CAPPA Certified Childbirth Educator Training
If you feel inspired to educate and support families preparing for a pregnancy or experiencing a pregnancy, you might have considered becoming a Certified Childbirth Educator. A CAPPA Certified Childbirth Educator (CCCE) works with families and within the healthcare system to offer unbiased support. A CCCE provides families with encouragement and evidence-based information so that they are equipped with skills and able to make informed decisions during this incredibly transformative period of life. A CCCE is a well respected professional that can be found in private settings, health care provider offices, clinics and hospitals worldwide.
In order to determine if this profession might be right for you, you might wonder how to become a Certified Childbirth Instructor. You might also want to consider why others became Certified Childbirth Educators. A CCCE is an expert in the development and delivery of educational resources surrounding labor and birth, they aren’t clinicians. While many doulas choose to also become Certified Childbirth Educators, some people choose to focus all their attention specifically on providing childbirth education.
How To Become a Certified Childbirth Educator
CAPPA offers five programs including the CAPPA Certified Childbirth Educator (CCCE) training. CAPPA Certified Childbirth Educators are non-clinical professionals. As a CCCE, you won’t carry the same burden and professional responsibility that a midwife or midwifery assistant carries. For example, you’ll never diagnose a medical condition or make a medical decision for an expecting person. Your responsibility will be great, but it will be different. You will educate families expecting a new baby or planning a pregnancy about options and resources.
To become a CAPPA Certified Childbirth Educator, you must be at least 18-years-old and a member of CAPPA. You will need to attend a CAPPA Childbirth Educator training class and read specifically selected media from the CAPPA Childbirth Educator Required Reading List. While at training, you will be given a CAPPA Childbirth Educator Training Manual and you will have two years after training to read and review it.
After your training with one of our incredible CAPPA Faculty, you will have two years to complete the certification process. You will start by enrolling in the Childbirth Educator Traditional Course in CAPPA Academy. The first thing you will need to do while in CAPPA Academy is pass the Scope of Practice Pretest. Then, you will complete the Understanding Birth booklet assignment and the Mother & New Baby Care booklet assignment.
As part of your Certified Childbirth Educator training, you will observe two labors/births for a total of 10 hours of observation time. You will student teach or submit a video lesson that is at least a half hour long or two video lessons that are at least 15 minutes long. Practice teaching is a great way to work on your skills as a teacher! You’ll create and submit a detailed outline and curriculum of your presentation(s). Next, as with our doula training classes, you will create a Resource List that will contain local support for parents. This Resource List will be invaluable to your future profession as a CAPPA Certified Childbirth Educator.
As a wrap up, you will need you to agree to and sign a Code of Conduct, Social Media Policy, Grievance Policy, CAPPA Mission, CAPPA Approach, CAPPA Vision, and Scope of Practice. After that, you will need to pass a multiple-choice exam and an essay exam.
The CAPPA Approach is important to all our programs but especially so to a Childbirth Educator. That’s becauseThe CAPPA Approach differs from a method in that it allows the freedom for CAPPA professionals to incorporate their own style, meet the particular needs of their community, and teach the curriculum that best matches their skill set. CAPPA professionals are able to utilize a large variety of techniques, skills, and coping strategies that are both evidence-based and personalized to the individual, as opposed to being limited to a set, static method. Additionally, The CAPPA Approach differs from a method in that it embraces current evidence-based information, and can grow and transform to stay relevant to the families served by CAPPA professionals.
Why Others Choose To Become Certified Childbirth Educators
Some CAPPA Certified Childbirth Educators have told us that they have always been drawn to pregnancy, labor, birth and babies. Some are drawn to education. Many chose this path because they felt that they weren’t prepared for their own major transitions.
Should You Become a Certified Childbirth Educator?
At CAPPA, we want to make sure that you are able to fulfill your dreams. Part of this process is evaluating whether the career is right for you. Certified Childbirth Educators generally share several characteristics. Successful CAPPA Certified Childbirth Educators are resourceful, organized, nurturing individuals who want to encourage others. They are strong, thoughtful and enjoy of the differences that they will find in the families they will serve.
CAPPA Certified Childbirth Educators maintain warmth, professionalism and non-judgment. Often, these people are former tutors, activists, nurses, massage therapists, CNAs, nannies, teachers, public servants, early childhood education workers and more. If you excel at communication and education and find joy in the process towards becoming a parent, you may find that becoming a CAPPA Certified Childbirth Educator will provide you with a rewarding future.
CAPPA is respected for its commitment to excellence in birth education. We offer unsurpassed student and member support. Once you make the decision to become a CCCE, CAPPA will offer you the confidence, resources, and framework needed to invest in your career. We will provide you with the educational stability to achieve your dream.