In-Person Immersive 7-Day Course
Doula Training
April 24-30 2026
Become a Birth Keeper : Doula
Join us for this seven-day immersion into the ancient and essential work of the Doula
Together, we will walk the full arc of the reproductive journey—conception, pregnancy, physiologic birth, postpartum, and pregnancy release. Learning what it truly means to protect the sanctity of each stage.
Birth is not merely a moment; it is an initiation that reshapes a woman’s entire being, and those who tend this portal carry a profound responsibility.
Birth keepers are one of the guardians of the birth portal—the ones who hold the invisible architecture of safety so that the mother–baby dyad can remain intact, undisturbed, and sovereign. To serve in this role is to become a protector of physiologic birth, a embodiment of what it means to trust our physiologic wisdom and a witness to the ancient power that moves through a woman’s body when she is held with reverence.
This in-person gathering is a weaving of classroom learning, ritual, hands-on practice, and embodied knowing.
You will study the hormones, nervous system, biomechanics, fetal rhythms, and birth ecology that must be safeguarded for physiologic birth to unfold in its true design. You will also learn how to tend the subtle, unseen dimension of birth—the realm where intuition, presence, and ceremony anchor trust into the experience.
You will receive the mentorship, practical skills, and deep inner inquiry needed to serve with integrity, devotion, and embodied clarity.
This training prepares you to step into your role as a doula or birth keeper—rooted, ready, and aligned with the sacred nature of this work.
OUR CURRICULUM
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We dive into richness of the feminine form exploring deeply female physiology so that we can understand the stages of pregnancy / birth/ postpartum
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Learn how to hold space and support families in the first 40 days of postpartum
How to nourish, tend the family, process birth and support a household with grace and deep presence
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Learn how to support women and families as they navigate the initiation of the prenatal times
Nutrition, neonatal development, the phases of pregnancy and more
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In order to deepen your practice as a doula we must understand how to care for a woman in chosen or unchosen pregnancy loss. Honoring each woman's process and choice
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Explore how you can be the most potent ally for the birth journey through understanding physiologic birth care and what it takes to be a protector of the space
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Learn how to ally with the plants to create formulas, teas, broths, steams, smudges, sitz baths,
Remedies for the whole family
Placenta encapsulation and tincture too
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Songs and ceremony to guide and ground this profound journey of space holding
Traditional practices that can be shared with reverence
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An exploration of the ancient practice of Mayan Abdominal Massage
Support prenatal and postpartum mothers with abdominal massage practices
Learn proper techniques of how to wrap a faja
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The journey of the Doula is one steeped in the magic of collaboration and learning how to build resilient community and birth culture
Connect with other doulas and create a supportive environment of collaboration
It is our birthright to experience profound support in the journey of conception, birthing and matrescence.
We must remember together the path back to wholeness through unyielding support during this time.
WHY JOIN US
The world needs more doulas who uphold women's sovereignty in birth. Our current system often prioritizes medical intervention over a woman-centered experience. As a doula, you'll empower women to make informed choices, reclaim control of their birthing experience, and honor the ancient tradition of women supporting women.
You'll be a vital advocate for holistic, woman-centered healthcare that prioritizes a mother's well-being alongside the well-being of her baby and family as a whole. By providing emotional support, evidence-based information, and practical guidance, doulas bridge the gap between traditional wisdom and modern healthcare, fostering a safe and sacred space for birth.
Becoming a doula or birth/postpartum ally is a powerful step toward reclaiming our sovereignty as women. By educating ourselves and others about the natural birthing process and the importance of honoring our spiritual and biological needs, we can challenge the medicalized and patriarchal systems that often dictate women's reproductive experiences. As doulas, we can empower women to make informed choices, advocate for their rights, and create safe, supportive spaces for birth and beyond.
This work is not just about supporting birth; it is about reclaiming our agency, challenging societal norms, and fostering a more equitable and empowering world for women.
This is for you if…
This training is for the women who feel the ancient pull in their bones—the whisper that birth work is not a “career,” but a remembering. A return to ourselves, to who we have always been and to who we are becoming. A reclamation of something older than language.
