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Doula & birth education · Los Angeles + Costa Rica

This is your story.

I do not believe there is one perfect way to give birth. My role is not to tell you how your birth should look. My role is to support you in creating the birth experience that feels right for you.

Book a consultation See how support works
  • Hospital, home, or birth center
  • English & Español
  • Medicated, unmedicated, cesarean, VBAC
  • Associate's in Child Development
Line drawing of a curled newborn, its cord tracing a single continuous heart.
“Fear in childbirth is as common as it is unnecessary.”
Ina May Gaskin · Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

Begin your birth journey

How I support you

Support does not begin on the day and end when the baby arrives. This is what it looks like across the whole of it, from the months before through to the weeks after.

Before

Pregnancy & planning

The months before

We build your birth plan together and go through what each option actually involves, so that nothing on the day is the first time you have heard of it.

  • Labor education
  • Birth plan
  • Postpartum education
  • Preparing your home
  • Meditation & breath
  • Stretching exercises

During

Labor & birth

The day itself

I stay for the whole of it. I keep the room quiet, help with the physical work of labor, and make sure your partner is able to eat and rest as well.

  • Full labor assistance
  • Counter-pressure & massage
  • Aromatherapy
  • A quiet, unhurried room
  • Gentle guidance, never direction
  • Rest for your partner

After

The fourth trimester

The weeks that follow

Recovery is part of birth rather than the end of it. I come to your home, so that the early weeks can be about resting and getting to know your baby.

  • Mental health check-ins
  • Help with the baby
  • Fresh meals & meal prep
  • Care for your home
  • Space to rest and recover
  • Company

Services

Ways to work together

Some families want to understand birth before they decide anything. Some want a plan built around them. Some want me there on the day. We can start wherever you are.

Birth education

Understanding labor and birth

This is for anyone who wants to learn more about pregnancy and birth. Everyone is welcome. We can meet in person or over Zoom, and go through whichever stages matter most to you.

  • In person or over Zoom
  • Ask anything, at your own pace
  • Every stage, start to finish
  • English or Spanish

Book a session

1:1 coaching

Prenatal plan

If you are looking for something completely integrated and tailored to your specific needs, 1:1 coaching might be the right step for you. This includes making a birth and postpartum plan.

  • Birth plan & postpartum plan
  • Labor education, one-to-one
  • Preparing your home

Plan your birth

Full doula care

Doula packages

Labor support along with a selection of prenatal and postpartum support, so the same person is with you from planning through to recovery.

  • Continuous labor support
  • Prenatal visits & birth plan
  • Postpartum visits & meals

Talk about dates

Child care

My child care services are separate from my doula work, and are charged at an hourly rate. Flexible in-home care for all ages, activities suited to their age, fresh meals, engaging play, and clean up.

Ask about child care

My ethos & values

Birth is not something to control. It is something to support, witness, and honor.

  • Respect for every birth path: medicated, unmedicated, cesarean, or VBAC
  • Informed choice, with time to understand every option
  • Emotional safety matters as much as physical safety
  • Birth is a family experience, not just a clinical one
  • Gentle, steady guidance, never forceful direction
Gloria Alexis Arce, standing in a white linen shirt against a pale wall, looking calmly at the camera.

Meet your doula

Gloria Alexis Arce

I was born and raised in Los Angeles and hold an Associate's Degree in Child Development. Before becoming a doula, I spent years working in private childcare, caring for infants and supporting families during some of the earliest and most important stages of life.

For the past three and a half years, I have lived a nomadic lifestyle, traveling and living among different cultures and ways of life around the world. These experiences have deepened my appreciation for the many ways families, communities, and traditions approach pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. Through these experiences it became clear to me that there is no single "right" way to live, parent, or give birth.

I currently live in Costa Rica and spend some time in Los Angeles as well. I offer doula support and birth education services in both English and Spanish.

My approach

Just as every woman is unique, every birth is unique. What feels right for one family may not feel right for another, and that is okay. Whether you envision an unmedicated birth, an epidural, a planned cesarean, a hospital birth, or a home birth, your preferences, values, and goals deserve respect.

