Our Team
Ann Gilligan
A little tidbit about me…
After graduation, my first position was in a labor and delivery unit at a small suburban hospital, working full-time night shift as the only RN. I had an experienced nurse sleep in house if I had any questions. Yikes! Talk about getting your feet wet! I jumped right into a huge puddle.
From there, I went on to working in a high risk, labor and delivery unit, inner city. During this time period, I obtained my Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner certificate and held that position along with my labor and delivery job, for 8 years.
An interest in the legal side led me to become a Legal Nurse Consultant-specializing in OB cases. My Pre-natal Yoga instructor title came next, realizing how important yoga and mindfulness is to maternal health.
I was part of the original medical team of a local free standing birth center where I became water birth certified and was blessed to assist in a low risk, midwifery led, water immersion based birth center.
I have traveled to Bolivia and Tanzania, where I taught high risk obstetrics and maternal positioning for optimal fetal positioning. Most recently, I have obtained my certification for Spinning Babies Aware Practitioner and Evidence Based Birth Instructor.
A total nursing career of 30 years in obstetric nursing is my most satisfying accomplishment, outside of my marriage and the birth of my 3 children.
Each vocation has had an influence as to why I have created Gilligan’s Guide and therefore this website.
My goal is to reach as many pregnant women in our world as is possible. Gilligan’s Guide with it’s safety and effectiveness will create a path to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidities while promoting a more satisfying and improved psychosocial outcome for our mothers and infants.
RN, LNC, RPYT, SpB®AW, Evidence Based Birth® Instructor
Ebonie Bailey
At the heart of Ebonie Bailey’s work is a simple but powerful belief: every birthing person deserves to be seen, heard, and supported with dignity and love. As a Certified Birth and Postpartum Doula (CD(DONA), PPD), doula mentor, and Clinical Lactation Specialist (CLS), Ebonie brings over a decade of experience walking alongside families during some of their most transformative and tender moments.
Ebonie brings a gentle, grounded presence and a deep understanding of what birthing families need to feel supported, informed, and respected throughout pregnancy, labor, and postpartum. Her journey into birthwork began after attending her first healthcare legislative forum in 2011, and she’s been a powerful voice for Black maternal health ever since building bridges between families, providers, and policymakers. She is now the proud founder of Naturally Ebonie Doula Services and the Founder and Executive Director of the The Birthwork Foundation, where she trains and mentors doulas to serve with skill, compassion, and cultural humility.
As a Facilitator, Ebonie is known for her warm, engaging, and empowering style. As the facilitator of the Gilligan’s Guide to Optimal Fetal Positioning course, she brings complex concepts to life through clear instruction, real‑world case studies, and practical demonstrations for how to recognize, prevent, and safely support the rotation of malpositioned infants. Her teaching empowers doulas, birthworkers, and organizations to better understand the relationship between fetal positioning, labor progression, and maternal and fetal well‑being always within scope and with respect for collaborative care.
With a loving husband, five wonderful children, and a passion for transforming maternal health outcomes, Ebonie brings her whole self to this work and it shows in every client, cohort, and community she supports.
CD(DONA), PPD, CLS
Doula Mentor • Maternal Health Advocate • Community Educator
Lauren Haxby
I’m a registered nurse with over seven years of clinical experience, caring for families across the full spectrum of childbirth — from high-risk hospital settings to low-risk, midwifery-led birth centers.
Over the years, I’ve seen firsthand how proper fetal positioning can transform a birthing experience. Many of my patients have benefited from the use of Gilligan’s Guide, reporting greater comfort, confidence, and progress — and I’ve witnessed tangible improvements in labor dynamics when the guide’s principles are thoughtfully applied.
My passion for Gilligan’s Guide comes from a deep commitment to evidence-based, physiologic birth and empowering both birthing people and the professionals who support them. I’m excited to share this powerful framework with healthcare providers — nurses, midwives, physicians, and birth workers — so they can integrate maternal positioning for optimal fetal positioning into their own practice.
I believe that understanding the anatomy, physiology, and practical application behind the guide helps clinicians enhance patient care and birth outcomes, and I’m honored to teach this valuable tool to others.
Crista
Crista currently resides in Alabama working as a pelvic floor physical therapist. She received her doctorate of physical therapy at University of North Florida in 2018. She has continuing education in functional and pelvic floor dry needling, pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and treating the female athlete.
Along with treating her patients, she also has experience teaching in PT and PTA programs and mentors other physical therapists in pelvic health. Most recently she has also had the joy of supporting clients through labor as a pelvic PT/doula and partnered with a fitness instructor in developing a perinatal exercise program.
Through carrying and birthing her own two sons, she has developed a passion for educating others for the betterment of maternal health.
My Dedication
I am dedicating this website to my father, Manuel P. Guerrero.
Sadly, he passed away in 2014 but his spirit lives on in me whenever I am giving of myself to others, as that is how he led his shortened life. Ironically, I developed Gilligan’s Guide at the hospital where he died and where I returned after a 10 year absence on what would have been his 81st birthday.
I knew in my heart that my return was to create something very special. My father insisted on attending the hospital birth of his 6 children when it was essentially forbidden in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. Losing him was “like losing the rain.”
- Ann
