Birth Coach Method is a paradigm shift in the doula practice. The program was founded by Neri Life-Choma, MA, CBD, CBE, CHT, and Life Coach, with the goal of training birth doulas as birth coaches; with coaching tools and leadership skills. Birth Coach Method advisory committee consists of four knowledgeable and experienced birth professionals:
Neri L. Choma, Founder and Mentor
Neri holds an M.A degree in cognitive science; she is a certified birth doula and childbirth educator, and she is a certified hypnotherapist and a life coach. Neri works and resides with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a mother of three girls. During her 16 years of practice Neri founded a doula support program in a major hospital, and a birth resource center, and directed two birth resource centers. She led hundreds of childbirth education classes and workshops, and supported hundreds of couples through their birth.
For the last six year Neri created and taught doula training programs and led professional development workshops for doulas with the goal of integrating coaching skill into the doula practice, and lead doulas into the coaching profession. In November 2012 Neri launched her DVD Practicing for an Active Birth, The Most Comprehensive Audio-Visual Guide for an Active and Healthy birth, which you can find on our store.
Neri: ”It gives me great sense of fulfillment to be able to mentor birth doulas as coaches all over the world. I am grateful for having the most experienced and knowledgeable birth professionals joining me on the Birth Coach Method Advisory committee.”
Alit Ronen, Adviser 
Alit is a CNM (Israel), Childbirth Educator and birth doula, as well as co-founder of Mama Center (IL and CA). She is practicing as L&D nurse in UCLA Santa Monica, LA since 1991. She is a mother of two children.
In 1999 Alit I moved to Israel and enrolled in Midwifery school and became a CNM. She worked in the hospital setting as a midwife and attended home births too.
Alit: It was during early months in Israel that I met Neri and a very strong bond was created both personally and professionally. We co-founded Mama Center- a birth resource center. My goal and passion is to empower women through education to have the birth of their choice with the changing climate of health care, professional doulas can help women greatly in achieving their desired birth.”
Julie Dubrouillet, Adviser 
Julie is a certified labor support doula, childbirth and lactation educator and pre-natal yoga instructor, as well as a trainer of childbirth educators. She is the prenatal Health Education Specialist at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Julie taught thousands of couples how best to approach childbirth, and directly supported hundreds of couples through the births of their children. Julie’s experience and knowledge are a great contribution to the advisory committee of the Birth Coach Method.
Julie is co-author of the book “Deliver! A concise guide to helping the woman you love through labor” which you can find on our store.
Julie is a mother of two children herself, and lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Julie: “I am thrilled to work with an amazing Birth Professional such as Neri. She brings a knowledge that can only come with years of experience to all she does and I believe her ideas and program will help all those individuals who support laboring women”.
Olga Libova, Adviser 
Olga is a CNM and California Board Certified Nurse- Midwife. She is a tenured nursing faculty in De Anza college nursing program and Childbirth educator. Olga practices and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area California. She is a mother of three children.
These days Olga is practicing with Altos Oaks Medical Group in Mountain View California. She is also working on her NPD.
Birth Coach Method Philosophy:
We believe that by integrating the coaching tools and methodology of coaching into the doula practice, we can leverage doulas and allow them to really lead the change in the field of birth, and lead more birthing moms to healthy and active births.
The term ‘Doula’ means ‘Servant’ in old Greek. While we are proud to be at the service of our birth clients, we believe that to imply servitude is harming the doula practice and doula’s professional status, So is the perception that doulas are ‘big mamas’ that are ‘Mothering the Mother’, or ‘Birth Companions’, or even ‘Lay Women as in Clause and Kennel’s book. .
By integrating the coaching tools and strategies into the doula practice, Birth Coach Method aims to:
- Define the role of the doula / birth coach and the scope of her practice.
- Train Birth Coaches who are not only knowledgeable about birth, but also are enriched with coaching capacities and skills in order to lead their clients.
- We see birth as a challenging life event that demands women to perform in a new way, very different than their everyday life situation. In this respect, birth is not ‘Natural’ to women nowadays. Therefore we emphasize the importance of continuous pre-natal coaching – coaching comes before the performance in every other field! We can’t expect ourselves to lead the change we want to see in the way women are giving birth by coaching during the birth only.
- Birth Coach Method wishes to leverage the practice of already certified birth doulas by providing the best professional development and continuous education for birth doulas.
Here is to leading birthing moms to healthy and active births on Earth!
Birth Coach Method Team