free birthing (please don't post if you don't like the idea)

[workstostaysane]

anyone done it, interested in it, read the books?
i'm only just pregnant for the 2nd time - had a totally drug free wonderful home birth first time around and now keep thinking i'd love to do it without a midwife this time. just interested to know if there is anyone else really.

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I think the difficult bit can be being sure of the midwife being hands-off. I've had midwives who've been wonderful and practically left me to it. I've also had midwives who really just can't help themselves and can be quite bossy and intrusive. When you do start going into yourself you don't want to have to start arguing your point with the outside world. My last delivery was ruined by midwife interference.

This woman's website is worth a look - she had a UC just eleven months after an emergency c-section (sadly she lost that baby). A very inspiring story

There is also a gorgeous video somewhere on YouTube of a woman birthing her twins unassisted - don't have a link but should be easily searchable.

Found it! It's her husband with the camera, BTW ;)

I'm not advocatinmg or argiung, but presumably a free-birthing woman uses her mobile pdq if problems develop?

As a midwife I reckon that you have a 95% chance of being absolutely fine if you do it on your own, but if something did go wrong, as well as the grief and regret I would have thought that you could be prosecuted for neglect. The fetus has no legal rights, but a newborn baby does. I am sorry to be negative, but you need to think about the legal aspect as well as every thing else. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

maxbear - indeed, a 5% risk of something serious happening to mother or baby is actually pretty damn high (given that you know you are due to give birth and that services are in place to assist you).

My sister did this for her second. She did, however, have a friendly midwife on call if she needed her. In the event, although the birth went perfectly, (water birth, with only her dh and two year old ds there) she had trouble getting the placenta out and did have to call her mw for help with the 3rd stage. She had a lotus birth btw.

I had a very hands off midwife, she just sat by the side of the pool whispering reassurance to dh (who was with me in the pool). Tbh I didn't even notice her until after the baby was born. I also found it hard to push out the placenta and was glad to have her there to help me.

The only thing my sister said was that it was difficult to get photos taken! (in the end her dh put the camera on timer and legged it back to the pool for the family photo)

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

littlebear - i can't access that video without joining youtube, which is a shame. i'd like to see it.

i can't find any info on peri natal (during childbirth) mortality rates for the !Kung San people. infant mortality is high, but that is after birth and up until 8 years old.

FWIW, the US has the most the medical birth process in the world. it also has the highest rate of perinatal mortality in the world, so i'm thinking all the ' be safe in the hospital with all the machines' are not really worth listening to.

littlebear - i can't access that video without joining youtube, which is a shame. i'd like to see it.

i can't find any info on peri natal (during childbirth) mortality rates for the !Kung San people. infant mortality is high, but that is after birth and up until 8 years old.

FWIW, the US has the most the medical birth process in the world. it also has the highest rate of perinatal mortality in the world, so i'm thinking all the ' be safe in the hospital with all the machines' are not really worth listening to.

"it also has the highest rate of perinatal mortality in the world,"

Are you sure about that? I thought it was merely the worst in the developed world. And they do have lots of other factors, like the highest rate of obesity and a lack of decent antenatal care for many poorer women, so it's not necessarily a simple connection.

(Not that I am advocating a US style of birthing in any way whatsoever!)

works, an online friend decided to go for this, after her first birth ended up as E-CS because it was mismanaged.

It all went fabulously well for her. And she had no regrets.

3andnomore - is there any way of contacting her?

Kathy, will check back in the book i read about it,but even if its only the worst in the developed world, thats still reason to avoid the medical route, it seems to me.

but i digress, i'm only really interested in the practicalities of doing this, not home birth vs hospital

Here's a WHO thingy on mortality rates - US is definitely not the worst, in fact I was wrong about it being the worst in the developed world too.

I am not trying to persuade you of anything, just share results of my googling in case anyone's interested. FWIW, though, I think you would have a hard time proving that free birthing is as safe as birthing with a midwife available, but that's not necessarily the point - we don't have to always do the lowest-risk thing in life every time.

yes you're right Kathy, i checked back in my book. a very selective presentation of the figures, but enough to convince me of a homebirth next time.

anyway, still interested in getting in touch with anyone who has had a free birth

oops, i meant a home birth first time around...

I had a homebirth with no pain relief. The midwife was great. She could see I was doing OK and just sat in the corner of the room and only came near me when she wanted to check dilation or monitor DS's heartbeat.

I could do it on my own next time but really don't think I should - it just wouldn't be worth the risk of something going wrong. Plus DH is not good in a crisis.

workstostaysane good luck if you go for it. I am aiming for a freebirth with my next child. I have had extremely bad birth experiences due to medical interference and don't want it to happen again.

In my first pregnancy, I had no end of hassle due to me thinking that pregnancy was 'natural' - mw was convinced that I must be mad!

It does seem that birth/pregnancy is now looked at as an illness/ailment that needs to be treated and this is why so many people can't understand freebirthing. There have been a lot of posts on this thread worrying about the risk involved - it seems strage that you don't see so many people worrying when suggesting getting an amnio which IMO is a much bigger risk.

It is a personal choice though and if you're happy with your decision, then it will be a great experience.

I have had a very straightforward hospital birth and a fairly straightforward home birth. I was very happy to have a midwife there. I'm sure that if she hadn't been there ds and I would both still be here but at the time the shoulders were a bit tight and her reassurance was crucial. I also bled a fair bit afterwards which was a shock to me as I hadn't first time around. I did not need any interventions to control the bleeding but would have been horrified to see that much blood if I hadn't known that a midwife with the necessary drugs was present.

Sorry to post this when I know you only really want to contact someone who has done it, but I just can't help myself.

Also fwiw although I would never have one myself, and would never encourage anyone to have one, I can understand why someone would like to do it and I think it is great that you have such faith in your body. I also think that it is your own personal decision and it really annoys me when people criticise it, with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of formula in the other, if that makes sense.

What is your back up plan just in case something goes wrong? (for you or the baby)

worktostaysane - there is an independant midwife in Belgium (where I live) who encourages women to give birth on their own. I met a women who had a birth with him - or rather without him. The midwife and her husband stayed in another room whilst she laboured and gave birth to her baby in a birthing pool - she delivered the baby, unwrapped the cord from the baby's neck, and she describes it as the most wonderful experience.

Personally, I found giving birth a very scarey experience and was very glad to have two midwives present for my home water birth.

It does seem that birth/pregnancy is now looked at as an illness/ailment that needs to be treated and this is why so many people can't understand freebirthing. There have been a lot of posts on this thread worrying about the risk involved - it seems strage that you don't see so many people worrying when suggesting getting an amnio which IMO is a much bigger risk.>>

freebirthing is an extreme

when you dicuss something extreme, you tend to get a majority who do not understand, if everyone understood it, it would not be an extreme

not to say it is a bad thing per se

there are many middle ways to get a good birth experience

for me, freebirthing would be a no-no, simply that should anything happen to the baby, i would not forgive myself, I am sure the OP has considered that and her own and her DHs feelings on that.

people do worry about amnio, there are many threads on here that are a testament to that, they worry about epidural, episiotomy, too much intervention, not enough intervention, going pre dates , post dates etc.... they are all valid to the person worrying about them

you will never convince the majority that freebirthing is risk free or the best way

does not mean it is wrong, but throughout history, women do have caregivers during birth, on the whole

i hope everything works out for the OP and she is obviously putting a lot of work into preparing for it, and not going to be doing anything on a whim