Did you know?Â
Doula School Canada is one of only a select few vocationally registered training for birth workers in Canada and has a long history of teaching birth, postpartum and childbirth education.
As a professional doula, trained with Doula School Canada, you receive a certificate of graduation and the security of knowing your education gives you a solid foundation. Our curriculum is reviewed bi-yearly to ensure it meets the expectations for the highest standards in training.
Our Learning Space
DSC is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive learning space for birth workers and persons interested in offering reproductive support. Our team works to ensure that the needs of our students are met at the highest standard.
Why train with the DSC team?
Our team has an incredibly unmatched resume with years of experience in the business of reproductive support, education, counselling, and academics. DSC’s mission is to advance the perinatal practice by generating knowledge and educating future leaders to address reproductive support for all. To achieve this, we must maintain principles and practices that promote and advance anti-racism, diversity, equity, decolonization, and inclusion.
​DSC instructors are ready to work with you as you work towards achieving your goals!
BIRTH WORK HAPPENS HERE.
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Acknowledging the Land
As visitors on this land, we have an important responsibility to acknowledge the grounds on which we are privileged to gather in the pursuit of education:
Doula School Canada’s work primarily takes place on Turtle Island, which has been a site of human activity for over 15000 years and is the unseeded territory of Indigenous peoples. Nearly 100 years ago, Canada and many First Nations signed agreements that became known as the Treaties. These agreements were intended to be the foundation upon which sovereign peoples would build a common relationship, but lead to long-standing disputes about compensation, settlement, and harvesting.
In light of this history and understanding a role as Treaty People, may we dedicate ourselves to moving forward in the spirit of partnership, collaboration, and reconciliation, as we learn together and contemplate the possibilities that lay ahead.
The DSC home office resides on the ancestral lands and the traditional and treaty territories of the Nations covered under the Williams Treaties, including the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, Alderville First Nation, Hiawatha First Nation, Curve Lake First Nation, and the Chippewa Nations of Georgina Island, Beausoleil and Rama. We recognize the significance of this land, and offer our respect to our Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Métis neighbours.
As we learn together, we ask that you reflect on the ongoing role that colonialism plays in pregnancy, birth, and parenting and your own relationship to this work.
We pay respect to Indigenous birth workers, both past and present, including any of those who may be here with us today.
OUR ADMIN & INSTRUCTIONAL TEAM
STEFANIE ANTUNES
Co-Director, Lead Doula, Trainer
Stefanie has been a Lamaze® Educator and doula since 2002 after the birth of her second son showed her just how valuable it is to be prepared for birth and to have good support around you.
Stefanie is a visionary in the childbirth field. She leads several organizations providing a variety of services to expectant parents and training for those wishing to pursue work in the childbirth field. She is the president for Doula School Canada. Stefanie is a board member with the Association of Ontario Doulas, former Treasurer and Public Relations Director for DONA International, and sits on many local boards and coalitions to improve our communities.
Stefanie is a contributing author in the best selling Power of Women United and the book Bearing Witness: Childbirth Stories Told by Doulas. She is a regular contributing writer and blogger, and has done many interviews online and for TV/radio. Stefanie was awarded Business Woman of the Year 2022 by CanadianSME.
Her belief is that the world can be a better place if parents can have more positive childbirth experiences that allow them to bond properly with their babies. She works tirelessly to change the world in this aspect…one family at a time.
JULIA FOREST
Co-Director, Doula, Trainer
Julia is a doula, childbirth educator, and advocate with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of yoga, doula work, and perinatal wellness. She is co-founder and co-Director of Doula School Canada, one of the largest doula training organizations.
She has dedicated her career to transforming how birth workers are trained in trauma informed and embodied birth support and how families experience pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.
Her path into birth work was shaped by two decades of deep immersion in massage therapy, yoga and embodied practice, including years of study and teaching around the world. This grounding in movement, breath, and inner stillness became the foundation of her approach to prenatal yoga and birth support, one that is trauma-informed, evidence based, and rooted in the belief that the body already carries its own wisdom.
Julia is the co-creator of the Sacred Birth Yoga and Doula Training, a program that integrates the transformative potential of yoga with the relational art of doula work. Her approach is accessible, heart-led, and deeply informed by the understanding that birth is not just a physical event, it is one of the most profound thresholds a person will ever cross. Her vision is that every birthing person births with confidence, support, and in trust of their own bodies.
SHANDELLE FERGUSON
Doula School Canada Instructor, Labour Doula and Postpartum Doula, Childbirth Educator and Admin
Shandelle Ferguson is originally from Newfoundland but now calls Nova Scotia her home. With a passion for changing birth culture in Atlantic Canada, you can find her chatting with other doulas, reaching out to birth professionals and helping new parents in their journey into parenthood. Shandelle is a certified Labor and Birth and Postpartum Doula with Blossom and Birth Doula Services.
A mother to three, you can find her drinking coffee, or wine, and spending time with her family.
ANDREA PAUL
Birth and Postpartum Trainer, Admin Team
Andrea Paul (she/her) is a caregiver at heart and loves to provide compassionate support to doula, families, and loved ones. A mother of 2 daughters, Andrea loves to spend time with her spicey children and entertaining pets. She enjoys spending time in nature, watching movies, and hearing her children’s laughter.
