The next cohort of Becoming a Traditional Birth Companion begins September 17, 2026. If you're feeling the pull — whether you want to serve families or simply carry this knowledge for yourself — you're in the right place.
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Applications for the September 17, 2026 cohort are open now. Apply online or download the application and email it to billie@billieharrigan.com.
OUR NEXT COHORT BEGINS SEPTEMBER 17, 2026.
Billie Harrigan has been serving birthing families for 40 years. She has taught midwives and birth workers in 125 countries. She’s the author of continuing education for nurses and midwives and authored the world’s first fully online comprehensive course for becoming trauma informed specific to the childbearing experience. Learn more here.
What our Graduates Have to Say
“I have found so many things she shares to be immensely reassuring and freeing — taking the responsibility of your own and your baby’s wellbeing into your own hands is freeing.”
“This course gave me the confidence and freedom to be ‘with woman’ during the sacred process of an unmedicated birth. This course was worth every penny!”
“Nothing has been as refreshing and peace-promoting as what Billie teaches. I love my cohort and the amazing women I’ve met and connected with because of Billie’s work. I’m forever grateful and so inspired.”
“If you are ready to help us build a new system, do whatever you can to sign up for the next course and join us.”
“I am certainly more useful regarding pregnancy, physiological birth, and babies. My business is thriving because of this knowledge and I am too!”
“I prayed to God and I was given Billie Harrigan. I signed up for her TBC course and never did I think that this would’ve been the most life-changing experience of my life. This is beyond university.”
“It is a mastery style education where each participant can work at their own individual pace. This is what I wished the MEP was.”
In the tradition of the wise-woman
Long before there were regulated midwives, throughout the world, a local woman was called to be with a woman in birth. She was recognised for her personal study of plants, seasons, women’s physiology, the process of birth, newborn care, and new mother care. She may have learned at the feet of her predecessor, another wise woman. In time, these women who were also healers due to their knowledge of food, herbs, ritual, and prayer were eliminated at the hands of ‘learned and religious’ men through the witch burnings and then through licensing and elimination. Much of their knowledge is lost to us forever.
Eventually, women were allowed back into the birth room by submitting to training in the obstetrical model and participating under the supervision of male physicians. There is some midwifery autonomy in some parts of the world, but it’s still the obstetrical model based on an ancient and wholly inaccurate understanding of the female experience.
A Traditional Birth Companion
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A Traditional Birth Companion is a knowledgeable, trusted presence who stands with a woman and her family through pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. She is not a regulated practitioner. She answers to no college, no licensing body, no system. She answers to the woman and her family. She brings back the common birth knowledge that has always belonged to common people — the neighbour who knew what to do before that knowledge was taken from us.
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Because women are being failed and you know it. You've seen it, felt it, or lived it. A TBC doesn't wait for the system to fix itself — she becomes the option her community doesn't have. Whether you're called to serve birthing families, want to be a more useful human, or simply believe birth belongs to the woman giving birth — this is where that calling goes.
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Because we are living in the Generation of Reclamation. Maternal outcomes are getting worse, not better. The knowledge that kept women and babies safe for centuries has been systematically removed from families and placed behind regulated doors. Someone has to bring it back. That someone is you.
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A TBC brings knowledge, preparation, and presence. She understands nutrition, birth physiology, the postpartum period, and how to support a family through all of it. She helps families make informed decisions, prepares them for what birth actually is, and stands with them when no one else will. She does not perform clinical acts. She is not a replacement for medical care when medical care is genuinely needed. She is something the medical system cannot offer: someone who is entirely on your side.
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A doula provides emotional support. A regulated midwife operates within the licensed system. A TBC brings something different entirely — common birth knowledge, in the private domain, answering only to the woman and her family. She's not a replacement for regulated care. She's the restoration of something older, wiser, and closer to home. The neighbour who knew what to do. Trained, prepared, and entirely on your side.
Could I serve as a traditional birth companion?
It takes a special kind of person to serve a traditional birth companion!
It takes a sense of the dire knowing that far too many families are needlessly hurting.
It takes time and commitment to devote to learning the knowledge and skills that families are asking for.
It takes faith that you are called to this work and that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
It takes a community of like-minded people who share in your determination to do better and offer more and support each other.
It takes moral courage to stand up to systems of oppression that enact mandates, policies of self-protection, and run on an algorithm of risk-management. To learn what they say we should not learn, to acquire knowledge and skills that they don’t have and say we shouldn’t have either. To show up for women knowing legacy institutions will seek to eradicate us. It’s the moral courage to say ‘enough! We can do better ourselves’.
It takes you. ❤️
Why is this different?
