Get notified when enrollment opens for 2026!

IPN is now accepting applications for 2025!

Get notified when enrollment opens for 2026!

IPN is now accepting applications for 2025!

The Institute for Prenatal Nutrition Mentorship Program

is an 18-week comprehensive certification course in prenatal
nutrition designed for health practitioners.

Ready to up-level your knowledge of prenatal nutrition?

Chances are:

Here’s the thing: There is no formal training to become a prenatal nutritionist that “checks all the boxes.”

Believe me, I looked long and hard for a program when I started out in this
field. None of the available options offer all of the following:

This is why The Institute for Prenatal Nutrition(IPN) was founded.

Hi, I’m Lily Nichols

As a registered dietitian/nutritionist and diabetes educator with an extensive background in preconception, prenatal, and postpartum nutrition, I founded IPN to help other practitioners up-level their knowledge of perinatal nutrition.

As the author of the number one best-selling book on prenatal nutrition, Real Food for Pregnancy, I know that your clients are expecting more from you.

The challenge with becoming a prenatal nutritionist is knowing where to look for accurate, evidence-based information.

My formal training as a registered dietitian did not prepare me for the work I do today. The single class I took on Lifecycle Nutrition during my university studies had only a brief lesson on pregnancy nutrition — and most of that information, I have come to learn, was flat-out wrong. My dietetic internship was heavy on the clinical side, but only included a short rotation on the maternity ward.

Once I was practicing as a dietitian, it felt like I was “thrown into the ring” blind and had to use my own time to level-up my knowledge to best serve my pregnant clients. I have now devoted my career to sharing what I have learned about prenatal nutrition from my decades of consulting, research, client work, writing, teaching, and advising on prenatal public policy (and, of course, with some personal insight from my own two pregnancies).

When I was new to this field, I remember searching high and low for things like:

The Institute for Prenatal Nutrition™ Mentorship Program is the training I wish I had available when I started out in prenatal nutrition. It could have saved me years of work and a lot of overwhelm.

There is a growing demand for well-trained prenatal nutritionists.

Did you know?

We can do better for our pregnant clients. They’re literally counting on you — and so is the next generation.

Better prenatal nutrition can influence not only a mother’s health, but her child’s lifelong risk of disease and metabolic dysfunction.

Who is the IPN Mentorship for?

The IPN Mentorship is for health practitioners who are looking for a comprehensive, research-backed course in prenatal nutrition. This mentorship is for professionals who already have a science and nutrition background, such as dietitians and nutritionists, doctors, midwives, physician assistants, acupuncturists, and other licensed professionals.

If you are ready to increase your confidence in working with pregnant women, provide evidence based recommendations, and learn from an expert in the field alongside other passionate practitioners, then this is for you!

Become a Specialist in Prenatal Nutrition and change the face of the pregnancy nutrition field!

View our curriculum page to see what’s included in the Institute for Prenatal NutritionMentorship Program to become a Specialist in Prenatal Nutrition (SPN).

Get notified when we're accepting applications again.

IPN is an application-only program that opens for enrollment once a year