Guiding Gates Doula

04/30/2026

Yes, you've absolutely seen the worst of home births. Your job is to see the scary stuff, to help those who need medication and interventions. Of course, to you, home birth is risky. But complications don't happen 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 you were home. They happen while you were home. A good midwife does her job and chooses a transfer when it's medically necessary.

What you don't see are the home births that go well. They will never come to you. You will never know that five miles down the road from you is a mother cradling her newborn baby, surrounded by her family and midwife.

The truth isn't what you see.

-About 90% of home births are free of complications. The majority of transfers are due to long labor or pain meds.
-The C-section rate is around 6% vs 30% at many hospitals.

04/27/2026

This is exactly why you need a doula!😂

We don't just give you good feelings, we EDUCATE.

*This is actually part of a spoofy book and the illustrations are hilarious. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1409175847/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_S0MP77QY1NBH5XP89F7P

04/22/2026

Birth isn't always sunshine and rainbows. Even birth workers are left with experiences that are less than ideal.

"Sure, my plan detailed what I wanted to avoid, how I would labor, and the newborn procedures we preferred. It all checked out...it was easy to read and even buttered up the hospital staff. The goal: healthy mom and baby. Who doesn't want that?

Me. I wanted more."

The Five Mistakes I Made Giving Birth

04/17/2026

Oh, and let's not forget to mention the trust that is built with continuity of care! This is why I recommend home birth or small midwifery hospital practices.

When choosing your provider, the care you receive during pregnancy matters as much as the experience you're expecting to have.

👩‍⚕️ Is it better to see the same midwife or a small team of midwives throughout pregnancy and labour?

Evidence from 17 studies involving 18,533 randomized women was included in this updated systematic review.

Women or their babies who received midwife continuity of care models (seeing the same midwife or team of midwives) were:

⚕️ Less likely to experience a caesarean section or instrumental birth with forceps or a ventouse suction cup.

⚕️May be less likely to experience an episiotomy (a cut made by a healthcare professional into the perineum and vaginal wall).

⚕️More likely to experience spontaneous vaginal birth.

⚕️Reported more positive experiences during pregnancy, labour, and postpartum.

⚕️Additionally, there were cost savings in the antenatal (care during pregnancy) and intrapartum (care during labour and birth) period.

Further evidence may change our results, and future research should focus on the impact on women with social risk factors and those with medical complications, and understanding the implementation and scaling up of midwife continuity of care models, with emphasis on low‐ and middle‐income countries.

Read the full Cochrane review: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD004667.pub6/full

04/12/2026

Me on my way to a birth, knowing another client is also in labor. I like to live life dangerously.🤣

04/09/2026

United is the first major insurer to begin rolling out doula coverage! 🎉😍

The benefits of using a doula are well-documented. Research shows doula care can lead to better birth outcomes, reduce unnecessary interventions, and help address racial and systemic disparities in maternal health

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/doulas-can-improve-health-outcomes-women-babies-insurers-are-taking-no-rcna263390?fbclid=IwY2xjawQ5CMNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF2Um1IaEhTN2pSQlkyZkRqc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHpbKUV-6E4JQQn2CrM0e_V9ZjCkBkhqBcqJlcgpis9gpw2-PtWdNkYHaru8Y_aem_Ta3NYsTEysT0RRYAYGjCuw

While more Medicaid patients and even some on private plans have gained doula coverage in recent years, United is the first major insurer to begin rolling out the benefit nationwide.

04/06/2026

My word. The comment on a post where a doctor mentioned eating during labor is quite shocking. 😬

Nourishment is a god-given human right. Starvation or a liquid diet during labor has been debunked. It's not evidence-based.

Can you eat and drink during labor? YES!

How about if you have an epidural? YEP!

What if you're being induced? YOU BET!

And if there's an increased chance labor might end in a C-section? ABSOLUTELY!

This outdated policy comes from when anesthesia was pretty heavy and some women would have complications due to aspiration. That's rarely the case nowadays.

Your body needs fuel during labor. You have the right to nourishment. You can eat and drink as you please, no matter what the policy says.

Weigh out the pros and cons to eating vs. not, and make YOUR informed decision!

Evidence on: Eating and Drinking During Labor - Evidence Based Birth® https://share.google/rzCB5X9k32jlfuO9q

04/02/2026

📣𝑷𝑳𝑬𝑨𝑺𝑬 𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑷𝑬𝑻𝑰𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵!📣

A few weeks ago, a shocking story from a Florida hospital made the news. A woman, who happens to be a doula, had been laboring for 12 hours when a nurse came into her room holding a tablet. On that tablet were a judge, lawyers, and doctors. They told her the state had filed an emergency petition to have her undergo a C-section she didn't want.

