FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I use this certification in any countries other than the United States?
Yes! Our certification process is an international "board approval" process and your credentials will be recognized no matter where you might practice - both in the United States and abroad.
In fact, we have many students who come from all over the world including Kuwait, Dubai, Singapore, Botswana, Liberia, Kenya, Mali, Ireland, Canada, Panama, Australia, Israel and others.
How long will it take me to complete the certification?
This is up to you, but if you really dedicate time each day to working on it, you can finish the study portion of each program within 3-4 weeks. It may take longer to wait on clients to give birth, or to attend a workshop, but you do not have to wait to do the book work - you can get started on that immediately!
Is there a deadline?
Yes! While we understand that you may have a lot going on in your life, we do require that you complete your credentialing application within 18 months. We offer up to two separate 6 month extensions for those who need it.
Is my certificate good forever?
Unfortunately, no. Protocols change, new information is being discovered all the time. It is important for you to be able to prove to clients that you are constantly learning and staying up to date. Our certification period is one of the longest, but the requirement for you to renew is to help protect you in your practice as well as make sure you're giving the best care to the clients you serve.
Many funding sources like Medicaid and Carrot require a 3 year certification, and since this has become the industry standard, we now require a 3 year recertification as well. We want to ensure our students have as many opportunities to serve clients as possible. If you have a certification that you earned years ago, we can help you get a renewed re-certification as quickly as possible, but it will require you to meet the requirements. Otherwise, if someone were to call and verify your status, we will not be able to declare you as current and active. So please keep up with your certifications now and into the future. Your printed award certificate will now have the starting and expiring dates on them.
How long does the certification last?
When you gain credentialing with us, it will be active from the date of approval, for 3 years! The official certification and expiration dates will be listed on your frame-able certificate award. Before the 3 years is up, you will need to renew your certification and receive a new certificate award with new dates on it to stay current and continue to assist your clients with insurance billing. The renewal process is simplified and inexpensive. You will always be provided with an authenticated, seal-embossed and signed certificate to show your current and active credentialing status.
What if I can't attend a birth without a certificate?
We have a solution for that! We provide something called a Provisional Certificate. Submit all your written work, other than the birth evaluations required and request a Provisional Certificate. We will give you a digital document that is good for 90 days (dates will show on the document) - to allow you entrance into facilities that require one. If you need entrance to a hospital before you have completed and can submit all your work, we are able to provide you with a letter stating that you are enrolled in our program. That letter will state the date of your enrollment and the 18 month deadline, unless you've requested and paid for a 6 month credentialing extension - which will also be noted on your letter.
What sets MaternityWise apart from other programs?
We were made for doulas, BY doulas! It's a program started by a group of women, including an inspirational business educator who wanted to help other women and their families to enjoy the special time and adjustment surrounding birth. The training programs include a business growth seminar free of charge. We also pride ourselves on offering the latest technology to continue educating our members. In addition to the free business coaching aspect, you will also have opportunities to attend class sessions that take a deeper dive focus on starting and growing your birth related business.
You'll also receive a LOT more than conventional medical information. Yeah, we're holistic and a little on the crunchy side, but we will also teach you how to navigate those less crunchy situations! Diplomacy can make or break a team effort for a client's birth experience. We help you to learn the skills needed to keep everyone happy, while getting the client what they want and need, regardless of the birth location.
How will I find clients?
As part of the MaternityWise Institute programs, you will learn many ways to promote your business on a shoestring budget. You will also receive local and national resource contact information for networking and growing your business. All members are also listed on the MaternityWise referral network information given to parents when they contact us, and because of our front page ranking on every search engine, this site is well-trafficked.
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MORE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Ongoing Growth & 2025 Changes
You have made the exploding growth of the doula industry possible and we are grateful for each and every one of you!!
Beginning January 1, 2025, we will see some changes in the way MaternityWise does professional doula education and credentialing - in keeping with industry standards and to allow us to continue providing you with the best possible support! As we grow together, we are confident that these changes are a longer-term solution to the needs of our staff as expenses and cost of doing business continues to increase. We have done our best to find ways to fairly distribute these fees to only those who need the additional services of membership and credentialing.
Just as these changes are new, we are rolling them out as gently as possible and we are grateful for your patience as we all experience these “growing pains” together. Ahead of thing change, we notified everyone multiple times, and months in advance. If we ever need to make additional changes in the future, please rest assured, we will again, notify you by email well in advance.
Below, you will find information about these changes:
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Professional Membership Fees
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Credentialing Fees
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Re-Certification Requirements
Due to ongoing staffing and support expenses for our students and graduates, we are offering a professional membership level. Not everyone wants this level of support. Some of our students simply take the classes for educational purposes and do not pursue certification or the other benefits of ongoing professional membership. And that is OK!
Paid professional, organizational membership and paid credentialing fees have become an industry standard for doulas and other insurance-reimbursed service care providers. Since our humble beginnings in 2002, your membership had always been free and all benefits were provided by our staff out of their passion for the work, their love for you students and the goodness of their hearts. We will always be here for you, and we want to fairly compensate our staff for the time and energy they give to you as students and graduates. These small contributions help us to do that.
1. Yearly/Monthly Membership Fee:
When you sign up for the $79 yearly payment plan, this fee will be waived for the first year (you’ll see this reflected at checkout as a free trial for 365 days – AKA your Anniversary Date). Your credit card information will be required and it will be used to automatically bill your $79 membership fee, 1 year later.
You may choose a monthly payment cycle as an alternative:
The $7 Monthly option will start the day you set it up, and ensures that your membership fee is paid in full by your anniversary date.
