Guiding Gates Doula

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Hampton, VA
Guiding Gates Doula

Every single birth matters, and you deserve an experience where you're respected, safe, and informed. Serving Hampton Roads

Above all, you deserve to be trusted to know how to give birth.

10/28/2025

Hey, that's me!

Let's face it. Sometimes an induction is needed or preferred, so why not learn how to make it the best experience?

10/27/2025

Did you know that home birth rates increased by 19% in 2020 due to the pandemic? During this time, hospitals were banning support people in the labor room, leaving many moms to labor alone. Faced with this experience, many people turned to home birth. And they brought along doulas with them. In turn, doula usage rates have been increasing since then.

In 2012, about 6% of people gave birth with a doula. A 2025 poll reports that 21% of people have used a doula, while another survey reported it to be 11%. Still, we're on the rise! It's also helpful that Medicaid and many other insurances are covering doulas.

Let's bring back what we've always needed...sisterhood in labor!

10/24/2025

Is an unmedicated birth empowering? YES!
Is a medicated birth empowering? YES!

When you can choose, you take control of your experience. Giving birth isn't about doing it one way. It's about doing it 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 way!

10/21/2025

Nothing gets a doula as giddy as this phrase!

It means baby is probably applying pressure to your re**um and perineum...AKA he's on his way out.

Speaking of, p**p happens and no one in the room actually cares. In fact, we encourage you to lean into that feeling and let it out so you can release any tension that could be holding you back from fully opening.

10/18/2025

You've likely heard about someone's labor experience ending in an unexpected C-section that probably left them feeling a bit traumatized or disappointed. Although unplanned complications account for the majority of C-sections, there are a few women who choose to have a C-section before labor has even begun.

My client had a persistent breech baby, and her hospital provider wasn't skilled in supporting breech birth. She knew this and also knew that a C-section would be recommended. She chose this provider because she aligned with her values and she trusted her expertise. Her water broke at 37 weeks, and she and her husband calmly walked into the hospital to prep for surgery. Before she did, she gave me a call to go over her options, risks, and benefits. I met her at the hospital, where I dimmed the lights, made small talk, helped communicate her birth plan, and assisted with breastfeeding.

There was no fear or regret because she:
✅Knew her provider's skills ahead of time
✅Explored her options
✅Was cared for and treated with respect
✅Was given time to process HER decision

All of this can still happen even in an unexpected C-section, too. The smallest amount of kindness can sometimes push trauma aside.

10/14/2025

My favorite kind of birth? The one where I do nothing. Not because it's easy, but because it flows.

In a "do nothing" birth, I am not needed to guide and solve because the laboring person is listening to their body in a way I cannot. My fancy tools and little-known maneuvers aren't needed. They simply labor intuitively and surrender to the process, leaving me with little to do. This labor happens when they are educated, unbound during labor, fearless, and well supported. It's such a beautiful and powerful thing to witness. A doula helps make those things happen.💗

I've heard clients tell me that my presence alone shifted the energy in the room and helped them feel confident.

Lil' Note: Sometimes all the beautiful elements are there, and a difficult labor still occurs. We all just get dealt different cards. And of course, I'm always happy to put my skills to work!

Photo:www.popp-photography.com

10/11/2025

I want to live in a world in which you Google "labor" and the results aren't saturated with women on their backs on hospital beds attached to everything imaginable. Ugh!

My issue is that this image is assumed to be normal. It's not. Birth rarely needs to look like this. If we started seeing untethered hospital births, women in birth pools, and pushing being done in squatting positions on search engines, maybe then we would see birth as it truly can be and should be.

10/08/2025

Think this is a barbaric practice that isn't done anymore? Think again!

While we are no longer drugging women like this, many women still:

🚩Choose drugs to disconnect from labor
🚩Give up their control and power to a provider
🚩Don't give consent to procedures, some horrific
🚩Suffer from postpartum mood disorders, which are tied to their traumatic labor experiences

Let's learn from the past, not stay stuck in it! Know better, do better!

10/04/2025

The numbers speak for themselves, yet I still wonder why 99% of people won't even entertain the idea of a planned home birth.

•https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jmwh.12172
•https://evidencebasedbirth.com/epidural-during-labor-pain-management/
•https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12219422/
•https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-on-inducing-labor-for-going-past-your-due-date/
•https://www.sarawickham.com/research-updates/is_home_birth_safe/

09/30/2025

This pretty much sums up why it's so easy to perform C-sections. After the surgery, it'll always seem like a good idea. However, our rate of 34% is shocking, considering the World Health Organization recommends rates not be higher than 15%.

https://theconversation.com/are-hospitals-the-safest-place-for-healthy-women-to-have-babies-an-obstetrician-thinks-twice-42654

09/26/2025

Ladies and gentlemen, my work here is done! 😉

To be honest, THIS right here is the ultimate "review" anyone could give me. I had supported this client twice. The first time, I only provided labor prep support, but for the second birth, they realized they needed a doula in the room.

This client will make an excellent doula! They're super educated on birth, have a very calm presence, and yet they're a little spicy and not afraid to speak up and call out the BS.

09/23/2025

There's a time and a place for an OB but the majority of pregnancies and births are uncomplicated and not "trouble."

Undo the thought that labor requires fixing. Challenge what you believe to be typical care. Begin to trust that you were made for this and go see a midwife!

Address

Hampton, VA
23665

Telephone

+17194286929

Website

http://guidinggatesdoula.com/

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