Yes, you read that right. A group of strangers forced her into a major surgery that she did not consent to. Her rights were effectively stripped away. The even more shocking part? She was not the only one.

Mentally competent patients typically have the right to choose their medical care — or refuse it. But there is one notable exception in Florida and a few other states: pregnant patients.

The petition seeks to stop forced C-sections at two FL hospitals.
https://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/no_forced_csections/?source=facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawQ2CPFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFZbk5aTUF3WDhjR09YVkFac3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHjNc8YFT0XEfLgOwaBj8EEkTu6yzVs4L9tWKBPaiPc_Xv5fuwKm5-IpBYu2o_aem_q7O2A0oSZRidswt3VNHTdg

Full story:
https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-ordered-c-sections

Cherise Doyley was 12 hours into labor at University of Florida Health (UF Health) Jacksonville when a nurse walked in with a bedsheet and told her to cover up. A tablet was wheeled to her bedside. A judge, flanked by lawyers, doctors, and hospital staff, appeared on the screen. Doyley, a profession...

03/28/2026

Naolí is a Mexican midwife, educator, speaker, inventor, creator, author, and anthropologist. She's also a huge inspiration in my doula career.

To learn more:
https://www.naoli-vinaver.com/

03/24/2026

🤔Why are we conditioned to believe that childbirth is a life-or-death event?

🤔Why are we so scared that we don't even afford ourselves the ability to choose anything beyond the preservation of life?

🤔Why do we believe that the destination/outcome is the only thing that matters?

While I won't deny that sometimes birth can be risky, it's definitely the exception. Yet, the narrative is as if we should all thank our lucky stars (and our very skilled OBs) for making it out alive.

Did women used to die from childbirth? Yes, but not as much as you think. The oldest recorded rate is about 170 per 10,000 (or 1.7% of women). We now have safe medicine, technology, and good old hand-washing...something that didn't exist in ye olden days. And thank goodness for that! Yet sometimes, it feels like we've gone backwards. What used to be a natural process has now become a medical event.

Do women still die from childbirth? Yes, it's less than 1%. And most deaths are treatable and preventable. Getting regular pregnancy care and labor support from a medical professional is one of the best things to help prevent these deaths.

No, I don't have the answers to those questions, and I'm not sure I'll live to see the day that the vast majority of women can choose more than just being alive.

https://www.campop.geog.cam.ac.uk/blog/2024/09/19/childbirth-in-the-past/

03/21/2026

For those of you who've lost a baby, it's not your fault. You're not alone. Your baby is real.

"It seems to me that you feel like you’re all alone there. You aren’t. There are women reading this right now who have tears in their eyes. There are women who have spent their days chanting daughter, daughter or son, son silently to themselves."

https://therumpus.net/2010/07/15/dear-sugar-the-rumpus-advice-column-44-how-you-get-unstuck/

03/17/2026

I just don't know what to say about this new protocol for local doulas. It makes me feel like they're trying to control and silence us. But it mostly feels like they don't understand what our clients have confidently hired us to do. We aren't just employed strangers. We are deeply connected to our clients and are committed to looking out for their mental, physical, and emotional health.

Unlike many medical providers, we don't just strive for the bare minimum of an alive baby and mother. We strive for respect, joy, and safety in the process. This doesn't just happen overnight. The relationship grows over the course of months, long phone calls, sleepless nights, and intimate conversations with both parents.

❌I'm sorry, but nourishment is a human right and I refuse to ask for permission.

❌If my clients want oils to smell, you best believe I'm busting out my oils.

❌While my intention isn't to be flat-out adversarial, I'm hired (and trusted) by my clients to participate in their medical decisions. It seems that makes some hospitals uncomfortable.

❌Many hospital policies are not evidence-based. I say that with full confidence given the fact that I can produce unbiased sources that give my clients the full spectrum of their options, not just what the hospital prefers.

I cannot, in good conscience, blindly promote these policies if they go against my client's wishes and most especially, if she has other options that ARE evidence-based.

I will NEVER keep options away from my clients just so they can comply and I can remain on the hospital's good side. Sometimes, it ruffles feathers, and sometimes, it's a much needed reminder for providers to slow down and remember that they're dealing with a full grown patient who has feelings and deserves respect.

I value the experience and expertise of hospital providers and I wish they could say the same about me.