Train With the Standard

Others Are Measured Against

For a decade, we kept 100% of our clients safe, alive, and thriving. Now we teach you how to do it.

Apply to the Sweet Bee Academy

Maternal Mortality Is Preventable.

We Have the Record to Prove It.

Black moms are more likely to die of childbirth-related causes, regardless of income or academic achievement. Actually, the more you achieve, the more your risk climbs. That is the truth I built this work around. Whatever we do for the most vulnerable works for everybody and keeps everyone safe.

Sweet Bee Academy exists to equip the next generation of doulas to practice at that standard. Not the doula a family wants, or the doula they deserve, but the most well-equipped, excellent doula possible.

10 Years in Birth Rooms · 100% Survival Rate · Evidence-Based Curriculum · Training the DMV’s Doulas

Meet our Founder

“Most doulas burn out and leave the field within two years. I have been in it five times as long.

After ten years, I have a 100% survival rate, even while working with mostly high-risk pregnancies. That is not luck. It is preparation.”

-Leah R Hairston, MSSW, CD, CLC, CBE

Train with Sweet Bee Academy

Trusted By Clinicians & Leading Health Systems

  • UMMS logo
  • MedStar Health Logo
  • Johns Hopkins Medicine logo
  • Inova Health System logo
  • Sinai Hospital logo
  • GWU Hospital logo
  • Adventist HealthCare logo
  • Ascension Saint Agnes logo
  • GBMC logo
  • A black and white photo of a woman with dreadlocks smiling at a young child sitting on her lap, holding a stuffed animal, in a cozy indoor setting.

    We Educate

    Most doulas learn on the job, after they’re already responsible for someone’s birth. We do it backwards. We teach the evidence-based curriculum first. Real complications, real medical language, real decisions, before you ever attend your first birth.

  • A black and white photo of two hands cradling a pregnant belly.

    We Equip

    Information alone does not build a practice. We hand you the contracts, protocols, real-life scenarios, and necessary tools before you ever sit across from a client. You graduate ready to work with a sustainable practice.

  • A black and white photo of two hands holding each other, one hand has a tattoo reading "Laci 13" on the wrist.

    We Embolden

    A trained doula does more than “help you advocate”. They make sure a client’s voice is the loudest one in the room, backed by real clinical fluency. That’s what we train every doula in our network to do.

  • A black and white photo of a woman in a birthing pool with two young children, one of whom holds a cup of water.

    We Empower

    Every new parent deserves calm confidence. A doula trained by Sweet Bee helps families avoid chaos, even while handling the unexpected, so they can stay present for the only thing that matters: their baby.

Trusted by Families Who Expect Excellence

  • “The level of compassion, comfortability, and knowledge go unmatched. Leah’s knowledge and the ability to make you feel respected for your decisions and aware of your options is what I love the most.” — Jennifer Lawrence (NFL Wife)

  • “Leah is an absolute gem who is walking in her purpose as a doula. I used her for the birth of both my daughters, first time for labor support and second time for postpartum support. She was so incredibly helpful, I couldn’t have done it any other way. I highly recommend Leah for any doula needs.” — Sasha Robinson (Repeat Client)

  • “As a Black woman, I found it vital to have someone throughout my pregnancy and birthing process that could teach me and my partner everything we needed to know before our baby was born. Move over Mary Poppins!” — Yvonne Lawson (First-time Parent)

  • “We loved our experience with Sweet Bee for doula and postpartum support. Leah took all the mystery out of the process which helped to lessen our anxiety since it was our first birth. We would HIGHLY recommend Sweet Bee to anyone looking to feel supported during their pregnancy and labor process.” — Emily Nixon (First-time Parent)

How It Works

Decorative illustration of a yellow number one surrounded by white flowers and leaves on a black background.

Apply & Reserve Your Seat

Submit your application then reserve your seat in the Sweet Bee Academy with a deposit.

Number 2 with floral design in yellow and white on black background.

The Foundation

Move through 6 modules that build your practice with evidence-based curriculum grounded in 10 years of real life experiences.

The Bridge

Become fully certified and begin your career by completing 8 modules designed to launch your practice on your terms.

Decorative number 3 with yellow and white floral accents on a black background.

Is Sweet Bee Academy Right for You?

This is for you if you are ready to stop hearing about and watching the maternal mortality crisis. This is for you if you want to start building a real doula practice to save lives. Maybe you've been unsure how to get trained, but you’re now done watching another year pass in the same place. Maybe you've trained somewhere else, and it left you informed but never built.

If so, you are exactly the doula Sweet Bee Academy was built to form and launch.

This is Bigger Than Any One Birth.

Find a Sweet Bee Doula
Train with Sweet Bee Academy

We can end maternal mortality. Sweet Bee Services is focused on changing the 84% of preventable maternal mortality cases in the US, to 0% fatalities.

Sweet Bee Academy equips doulas, so we protect birthing parents and the families who love them. That is the work.

Now we’ve expanded access to the standard of excellence that for a decade kept over 200+ birthing parents alive and thriving.

You can train with us, or find a doula who did here.