I strive to provide evidence-based information, emotional support, encouragement, and a calm presence so that you feel informed, empowered, and heard throughout your journey.

Birth is not only a physical event. It is a deeply personal transition. I consider it a privilege to walk alongside families during this remarkable chapter of their lives.

My story

My journey into birth work began with a simple question. What was your birth experience like?

As I spoke with more and more mothers, I noticed a pattern. More often than not women shared stories that felt traumatic, or disconnected rather than empowering and supported. That curiosity led me down the rabbit hole into the world of pregnancy and birth.

Human beings have been giving birth for hundreds of thousands of years. You would think surely this is something we have figured out. Yet many women still feel unheard, unsupported, or unprepared during one of life's most transformative experiences. While modern medicine has brought incredible advances that save lives and improve outcomes, I believe there is a gap between clinical care and the emotional, social, and personal support that mothers need.

Gloria

Gloria Alexis Arce 1 of 3

“Birth is more than the arrival of a baby. It is the unfolding of a mother. When a woman trusts herself, she steps into one of life's greatest rites of passage.”
Rachel Reed · Reclaiming Childbirth as a Rite of Passage
A laboring woman kneeling at the side of a bed, her partner leaning over her with both arms around her shoulders, lit by a single lamp.
A partner holding steady through second-stage labor, at home.

Questions families often ask

When should I hire a doula?

Many families get in touch during the second trimester, which leaves plenty of room for prenatal visits and a birth plan. Others reach me much earlier, and some much later. If you are pregnant now, it is not too late to ask.

My last birth was difficult. Can I talk to you about it?

Yes, and many women do. A birth that frightened you, or that did not go the way you hoped, tends to stay with you and to shape how this one feels. You are welcome to bring that with you. We can talk about what happened, what you would want to be different, and how to build a plan around it. I am not a therapist and I will not pretend to be one, but I will listen for as long as you want to talk, and I will not rush you.

Where does my partner fit in?

Right beside you, which is where most partners want to be. Labor is long, and it is difficult to be a steady presence while also tracking the practical side of things. I show your partner how to help with counter-pressure and positions, and I carry the rest, so that they can simply be with you.

What if I want an epidural, or need a cesarean?

Then that is your birth, and I support it just as fully. Medicated, unmedicated, cesarean and VBAC are all whole, complete ways to bring a baby into the world. My role is to make sure you understand the options in front of you and that the decision stays yours.

Do you attend home births and hospital births?

Both, plus birth centers. I work alongside your midwife or medical team, never in place of them. I don't give medical advice or perform clinical tasks.

What if we are not the right fit?

Then you should find someone who is. You will be spending some of the most tender hours of your life with this person, and that matters more than being polite to me. The first conversation exists partly so you can find out. Nobody is offended by a no.

¿Ofreces apoyo en español?

Sí. Todo lo que ofrezco (la sesión de educación, la planificación, el acompañamiento en el parto y el postparto) está disponible en español o en inglés, lo que te sea más cómodo.

What does it cost?

Every family needs something different, so I quote after we have spoken and I understand what would genuinely help. That way nobody pays for support they did not want. The conversation itself is free, and there is no obligation at the end of it. If the cost is difficult, say so when we talk and we will see what can be arranged.

Get in touch

Tell me about your birth

Getting in touch can feel like a bigger step than it is. There is nothing to prepare and nothing you need to have decided yet. We can simply talk for twenty minutes or so, about where you are and what you are hoping for. There is no charge for that conversation. Tell me a little below and I will come back to you.

  1. You send this formWhatever you know so far is enough, even if that is only a due date. If there is something heavier you want to say, there is room for that too.
  2. We talkVideo or phone, in English or Spanish, and you can ask me anything.
  3. I send a plan and a quoteFor the support you actually want, and you are free to say no.
What are you looking for? (pick any)

Your details go to Gloria only. Never shared, never added to a mailing list.
Puedes escribirme en español si lo prefieres.

Thank you. That's sent.

Gloria reads every message herself and will reply to the address you gave. If your due date is close, mention it in a reply and she will come back to you sooner.

Wherever you are in this, and whatever you decide, I hope you are met with kindness.

Gloria