Anyone watching CH4 tonight, about freebirthing?

[flubdub]

Its on at nine.
Its about women that give birth at home, alone with no midwife, and no medical interventio.

sorry to sidetrack - but does that british dr look and sound like lucinda from the apprentice??

They don't really have MW's in the US, i can understand why you wouldn't want to have a medicalised birth - i do think it is unfair on the unborn child, so much can go wrong, at least a MW has the training to detect any such problems.

There are some midwives in the US, but they're in the minority. The majority of births are by OB.

lulu, as a doula would you be able to support a mum who decided to freebirth?

Starlight, where are you? Is this your first baby? The reason MW don't like to get women in the pool before 5cm is because being in water can make you so relaxed that labour slows down. However, the counter argument is that sometimes when the going is getting tough you may want a bit of a break and getting inot the water can give you that break IYSWIM

I'm hoping to give birth in our local hospital.

I will be on my own, but there will be 2 midwives with me at all times as I will have no partner there.

if you don't have a midwife there, anyone with you can be prosecuted
that's why women end up doing it alone - because there is no alternative, if you don't want medical staff there

It's illegal or something to assist in the manner of a midwife... there was a thread on it this week.

How can they know if you have placenta previa when they only scan you at 20 weeks and leave it at that?

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I was reading somewhere that all sphincters are very shy (the cervix was considered a sphincter in this case) and only really function properly when the owner of said sphincter is alone, full relaxed and in private. Hence freebirthing. I guess animals give birth alone all the time. Don't know how many die without intervention though. Interesting subject.

I think the skydiving analogy is rather skewed - after all, humans are not designed to leap out of aeroplanes.

Couldn't do it myself. Absolutely loved ds's birth, despite being a failed (because no midwives) home birth. Back home within 2 hours. Don't think I could quite make the leap to not having an HCP available.

how is it all or nothing? why won't she tolerate the idea of a hb?

I'm well over an hour from a consultant-led hospital.

Well, 8 minutes by chopper .

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