Proudly offered by the Center for Continuing Education of Osteopathy 

If you are a Doula or Midwife in training and would like to understand the mechanics and physiology of the bodily changes in your clients throughout all the trimesters of Pregnancy ... this online course is for you!

Each stage of Pregnancy creates its own challenges within the body of the future Birthmother.  Learning what these adaptive changes are from a Biomechanical as well as Physiological perspective, knowing what to expect, and how Manual Therapists treat them is the key to offering well informed Post Partum Doula Services.  

Why is this course valuable to PostPartum Doulas & Midwives?

By learning about the anatomical and physiological changes that take place within the body of pregnant client, you can better accompany her throughout each trimester of her pregnancy and even advise her when to consult with a Manual Therapist or Bodyworker to help minimize uncomfortable symptoms and help her progress into an easier, safer delivery.  

Learning to work with your future Birthmother throughout her pregnancy, instead of waiting until after the Delivery to try to help her "fix" her symptoms is key to promoting and ensuring a healthier and safer natural delivery!  

How the course works:

This is the first course in our new Doula & Midwife Training Series. 

This course includes 10 hours of on-line learning with teaching in audio format, five twenty minute demonstration videos of manual therapy used during every trimester of pregnancy, valuable downloads to use in your Doula or Midwife practice in the future, and a quiz at the end of each chapter.  Once you complete the course you are eligible to apply for a Certificate of Completion awarded by the Center for Continuing Education of Osteopathy for 15 CPD/CEU hours.  If you are a manual therapist as well as a Doula or Midwife, this Certificate might be eligible for you to fulfill your annual CPDs/CEUs, or you might simply include it in your list of professional accomplishments and knowledge base when explaining your services to a potential client.

There are  six chapters in total which discuss important considerations for every trimester of pregnancy, including post-partum.  A new chapter is released each week but there is no deadline to complete this course.  You can log in from anywhere at any time and learn.  

Access the course for one full year

This course enrollment fee gives you complete access to this course for one full year, 365 days.  That includes all of the demonstration videos that you can watch as many times as you like,  listen to the audio lessons over and over, and downloads that you can use to enhance your Doula or Midwife practice!

 Certificates of Completion:

This course is Part 1 of the five part course series and counts towards Certification offered by the Center for Continuing Education of Osteopathy  

Have a question?  

Email the Instructor or Registration Coordinator at

[email protected]

That's me, Maureen Hannah Maher, BA, DO               I am an Osteopath with over fifteen years of clinical experience and I am the Educational Director for the Center for Continuing Education of Osteopathy . I have been priviledged to treat so many pregnant women throughout my career, as well as teach young emerging Osteopaths my unique treatment protocols for how to treat pregnant women throughout every trimester of pregnancy.

I created this series so that I might share my knowledge from a Biomechanical Perspective with Doulas & Midwives as well, since we are all working together to help our clients not just survive, but also thrive throughout this wondrous time  ... Pregnancy!



Here are some of the eager feedback that we have received about this course series:

"As a massage therapist expanding into CST blending with doula this is a phenomenal opportunity for a training!! Just think of the opportunities of educating, fertility, postpartum, nervous system, deep vein thrombosis, pelvic pain, delivery!! Wow!! Osteopath is an amazing modality. My OB that delivered my surro-twins was an Osteopath, I loved discussing and learning from her just during my OB appointments!!"

"I have been actively doing research in this area to deepen my understanding of the physiological/mechanical changes that occur during pregnancy and during birth itself, as I agree that this knowledge would strengthen my capacity to support clients. I would value the opportunity to participate in the pilot launch of your online course and would be happy to provide feedback on my learning experience."

"I’m a new Doula I would like to start off on the right foot with the best education behind me:)"

"I'm looking forward to studying through your programs, it blends perfectly with my modalities and what I do. "


Course Curriculum

  • 3

    Module 2: Thinking Preventatively during Your Client's 1st Trimester "Initial " Stage

    • 1st Trimester Introduction "The Initial Stage" of Pregnancy

    • Thinking preventatively during the 1st Trimester of Pregnancy

    • Reviewing Your Client's Health History during your 1st Interview

    • Explaining the Benefits of Bodywork to Your Client

    • Why learn about physical assessments of your 1st Trimester clients?