Andrea has found that supporting other doulas is so fulfilling that she eagerly assists doulas through training, mentorship, and continuing education opportunities. Her energy, excitement, and passion are contagious.
AUNJRYA FLEMING
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – Lead
Aunjrya brings a rich background in reproductive health, equity, and advocacy to her new role supporting Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) at Doula School. With deep experience supporting diverse families through some of life’s most powerful transitions, she brings a heart-forward, equity-driven approach to her role. As a Registered Nurse, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), maternal health navigator, and experienced educator, she is passionate about creating safer, more inclusive learning spaces for doulas from all backgrounds. Aunjrya is here to support our trainers, students, and team in advancing meaningful, equity-centered change.
NADINE ROSS
Doula School Canada Instructor, Labour and Postpartum Doula
Nadine Ross is the proud mother to four wonderful people, and two fur babies. Originally born in Calgary Alberta, Nadine has travelled extensively as both a child and young adult. During her time abroad, Nadine was able to immerse herself into different cultures and also had the opportunity to become fluent in both French and Spanish. It was during her time in Mexico that she taught English as a second language to adults and children, and fell in love with teaching.
After the birth of her four daughters, Nadine opened Kids First Daycare in 2003 where she began her professional work with infants and children for over a decade before taking her passion for babies and birth to the next level and becoming a full time doula. During her time running the daycare, she gained extensive experience with owning and operating a business as well as learning the ins and outs of being self employed in Canada. Nadine is now the owner of Beautiful Beginnings Birth Services and has been supporting birthing and postpartum families in Toronto and the GTA since 2016.
TANICIA REEDON
Doula School Canada Fertility, Pregnancy, Infant Loss, and Postpartum Educator
Tanicia Reedon is a Fertility, Pregnancy, Infant Loss, and Postpartum Educator with nearly a decade of experience as a full-spectrum doula & facilitator. She brings a rich background in mentorship, facilitation, pelvic-steaming care, and inclusive, trauma-informed support for families across all reproductive paths.
Her work is rooted in community, compassion, and the unwavering belief that every birthing person deserves to be deeply seen, held, and guided. Tanicia’s expertise in fertility support, perinatal mental wellness, and loss-care offers students both skill and soulful perspective, she can’t wait to have you in her class.
KARENA DANG
Doula School Canada TA Instructor, Labour and Postpartum Doula programs
Karena is a lifelong learner who is passionate about sharing knowledge and skills with others.
She entered the birth world serendipitously, and had been supporting expanding families for a handful of years before the arrival of her first (human) baby in 2021.
Karena is the owner of Bumps Upon a Time – a doula agency based in Edmonton, and co-owner of Nest Integrative Wellness – a community-focused perinatal wellness centre in the heart of Edmonton. As a doula, she takes pride in imparting wisdom around Eastern-minded postpartum practices in a Western world.
ASMA RAHMAN
Doula School Instructor, Certified Birth & Postpartum Doula
JENNIFER FONTAINE
Doula Instructor
Jennifer Fontaine (Jenn she/her) has been interested in birth since the birth of her twins in 1998. She became a birth and postpartum doula in 2002 and a Lamaze certified childbirth educator in 2008. She is an International Birth and Postpartum doula trainer, Certified lactation educator, Lamaze program Instructor and Approved When Survivors Give Birth Educator. Her passion for supporting families has pushed her to strive to be the best she can be in all of her roles.
Jenn is a sought after educator and curriculum developer. She is the owner of Birth Roots Doula Collective in Winnipeg, Manitoba and is a crisis line counsellor.
CARLY SNYDERS
Infant Massage Instructor
Carly Snyders has spent nearly 20 years working with children of various ages in a wide range of settings. She began her career as a teacher at an International School. Over a decade ago, after relocating to London, UK, she embarked on a new path as a nanny and maternity nurse, focusing on newborn care.
This experience eventually led her to teaching baby multi-sensory classes. Today, she has found her passion in instructing Baby Massage, Baby Milestones, and Postnatal Pilates.
Since recently returning to Canada, Carly was struck by the limited opportunities for parents with young babies. She is thrilled to now bring her classes to Doula School and share her expertise with families here.
JENNIFER ROGERS
Lamaze Certified Birth Educator
Jennifer Rogers (she/her) became a Lamaze Certified Birth Educator shortly after the birth of her first son. She and her husband had an amazing experience in their own Lamaze class, leaving them feeling prepared, informed, and confident for the birth. This inspired her to help other new families have a similarly positive experience. Lamaze practices are grounded in the best scientific and medical evidence, designed to support safe, healthy pregnancy, birth, and early parenting. She loves how interactive and engaging the classes are—they’re never dull. Eventually, she found her way into the birth room as a doula, creating a safe, supportive space for families to experience something truly remarkable. She is passionate about birth and helping families feel empowered throughout the journey.
NICOLE DANIEL
Registered Nurse
Nicole Daniel is a Registered Nurse with a Master’s degree in Nursing Education and Leadership. She currently works as a professor, teaching courses in maternal-infant health, community health, and nursing scope of practice. Nicole is also a Certified Childbirth Educator and leads prenatal classes with Midwifery Services of Durham. Her experience spans doula work, labour and delivery, IPAC training, sexual health, mental health, and public health. She has a particular passion for delivering family-centered, trauma-informed care.
In her free time, Nicole can often be found performing in musical theatre productions or dancing in the kitchen with her teenage daughters.