This isn’t that
Although I’ve taught midwives in 125 countries and authored accredited continuing education, my wisdom-sharing won’t include medical midwifery. It won’t include how to freebirth or become a doula. My wisdom is most closely aligned with holistic, traditional, community midwifery that has been largely eliminated around the world in favour of the obstetrical model of maternity services.
I will share today’s medical literature to teach you what the actual science says about safe birth while equipping graduates to provide holistic, non-medical, wise-woman care to support each family’s growing wellness and path to sovereignty over their bodies and families.
You will not be equipped to work within the medicalised, regulated, hospital-based system. Nor will you have a medical license to order medical tests, diagnose diseases, or prescribe treatments. That calls for a Registered Midwife or physician.
Instead, this is a unique combination of extensive academic research into the science of safe birth, experience from teaching internationally, and 40 years of real-life experience in working with birthing families.
It’s a collaborative endeavour that embraces each participant’s prior learning and experiences, that honours each other’s perspective, that strives to form partnerships that will sustain and endure during tough times and celebrate with abandon during the triumphant times.
It opens doors of possibility where there is no one-size-fits-all and everyone gets what’s on the menu. It equips you to serve in your community according to their needs, your talents, and your passion and calling.
How does this mentoring experience unfold?
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Learn from anywhere in the world, on your own schedule. This wisdom-sharing experience is entirely online — no commute, no classroom, no institution telling you when and how to show up. Whether you're in rural Idaho, downtown Sydney, or suburban Toronto, if you have internet access, you have access to this.
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Every week, Billie goes deeper. Live tutorials give you direct access to her 40 years of knowledge — not a recording of someone summarizing someone else's research. The real thing, in real time, with room for your questions.
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Birth knowledge doesn't live in one person. You’ll hear from other companions, specialists in their field, and women who birthed with companions. You’ll hear different perspectives that broaden what you know and deepen how you think.
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This is competency-based adult education. That means, no study and regurgitate tests, but rather purposeful learning exercises that help you to hone in on your personal purpose and talents and equip you to begin working with families with a tool chest full of useful equipment.
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Billie doesn't assign busy work. The reading in this course is the real research — the studies, the history, the evidence that the mainstream doesn't hand you. Expect to be challenged. Expect to be changed.
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A dedicated space to ask questions, work through material, and learn alongside your cohort. Study Hall is where the information starts to become wisdom, mentored by our course Sherpa.
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Your cohort brings experience. Skills Share is where you put it on the table — what you know, what you've seen, what you've learned. The women in this course are not beginners at life. This is where that shows.
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Community is not optional — it's part of the training. Monthly gatherings connect all our cohorts together, come-as-you-are, sharing, grounding, and moving forward together. This is the sisterhood piece. It matters.
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Our private companion group is where we ask, share, and support one another from all cohorts. It’s also where we post requests for a companion. When you’re ready, you’ll be able to answer the call and connect with families who need you.
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Birth is not neutral territory. Many women arrive carrying experiences the system never acknowledged. Becoming Trauma Informed is an entirely separate course that comes with the TBC course. It is the world’s first and most comprehensive online course for learning trauma informed care specific to the childbearing experience. And it’s yours as part of becoming a TBC.
How it’s structured
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Where it begins. You'll get oriented to the course, the community, and the philosophy behind everything Billie teaches. This isn't a quick hello — it's the foundation that everything else builds on.
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What you are, what you aren't, and why it matters. “This isn’t that”. We’re not registered midwives and we’re not radical birthkeepers, instead we fulfil a role that families have been asking for. This module helps you to define your place in this reclamation with confidence.
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Before you can serve anyone else, you need to understand where you're standing. This module addresses the unlearning — the assumptions, the conditioning, and the fear that the mainstream has handed all of us about birth.
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How to begin working with families. What the first conversation looks like, what to establish, and how to show up as someone a family can trust with the most important day of their lives.
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Nutrition, preparation, and the knowledge that gives families the best possible start. This is where Billie's decades of research meet practical, actionable guidance — the kind families can't get anywhere else.
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GBS, preeclampsia, cholestasis, iron, blood pressure — the concerns that send families into panic and into interventions they may not need. Billie walks through what food, knowledge, and preparation can actually do here.
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What labour actually is, how it works, and how to support a woman through it without getting in the way. Physiology, stages, comfort measures, and what normal really looks like when it’s not being “managed” or “conducted” and how to recognise issues that would benefit from medical care.
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The moment everything has been building toward. The baby emerges, the mother is born, its womb-mate is released. What to watch for, how to support the process, and how to be a more useful human if needed. Birth skills belong to all of us.
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The most vulnerable time for a mother comes after the baby arrives. Both need specialised care. This module does a deep dive on caring for both the mother and her baby. What to look for, what’s common and healthy, and how to holistically support her recovery with nutrition, garden herbs, and common sense.