You feel called to birth work as a sacred vocation
If the mysteries of womanhood stir something deep in your belly… if you have always known you are meant to stand at the threshold with other women… this training will feel like coming home to the best parts of yourself.
You are a new or aspiring doula craving real, embodied, hands-on learning
Not online modules. Not sterile information. You want the heat of the fire, the presence of mentors, the living transmission that only happens in circle and on the land with each other.
You are a mother who understands birth as initiation
Perhaps you’ve walked the path yourself, and now you feel the call to carry the torch for others.
You know the terrain of thresholds, and you’re ready to support women as they step into their own becoming.
You are a woman reclaiming our ancestral ways
If you feel the ache of severed lineages… if you long to reweave yourself into the web of midwives, aunties, sisters, and birth keepers who tended birth since the beginning—this immersion will feed you.
You are a practitioner wanting to deepen your medicine
Herbalists, yoga teachers, therapists, bodyworkers, space holders—anyone who serves women and families. You want tools that are embodied, ancestral, trauma-informed, and rooted in the physiology of the feminine.
You are an activist committed to protecting reproductive rights and dismantling institutional birth trauma
if you are devoted to rebuilding a world where mothers, babies, and families are protected… if you know that real change requires skills, embodied knowledge, and the courage to stand firm in sacred truth—this training gives you the tools, the language, and the backing to become a true advocate.
You want to support the rebirth of community-based reproductive care
If you believe in women’s sovereignty, mother-baby protection, village support, and the quiet revolution happening through birth keepers reclaiming their power—you are ours, and we are yours.
MEET YOUR GUIDES
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Certified Nurse Midwife (APRN, CNM), certified birth doula (CD-DONA), and registered nurse (RN)
Isa is a compassionate leader in women’s health, devoted to empowering families through her roles as a Certified Nurse Midwife (APRN, CNM), certified birth doula (CD-DONA), and registered nurse (RN). Her approach views birth as a sacred journey—a powerful, transformative experience deserving of holistic, respectful support. Isa combines modern clinical expertise with traditional wisdom, creating a complementary space that honors each family’s unique vision and values. She started her path as a birth worker in service to immigrant and refugee families around her home land: Minneapolis, Minnesota. The past year and a half, she has cultivated experiential midwifery knowledge in the context of a free-standing birth center at the borderlands between the US and Mexico.Her work is deeply rooted in empathy, building genuine connections and fostering an environment where women feel empowered and secure. A lifelong learner, she integrates indigenous teachings into her practice, enhancing her awareness of the elements and honoring the natural rhythms of women’s bodies. She is honored to represent her community on the Red Road as a Sundancer and former Moondancer. Isa’s dedication goes beyond professional commitment; she serves as a guide, providing families and birth supporters with the tools and trust they need to embrace the birthing journey with confidence, reverence, and strength.
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Clinical Herbalist • Natural Builder • Birth Keeper • Educator
Ashley McDonell is a birth keeper, clinical herbalist, natural builder, and educator whose work weaves together physiology, ancestral wisdom, and the sacred arts of womanhood. For more than 15 years, she has served families across the reproductive continuum—guiding women through conception, pregnancy, physiologic birth, postpartum, and pregnancy release with deep presence, sovereignty-centered advocacy, and unwavering devotion.
Her lineage of study includes mentorship with Whapio, Rachelle Segal, traditional midwives, birth attendants, and teachers of the Wise Woman and physiological birth traditions. Ashley’s approach blends evidence-informed understanding with ancestral knowledge, nervous system literacy, and trauma-aware birthkeeping. She holds a rare capacity to translate complex physiological processes into embodied, intuitive knowing.
As the creator and lead educator of Casa Curativa’s Doula & Birth Keeper Training, Ashley teaches from the intersection of activism, ritual, and biology. Her work centers the protection of the mother–baby dyad, the restoration of undisturbed physiologic birth, and the remembrance of birth as a profound initiatory rite. She is known for helping women reclaim their sovereignty while preparing birth workers to stand as guardians of the sacred, skilled advocates within medical systems, and compassionate stewards of community-based reproductive care.
