Launching Your Career as a Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach
A Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach (PBHC) plays an important role in the life of new and expecting parents, stepping in at a pivotal time to provide emotional support throughout pregnancy and through the first year postpartum.
From education ahead of birth to grief support after a loss or sleep strategies during those exhausting early parenting days, a coach can help parents cope with unexpected challenges and navigate this important season of life.
The impact of a coach also extends beyond the individuals they’re supporting. We’ve seen how their work reduces the incidence and severity of postpartum depression, anxiety, and other perinatal mental health conditions, which ultimately benefits their babies, families, and communities as a whole.
With our Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach Certification, we know you’ll feel prepared to support parents using the education we provide and the personal experiences you bring to the table.
If you’re ready to impact the lives of new and pregnant parents, here’s what you need to know about launching your career with a FamilyWell Certification.
There’s a Need for Folks Like You
Did you know that 1 out of 5 birthing parents will suffer from a mental health condition while pregnant or after childbirth, according to the American Psychiatric Association? Additionally, 75 percent do not receive treatment and are left to navigate their circumstances alone.
There is also a shortage of mental health providers, particularly acute in maternal mental health care. Perinatal Behavioral Health Coaches help bridge this gap in a few key ways:
Coaches provide mental health support to new and expecting parents navigating the unique emotional needs and stressors during pregnancy and postpartum.
Coaches work directly with parents to provide emotional support, validation, mental health education, concrete coping tools, and wellness strategies.
Perinatal Behavioral Health Coaches are not considered traditional mental health providers and many don’t have any prior medical or clinical training. Coaches often come from diverse backgrounds and include doulas, lactation consultants, and parents who often have lived experience with perinatal mental health disorders.
If you’re already a birth or pregnancy professional, learn more about how this cert can fit into your work: Perinatal Mental Health: A Guide for Doulas and Birth Professionals.
Ultimately, we’ve made the program intentionally accessible to expand the number of coaches in the field so more parents can get desperately needed support!
Common Coaching Career FAQs
We get many great questions from potential coaches about this particular career path. Read through these FAQs in case you have the same questions! If you don’t see your question answered here, please contact us.
How is this different than being a therapist?
This is a great question and one we hear often. The greatest difference between a Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach (PBHC) and a therapist is the scope of practice. In other words, the extent to which you can support your clients.
If you’re curious to learn more about the differences between the two, and how this sets coaching apart, check out our blog post: Mental Health Coaching vs. Therapy: What’s the Difference?
Who can get certified?
Anyone passionate about helping families thrive! Our coaches come from diverse backgrounds and include doulas, lactation consultants, sleep coaches, and parents who have experienced the toll of perinatal mental health conditions. No prior clinical experience is required to enroll in our certification program and become a coach.
How much time do I have to commit to certifying?
Our certification includes a self-paced online course, which you can do on your own time. We also include mentorship sessions to gain the knowledge and skills to support pregnant and postpartum parents with their mental health. Ultimately, you decide how long it takes you to complete the certification — we want you to go at the pace that’s best suited for you so you’re able to take in all the information effectively and enjoyably!
What makes the program credible?
We have gathered experts in the field to not only help build and lead but also to review and vet our program and its content. We went through a rigorous testing/review phase to ensure that the content we are providing is accurate, relevant, and comprised of the latest information in the field.
Our mentorship offering is also a key differentiator. Led by skilled facilitators, this is a space to ensure that participants aren’t just completing an asynchronous program but are truly applying their knowledge before jumping in to support clients directly.
We are also continually learning directly from these experts from diverse disciplines including therapists, psychiatrists, doulas, and coaches, and iterating on our program offering.
How You Can Use Your Certification
There are many ways for you to make an impact in the lives of pregnant and birthing parents as a certified Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach. Here are a few examples to get your wheels turning!
Expand Your Skillset for Your Current Career
Gain perinatal mental health expertise to expand your skill set if you’re already supporting families as a doula, birth worker, lactation consultant, sleep coach, support group leader, etc. Mental health can be an invaluable add-on support service, allowing you to expand your business, or simply use it in conjunction with the services you already offer.
This certification can also be valuable if you’re a practicing maternal mental health therapist. Because we are including the latest and greatest in the field of perinatal content, there is always more to learn from our experts and the resources we provide.
Start Your Coaching Practice
There’s a significant need for Perinatal Behavioral Health Coaches so that more parents can access specialized mental health support during pregnancy and postpartum. Our program prepares you to jump-start your coaching practice! Some benefits to starting your practice include:
Creating a flexible work schedule that allows you to work when and how often you prefer, leaving room for other things that matter to you like travel or time with family.
Working in a variety of settings. You may offer in-person support in your local community, lead support groups, or work in tandem with other providers. Very often coaches coming out of our program are offering virtual coaching support.