    • VIDEO DEMONSTRATION: Let look at a Physical Assessment of a Pregnant Woman

    • Summary after watching demonstration video

    • Are you ready to take the quiz?

    • QUIZ 1st Trimester "The Initial Phase"

  • 4

    Module 3. Supporting your Client during her 2nd Trimester "The Structural Stage" 12 - 28 weeks

    • 2nd Trimester INTRODUCTION

    • How Hormonal Changes affect Body Alignment

    • The Structural Stage of Pregnancy from a Mechanical Perspective

    • Structural Changes of the Lumbar Spine

    • Structural Changes of the Thoracic Spine

    • The Structural Changes of the Head and Cervical Spine

    • Classic Pain Patterns you will find during the 2nd Trimester of Pregnancy

    • Patterns of Myofascial De-Compensation During the 2nd Trimester of Pregnancy

    • Introduction to Structural Treatment Demonstration Video

    • Summary after watching Video

    • Are you ready to take the quiz?

    • QUIZ Supporting your Client during her 2nd Trimester "The Structural Stage" NEW QUIZ

The Centre for Continuing Education of Osteopathy was founded by Maureen Hannah Maher, Internationally Accredited Osteopath, in order to address the shortage of Osteopathy Continuing Education courses. Maureen Hannah Maher has over fifteen years of clinical experience in the fields of Women's Health, Obstetrics, and Pediatrics.

Educational Director & Instructor

Maureen Hannah Maher

Since Maureen began teaching, she found that not only does she have a natural gift for it (her parents were both teachers, so let hear it for genetics!), she found that she also holds a great desire to give back to the community and a profession that has been so fulfilling to her, and share over twenty years of acquired experience and knowledge.   Maureen brings extensive knowledge in Osteopathy  to her educational seminars.  Throughout her career which began in Montreal in 2003, Maureen has been an accredited member in good standing in several provinces across Canada, including the CPMDQ (Quebec), OsteopathyBC (British Columbia), OFOP (Ontario) and SCMMAC (Quebec). Like many classically trained Manual Osteopaths in Canada, Maureen wrote a thesis as part of her Osteopathy training. Hers was within the field of Cranial Osteopathy, on the Prevalence of Muscle and Myofascial Chain Link Dysfunctions and the Temporal Bone. Maureen was also an Associate Overseas member of the Australian Osteopathic Association (AOA) from 2008 to 2011.  After undergoing accreditation evaluation for foreign trained Osteopaths in Perth, Western Australia, Maureen was offered a position in one of Singapore's leading Osteopathic Clinics, giving her the distinction of having been the first Canadian trained Osteopath to be approved to practice  in South East Asia.   Right before the worldwide economic collapse in 2010, Maureen was offered a position in Shanghai China, which required accreditation with the GOSC, UK, which she began, but as prevailing economic conditions worsened, the position was put on hold, and Maureen decided instead to settled in Toronto, Canada, where after reluctantly accepting a poorly paid teaching contract, her students began asking her to design courses in more specialized subjects within Osteopathy, including Women's Health and Pediatrics.  It was not long after that Maureen founded the Center for Continuing Education of Osteopathy & Manual Therapy where she continued to innovate every day! Today, Maureen still teaches continuing education courses in specialized fields of Osteopathic Manual Therapy. Her students say that Maureen's teaching style is animated, engaging, but most importantly, informative.  Her gift lies in communicating complex theories in simple terms and analogies.  Her students come away with a clear grasp of Osteopathic concepts for treatment, and practical knowledge of how to apply them.  In more recent years, Maureen has created online versions of some of her most popular courses, and it is thanks to this new era of online learning that Osteopaths throughout Canada and throughout the world have been able to use Maureen's teachings and treatment protocols to help women, infants, and the general public find relief from the bodily dysfunctions that are so amenable to osteopathic manual treatments. Practitioners who enroll in any of our continuing education courses can contact Maureen at any time by email or pre-arranged phone call with clinical questions.  As a result, many Osteopaths worldwide still consult with her today regarding challenging Osteopathy cases.  

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