Ashley’s teaching style is both deeply rooted and radically human—equal parts technical, poetic, and fiercely aligned with the values of reciprocity, reverence, remembrance, relationship, and responsibility. In every container she leads, she brings her full self: the herbalist, the builder, the ritualist, the activist, and the woman devoted to reweaving our connection to the earth and to one another.
Her mission is simple and profound:
to restore the dignity of birth, to return power to women, and to train a generation of birth keepers who can hold the thresholds of life with skill, integrity, and sacred regard.
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My name is Deirbhile Murphy, a midwife and birth keeper from Belfast, Ireland. I have been devoted to this path for over fifteen years, first called to midwifery at the age of fourteen through vivid dreams and an inner knowing that never left me. While other teenagers explored ordinary interests, I immersed myself in birth stories, midwifery texts, and holistic birth traditions—training myself long before my formal education began.
I went on to complete a BSc in Midwifery Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast and spent five years as a clinical midwife in the UK, attending hundreds of births across homebirth settings, postnatal wards, birth centres, and the operating theatre. My journey has also led me through Canada and, most recently, Guatemala, where I apprentice with traditional Mayan midwives and integrate their teachings—abdominal massage, rebozo, ceremony, and ancestral birth practices—into my work.
In 2025, after six years of professional registration, I consciously stepped outside the medicalised maternity system to serve women who choose to birth in their full sovereignty, while still honouring the value of medical intervention when truly needed.
I believe birth is a sacred rite of passage, safest at home, guided by physiology, intuition, and spirit. My role is to protect the natural unfolding of birth and to honour each mother–baby dyad with presence, respect, and deep reverence. It is my life’s greatest privilege to walk beside families during this transformational threshold.
MEET YOUR GUEST TEACHERS
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Herbalist, Mother, Teacher, Birth & Postpartum Doula, Steward of Casa Curativa
Julia Bentley, originally from Tennessee (ancestral territory of the Cherokee people), found her path into herbalism through her own healing journey from eczema and psoriasis. After studying with Sajah Popham, Julia moved to Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, where she founded Casa Curativa, a sanctuary where people from all over the world can connect with the healing power of plants.A humorous and engaging teacher, Julia blends lightheartedness with deep wisdom, encouraging students to laugh and find humility in their practice. Her lectures on alchemy and the spagyric arts invite exploration into the more mystical aspects of herbal medicine. Julia’s entrepreneurial spirit shines through in her work, as she has cultivated Casa Curativa into not only an educational hub but also a thriving herbal brand, focused on quality, ethics, and community.
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Family Zavala come from an unbroken lineage of traditional mayan birth keepers [parteras], of pregnancy and post partum care.
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Midwife, Mother, Herbalist & Abdominal Massage Specialist
Mariu is a Guatemalan, born and raised midwife, healer and massage therapist. After working with indigenous midwives for ten years in the Maya highlands and studying midwifery for 4 years she gracefully integrates traditional and professional midwifery. Offering her services to local indigenous women and foreigners alike. Especially to women who seek a safe humanized birthing space, in the comfort of their home.
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Venus has been driven by her main passion: What does it mean to be embodied in a female body?
Exploring, feeling and studying for more than 10 years through Tantra, Motherhood, Dance & Movement, Yogatherapy, Breathwork, Somatic Healing, Conscious Touch and Ritual, her devotion towards the Heart is her commitment to Spirit.
Her life experience of birthing three daughters and her devotion to womenhood has taken her to mentor women through their paths of Maidens, Mothers and Crowns,
Her spiritual path is to explore and practice Tantra in a devoted way, accepting and understanding her own duality; believing that if we live sexuality consciously, it can become a door to awakening, and that consciousness and energy are our essential polarity, opening the profound path of communication between the Feminine and the Masculine within.