Choose your area of focus. While our certification sets you up to support perinatal folks in every area of pregnancy and postpartum mental health, you might focus on specific populations. For example, you might work specifically with the LGBTQ+ population or focus solely on postpartum coaching.
Here are some other ways to find in-person or remote coaching opportunities once you’ve certified:
Get involved in social media groups around perinatal mental health so you are part of the conversation.
Introduce yourself virtually or in person to other coaches in the space.
Connect virtually or in person with OB providers as well as perinatal therapists.
Become a FamilyWell Coach
Our graduates are passionate about our mission to transform perinatal mental health. So much so, that some of them end up joining our team of coaches to support parents around the world! While we can’t guarantee a FamilyWell job to our graduates, you’ll be on our list as coaching roles open up and will be among the first to hear about job opportunities.
How Our Certification Program Works
Our program has two parts: asynchronous modules to watch on your own time and live mentorship sessions. Let’s break these two parts down so you can better understand what the certification process entails.
Self-Paced Course
This is the asynchronous content, which includes 15 hours of on-demand video content. Within these videos, you’ll cover a variety of important topics, including:
Trends in maternal mental health
An overview of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety disorders
How to screen
Coping techniques to support parents
Sleep and feeding challenges
Birth trauma
Long-term physical recovery
The fundamentals of conducting coaching sessions
Live Mentorship
In this portion of the certification, you’ll review all that you’ve learned during the self-paced course in a small group. During this time, you’ll talk through the practical side of applying your new skills, like how to build a network, get your name out there, and collaborate with others in the field to support the perinatal population.
This is your chance to connect with other like-minded individuals while taking your knowledge from theoretical to practical!
Plus, our mentorship sessions include in-depth case study reviews, providing mentees with practical, real-world applications of the concepts they are learning. This hands-on approach allows participants to analyze common scenarios, enhance their problem-solving skills, and build confidence in supporting families with diverse needs.
Bonus: Expert Speakers
During the self-paced portion of the certification, you’ll hear from leading experts in the perinatal field to contribute their expertise including:
Dr. Millicent Rose leads a session on health equity and social determinants of health.
Hilary Waller leads modules on Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders and coping techniques for symptom relief.
Dr. Melissa Sherman, a practicing OB provider, discusses substance use in the perinatal population
Through our experts, participants gain a comprehensive understanding of the challenges that can be faced by new and expecting parents — even more importantly — how to support individuals through these challenges.
What Participants Think
Now that you know what the certification program is all about, let’s hear some thoughts and feedback from some past participants.
“You have put together a fantastic team of experts and an engaging, informative, and compassionate training. I've worked with moms for a few years now in different capacities, but this information brings unique and additional depth and humanity to these challenging conditions.”
“What sets this apart is that it gives you an informational grounding in PMADs while also including modules that put it in practice.”
“It is the practice element that makes this a more well-rounded program than most of the other options out there.”
"One of the best perinatal mental health overviews I've come across in my half a decade in this space!”
Perinatal Coach Career Stories to Inspire
Finally, the best way to learn about how your life might look as a perinatal coach is to hear from the coaches who are already doing this work! Learn more from two of our FamilyWell coaches.
Cierra Murphy-Higgs
Cierra Murphy-Higgs is a Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach who is also an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), perinatal educator, and proud girl mom. Driven by her own personal experiences, Cierra is deeply passionate about empowering families with evidence-based, culturally aware, and compassionate perinatal mental health care, especially for those who face stigma, discrimination, or trauma.
“I spend my days supporting an average of 4-7 clients through 30-minute individual sessions as they navigate their pregnancy or postpartum journeys. During our time together, we celebrate their “wins” for the week and address any current challenges or concerns. Together, we strategize and fine-tune approaches to best support their needs. This flexible work schedule has not only allowed me to engage in meaningful work, but also has been invaluable for me as I balance the demands and priorities of my own family.”
Keep Reading: A Day in the Life of a Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach: Cierra Murphy-Higgs
Danielle McClellan
Danielle McClellan is a mom of two, and the Lead Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach at FamilyWell. In addition to her work as a coach supporting families nationwide during pregnancy and postpartum, Danielle also serves on the board of a local organization that offers support groups and other postpartum resources for new parents.
“A typical day for me starts with looking at my sessions for the day and checking in on each of my clients’ progress, goals and biggest challenges. From there, I spend the day speaking with people from all walks of life, who are all in different phases of their perinatal journey, and help to give them support and validation for whatever they are facing. What has really landed for me through these sessions is that PMADs (perinatal mood and anxiety disorders) do not discriminate; they can touch anyone.”
Keep Reading: A Day in the Life of a Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach: Danielle McClellan
Become a Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach
There’s never been a better time than now to take this career path. Your passion for supporting pregnant and postpartum parents is so needed — and when armed with the knowledge and expertise from the FamilyWell Perinatal Behavioral Health Coach Certification, you’ll be ready to make an impact.