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While breastfeeding is natural, it’s also a learned skill between 2 people who have never done this before together. This module gives you critical knowledge on lactation (making milk) and breastfeeding (getting milk from the breast into the baby). You will be a more useful human.
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Not every birth ends the way anyone hoped. A TBC who cannot hold loss cannot fully serve families. This module is here because it has to be — because being a more useful human means being present for all of it.
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You cannot pour from an empty cup and Billie won't let you pretend otherwise. This module addresses the sustainability of this work — how to care for yourself so you can keep showing up.
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The tools and practices that work alongside what you know — herbalism, homeopathy, naturopathy, osteopathy, chiropractic, physiotherapy. Everyone is needed. TBCs work at creating community and collaboration - not elimination and vilification.
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The course keeps growing because birth knowledge is not static. Additional content captures what's new, what's emerging, and what Billie is still learning after 40 years.
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Each live tutorial is recorded so you can watch later or replay it to ensure you get the most out of each discussion. Tutorials bring additional information, perspective, and experience beyond the course material. It’s another opportunity to connect and have your questions answered.
Frequently Asked Questions
About the Course
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The TBC course is self-paced — you can complete it in as little as 10 months with full-time study or take up to 3 years. You move at the pace that works for your life. And if you need more time, we can make that happen.
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This varies depending on your pace and how deep you want to go. Expect to dedicate several hours a week to lessons, reading, and live sessions. This is a serious course — the knowledge is extensive — but it is designed to fit around real life, not replace it.
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No formal credentials required. What you do need is a genuine calling to this work, a willingness to learn deeply, and the commitment to see it through. Billie is not looking for a resumé. She is looking for the right people.
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The course is fully online, but the learning doesn't stop at a screen. You'll have opportunities to connect with members from all our cohorts and build real relationships. With more of us practicing, there are more opportunities for in-person mentoring. Billie encourages relationships with all kinds of birth workers.
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The course is hosted within a Private Member Association in Billie’s proprietary network free from spying eyes and censorship. As a course participant you’ll become a member of The Hive Collective where you can engage in your calling in the private domain under the ethics of Natural Law.
Cost & Financial Support
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The TBC course is $9,000 in your currency. (CAD, USD, AUD, or Euros)
This is a comprehensive, mentorship-based learning experience spanning months of live tutorials, guest speakers, required reading, community, complementary Trauma-Informed course, and direct access to Billie's 40 years of knowledge.
This is not a weekend workshop. This is a life skill set.
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You’ll need to take neonatal resuscitation training, a skills workshop on breech birth, and resolving shoulder dystocia. You will need equipment for your birth bag and will probably want some books for your library.
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Yes. The Reclamation Bursary offers up to $2,000 off tuition for those who qualify. To qualify, check “yes” on your application and share what’s on your heart’s mind. Applicants are selected based on their application answers.
Is This Right For Me?
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No. Babies are not delivered — they are born. A TBC does not perform clinical acts. What Billie teaches is knowledge, preparation, and presence. You will understand birth physiology deeply. You will know what normal looks like and when it doesn't. You will know how to support a woman and her family through one of the most significant experiences of their lives. That is not delivering a baby. That is something far more valuable.
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Yes. This course is not just for women planning to attend births full time. The knowledge you gain serves your own family, your community, and anyone who calls on you — on your terms, in your own time. Many TBCs work around their families. You decide what your role looks like.
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The knowledge finds its own audience. When the women around you know you have this training, they will come. Most TBCs never have to advertise or create a public presence. Instead, they meet clients through our own Hive network as families reach out with their requests.
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Neither.
A TBC is her own thing entirely. She does not work within the regulated medical system; she does not “manage” labours or “conduct” births. She brings common birth knowledge back to common families — in the private domain, on the family's terms.
Not a doula. Not a regulated midwife. Something older, wiser, and closer to home.
Getting Started & After
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Submit your application on this page. Billie reviews every application personally. If you're accepted, you'll hear from us with next steps and payment details. The next cohort begins September 17, 2026. Applications are open now.
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You'll need to complete the course modules, engage with the live sessions, and fulfill the learning exercises Billie has built into the program. This is a mastery-based experience — completion means you've done the work, not just watched the videos.
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Yes. Upon completion you will receive a certificate recognising you as a Traditional Birth Companion trained by Billie Harrigan. This is not a regulated credential — and that is by design. Your authority comes from your knowledge, not a piece of paper from a system that doesn't recognise what you do.
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Life happens. Reach out and we'll discuss your options. Billie wants the right people in this course — and she wants them to finish. If something comes up, the conversation is always worth having before walking away.
Not All Birth Support Is the Same