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Prenatal Yoga Facilitator: Jessi Luna, E-RYT 500
Jessi has been teaching yoga since 2009 and facilitating yoga teacher trainings since 2012. She attended the Holistic Doula Training with Holistic Midwifery in 2019 and immediately knew it was an offering for Seven Springs. Jessi gave birth to both her sons, Kai and Cedar, in the Peru yurt at Seven Springs, and she is delighted to open this space to empower more women and mothers in the power of birth. Jessi will offer morning yoga, she teaches a Vinyasa based practice to combine elements of dance and natural movement with traditional yogic sequencing. She incorporates attention to rhythm of the breath, and allows for organic movement to flow in each pose. A creative entrepreneur at heart, Jessi explores how to do business in a good way for the planet and people. Jessi is a cofounder of Kula Collective Yoga School along with 6 other friends, as well as Seven Springs along with her husband and parents.
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I am a mother, a devotee to humanity’s umbilical connection to life itself, to reciprocal prayer and intuitive medicine.
I am a woman weaving together the threads of tradition and new culture to create a continuously evolving and integral ways of collective living.
I am one of those that bridge the teachings of elemental laws to become part of our everyday living prayer.
WHAT OUR STUDENTS ARE SAYING
COURSE COST
OUR 7 DAY DOULA COURSE :
EARLY BIRD PRICING: $1,300
AFTER JANUARY FIRST: $ 1,450
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You will receive a comprehensive and embodied doula training that includes all course content, 3 nourishing meals a day, an in-depth notes packet, daily yoga and grounding practices, multiple temazcales, practical rituals you can use with clients, connection to the casa curativa community and a new group of supportive sisters to tend you as you grow as a doula.
You’ll also get access to recorded supplemental classes to support your continued learning. This is more than a training—it's a transformational journey into the heart of birth work. -
Yes!
We would love to welcome you to stay on site with us. We believe that immersive experiences offer the deepest transformation—allowing you to step fully into the course, let go of daily distractions, and sink into the sacred learning container we’ll create together.We offer a range of on-site accommodations to fit every budget- check out the section bellow for more details on pricing.
Prefer to stay off-site?
You’re also welcome to book your own accommodations nearby and commute in each day. Just register for the base course option without lodging.Let us know if you have any questions about travel or where to stay—we’re happy to help!
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This training blends practical, evidence-based birth education with ancestral wisdom, ritual, and deep personal transformation.
Beyond learning how to support births, you'll be held in a ceremonial container that invites you into your own healing and growth. With temazcales, daily movement, embodied practice, and a heart-centered approach to care, you'll leave not just certified—but deeply rooted and ready to serve.
On top of all that our educators come from vastly different backgrounds, countries and cultures ensuring that our perspectives offered are as wide as we can offer and honor many different lineages of birth work.
PRICING & ACCOMMODATION
GARDEN TENT
Stay in a garden tent equipped with comfortable bedding and a little rug
Shared bathrooms & hot showers
Access to shared kitchen
5 spaces available
All inclusive course, accommodation and 3 meals per day.
Total: $2,075*
$1,875
Early Bird Pricing until Jan 1 2026
SHARED ACCOMMODATION
Stay in our newest and largest accommodation ‘The Lodge’
• Large shared kitchen and living room
• Comfortable single beds
• Shared bathroom
2 spaces available
All inclusive course, accommodation and 3 meals per day.
Total: $2,225*
$2,000
Early Bird Pricing until Jan 1 2026
PRIVATE ROOM
Stay in either our Zome, Honeycomb or Riverside Cabin and enjoy your privacy for the whole week. Some times you just need a space all for you!
3 spaces available
All inclusive course, accommodation and 3 meals per day.
Total: $2,475*
$2,225
Early Bird Pricing until Jan 1 2026 Doula Training
Without Accommodation
All inclusive course and 3 meals per day
Without any accommodation
Total: $1,450*
$1,300
Early Bird Pricing until Jan 1 2026OUR DAILY FLOW
8:30-9:30
Embodiment Practice
9:30-1:00
First lecture (ex: birth physiology)
1:00
Lunch at the Lodge
2-5:30
Guest teacher and hands on practice
5:30-7 pm
Optional Evening Activity
(Sauna, Fire, Etc)
Wanna speak to a human?
We love discovery calls with future students, so click the link below to schedule a time to speak to one of our facilitators.