You need to sign up for your Professional Membership on the MaternityWise website now, by following these steps:
Go to: https://www.maternitywise.com/group/maternitywise-members-only/discussion
You will be asked to JOIN. Click on Join and this box will pop up. Sign up! If you already have a log in for the MaternityWise website, use the “Log In” link and move on to step 2 below.
You will need to create/edit your profile on the website. You may not use a nickname. Use the name on your legal ID, as this must match your legal government ID in order to be connected to your professional certification credentials, used for insurance, state directories, hospital admission, etc. If you are concerned about privacy, just know that only other MaternityWise members can see your profile name but you may make your profile completely private, if you mark your profile as private.
You may also add a photo to your profile. Make sure it is your face only.
Then, while logged into your Members Area, Click on your member icon and go to "My Subscriptions" to confirm that you have an active, paid membership.
This Professional Membership will provide you with ongoing access to all of these benefits and more – at no additional cost! Check out the Members Only area on the website for resources, events, discounts and more!
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Access to the private, professionally moderated Facebook group
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Access to the variety of private weekly study groups
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Access to your personal mentor for course and business support
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Access to course materials for your enrolled programs
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Discounts on classes (like the Birth Biz Bootcamp and more!)
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First looks at new programs and online classes
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Access to successful business supplies and resources
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Access to exclusive business coaching sessions
You are free to cancel this membership subscription at any time. Canceling your membership will stop automatic payments and will also cancel your student/graduate status and any certifications you hold with us. Unfortunately, that means that when families, private insurers, state registries, Carrot, Medicaid or other entities contact us to verify your credentialing, we will have to tell them yours has lapsed. Please be sure to maintain your membership and in turn, we will maintain our support for you in this vital maternal health career.
We are so excited to welcome you into the MaternityWise family!
Create your profile or log in to your members area and set up your membership access now.
2. Credentialing Fees:
Just like with professional membership, not all of our students require a certification. You may study with us simply to enhance your knowledge or to apply for credentialing within the 18 months after enrollment. You can get certified in 1 or all of our programs – at the same time, or staggered.
If you choose to apply for certification credentials, you will find a $99 fee for each:
https://www.maternitywise.com/product-page/credentialing-fee-paid-online
Your applications are read by real humans, who have a deep commitment to the high standard MaternityWise level of excellence and a typical board review of your materials requires 5+ hours of time by a minimum of 2 board members, and much more time, if client care verifications are needed.
Upon approval, your certification award will be printed, and sent using Priority Mail with tracking. The tracking number will be included with your Congratulations email once it has been sent.
3. Re-Certification Requirement:
At this time, in order to provide the greatest opportunities to our students, we must comply with requirements that are set forth by other external agencies. Many state Medicaid programs and insurance administrators like Carrot are requiring a 3 year re-certification for the doulas who participate as providers.
If you are not a participating provider and no other regulating entity is requiring re-certification for your credentials, this does not apply to you. However, if you do require re-certification, our credentials are now renewable every 3 years and we have made it as easy as possible for you, while still meeting the requirements set out by the entities requiring them.
Step 1 – Maintain your professional membership status throughout your credentialing experience.
Step 2 – Purchase the Re-Certification Packet from the SHOP link on the MaternityWise.com website. Follow the instructions within the packet.
Step 3 – Complete and submit for re-certification and your new certificate with new dates will be sent to you via Priority Mail with tracking. The tracking number will be sent to you within your congratulations email.
Lastly, we understand there may be other fees that you could encounter on your journey to becoming or staying certified.
Certification Deadline Extension
https://www.maternitywise.com/product-page/certification-extension
Need an extra 6 months? No problem! You can purchase a maximum of 2 extensions. After that, you’ll need to re-enroll.
Provisional (Digital) Certification – 90 days
https://www.maternitywise.com/product-page/provisional-certificate
Do you need a certificate to show at the hospital, in order to complete the Client Evaluation portion of your credentialing process? Just submit all of your other completed certification assignments and pay this fee, to receive a digital, provisional certificate lasting 90 days. Be sure to tell us the dates you will need this to cover.
Lost Certificate Replacement
We understand that life happens and sometimes you need a replacement of your certificate. The fee is $99 for a printed replacement containing our official, embossed seal. Your will be sent your replacement via Priority Mail with tracking. If you only need a digital replacement (sent via email with no embossed seal), the fee is $50.
How does Board Certification credentialing work?
With MaternityWise, we provide you with a very comprehensive education that will allow you to make the greatest positive impact on the families you serve as well as the systems that are currently struggling to meet their needs. We operate with the highest level of accountability and approval in an unregulated industry. Our process ensures that you have not just paid for the course, but you’ve learned and understand what is needed to support clients at the high standard of care that this role requires.
When you submit for credentialing, your application will go through an initial (surface) review, to make sure that everything required on your checklist has been submitted and that you have followed the instructions on each part. Once your submission has been approved for evaluation, you will receive an email stating that it is being sent on to the next phase.
This next phase of credentialing includes an evaluation of your content. Things like accuracy and correctness in your comprehension will be determined. If you have submitted anything that needs further explanation, or a second try, we will contact you about those, explaining what we are looking for and ask you to resubmit those answers. You will have 10 days to resubmit anything that was below standard.
After your submission has passed that phase, you will be finally reviewed by a Founder of MaternityWise and upon approval, your certificates will be printed, signed and mailed to you via Priority Mail and a congratulatory email will go out to you with a tracking number! Hooray! Congratulations! You are certified!
We hope that by explaining everything here, you can appreciate our transparency and understand how much we care for you as not just students, but a part of the larger community of MaternityWise Family members
If you ever have a question, just use the contact box that can be found at the bottom of every page of our website, or text us at 929-547-9473 (WISE)
We are here for you!