seminars.
Handling the ATS is simple—all you need to do is use doula-specific keywords from the job description in your resume. Highlight skills like birth coaching, pain management techniques, and childbirth education.
Absolutely. Highlight relevant certifications, such as DONA International, CAPPA, or ICEA. Mentioning specialized training in postpartum care, breastfeeding support, or childbirth education can give your resume an edge and show your commitment to professional development.
Prioritize skills that align with the specific doula role you’re targeting. Include your most relevant abilities, like prenatal support, emotional empathy, birth plan guidance, and cultural sensitivity. Avoid vague terms like “good listener” and use concrete skills that showcase your aptitude for providing effective doula care.
