Sumner County Childbirth

12/31/2025

Whether we carry them for 42 weeks or 42 days, they become part of us for a lifetime. 🤍

"Just about every time an embryo implants and begins to grow, it dispatches bits of itself into the body housing it. The depositions begin at least as early as four or five weeks into gestation. And they settle into just about every sliver of our anatomy where scientists have checked—the heart, the lungs, the breast, the colon, the kidney, the liver, the brain. From there, the cells might linger, grow, and divide for decades, or even, as many scientists suspect, for a lifetime, assimilating into the person that conceived them. They can almost be thought of as evolution’s original organ transplant, J. Lee Nelson, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, told me," writes Katherine J. Wu.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1AdPxcZX89/?mibextid=wwXIfr

By Katherine J. Wu

12/15/2025

Here’s our 2026 availability. Dont wait, midwives fill up FAST! Book your date today 🗓️

12/09/2025

⭐️Meet our Collaborating Physician, Dr. Madeleine Smith⭐️

Dr. Smith is an osteopathic physician and Family Medicine resident dedicated to caring for patients through every stage of life—from infancy to advanced age. Her approach blends the breadth of family medicine with a special focus on musculoskeletal and metabolic health.

A former world-record-holding powerlifter, she brings a biomechanics-based perspective to healing, integrating prolotherapy and PRP, osteopathic manual manipulation, and functional strength training to support structural restoration and long-term resilience. Her additional clinical interests include hormone optimization (from men’s TRT to women’s postmenopausal HRT), weight management, and holistic nutrition.

As a wife and mother, Dr. Smith has a deep appreciation for the sacredness of family life and finds great joy in supporting women and their families throughout pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum journey. Beyond this, she is equally committed to serving her broader patient community—helping individuals of all ages cultivate strength, balance, and lasting wellness.

Grounded in her Christian faith, she believes healing is a collaborative process and strives to ensure each patient feels fully informed, empowered, and supported in their journey toward optimized health and overall quality of life.

Dr. Smith is excited to support and collaborate with Gaylea and Sumner County Childbirth & Beyond!

12/07/2025

https://sumnercountychildbirth.com/

12/07/2025

In case there’s any confusion- I (Gaylea McDougal) am still a licensed midwife in TN and KY. My former practice (Roots) is now Sumner County Childbirth. Nothing has changed at all except that I’m now also offering limited sessions for perimenopause/menopause support. But I am still taking Homebirth clients. Still practicing in sumner county and surrounding areas. I’m sorry for any confusion. And I’m especially sorry if that confusion was purposeful in an effort to limit consumer options by competitive, spiteful, unethical actors. By withholding information from people, you compromise their ability to make informed choices and that’s the grossest part of all.

So to clear it up- I am still practicing, still taking births, still teaching classes, still mentoring doulas and new midwives, still doing ALL the things that I have done in this community since 2007. I’m not going anywhere.

I have openings for births starting in the Fall of 2026 (a couple of spots still available in the summer depending on month) and I have office locations in Goodlettsville and Gallatin.

11/28/2025

🍂🍁This season invites us to pause and notice what’s holding us. For me, it’s the families growing right here in my community. You inspire me every day. 🧡

Every single day, I’m reminded that supporting families through pregnancy, birth, and beyond is SUCH a privilege. Especially this year, as I contemplated various professional decisions, that privilege has really been highlighted for me. At the end of the day it didnt come down to the financials-it came down to the families. It’s always been the families that are so special to me. I close my eyes and see a slideshow of hundreds of families and over a thousand babies. Thats my lifes work and thats my legacy.

So THANK YOU to every single family who has invited me into your story, asked questions, shared laughter, and trusted me through all the tender moments. I hold each of you in my heart with deep deep gratitude. As i celebrate 15 years of doing this sacred work- I think of each of you.

Id also like to offer thanks and gratitude to the professional community who I could NOT do this work without. Birth is not just a moment. Birth is a community effort. I’m so grateful for every doula, lactation specialist, nurse, chiropractor, counselor, physical therapist, birth photographer, supportive sister midwives, collaborating Docs, hospital staff, EMS, students and all the other birth workers and champions for informed decision-making who advocate for and support this model of care. Together, we are building healthier beginnings and stronger communities! And I feel so very very blessed to be even a small part of that.

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope this season brings you peace and gratitude spending time with the ones you love. 🍁🧡🤎

11/26/2025

As I’m continuing to build my new practice name and branding it feels like starting all over in so many ways. Although I’ve been practicing for over 15 years, Im still not showing up in Google searches right now and it just feels like one step forward 2 steps back most days.

If I was your midwife or you’ve worked with me in any other capacity (as a doula, childbirth educator, mentor, preceptor, skills trainer, menopause support, etc)- I would be so very grateful if you could leave a quick review. This is EVERYTHING for a small business owner.

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

11/15/2025

Meet our collaborating physician, Dr. Madeleine Smith.

If you’re looking for comprehensive, licensed midwifery care that includes practical and true physician support and collaboration (when needed), look no further. Sumner County Childbirth is the practice you’ve been looking for.

The combination of Gaylea McDougal, LM, CPM and Dr. Smith is a true dream team. With 15 years of practice, Gaylea has attended over 1000 births in every setting and Dr. Smith is 100% supportive of parental choice in every single way. She is also available to consult with our perimenopause clients on HRT and GLP options. We are so grateful to have her on our team!

Taking peri/menopause clients and Spring and Summer 2026 due dates now. Click the link below to read more about Dr. Smith and click here to book an appointment. 👉🏼https://sumnercountychildbirth.com/appointments

https://sumnercountychildbirth.com/team

Meet the Sumner County Childbirth team

11/12/2025

11/08/2025

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DN7tkK9jHxP/?igsh=NWJxdmVydXdpNW51

11/07/2025

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/health/electronic-fetal-monitoring-c-sections.html?

Round-the-clock fetal monitoring leads to unnecessary C-sections. But it’s used in nearly every birth because of business and legal concerns, The Times found.