another post relating to Freebirth......

I am wondering is the rise of Freebirthing or unattended childbirth two fold... one women are not being heard... and secondly they are taking matters into their own hands, that is making their own decisions... without medical advice. This may be because once they seek medical advice they are bullied or made to feel guilty that they choose to do it alone.....
Unfortunately it is when things go wrong that everyone sits up and takes notice..... I can blog till the cows come home as to how unsafe Freebirthing or unattended childbirth is.... but until something goes wrong... no one is really going to listen or do anything.... and that is the tragedy....every thing seems easy and 90% of the time it is.....however life is not that clear or easy....

I have to agree with Regina's post on The Fun Times Guide Pregnancy site.... where she intimates the Freebirth figures are pretty scary.

No one has answered my question as to how do we fix the problem? is there a solution? or do we wait for infant and maternal mortality to rise first then act?

An interesting perspective on Freebirth:

Basil from my garden:

Surfing the net as I do, I often come across some very interesting stories...this one made me think more about how some women feel about Freebirth...(birthing without any health professional present) however even though I can understand the choice these women have made... I still can not comprehend the fact that women will choose to birth without a midwife.

this quote was taken from: Women giving birth at home without midwives

When Jennifer Margulis went into labor with her fourth child, she sent her husband off to take the kids to school, then waited at home for her body to do what she felt confident it had evolved over millions of years to do on its own.
There was no rushing to the hospital, no midwife, no EMTs. Just Jennifer and her husband, home alone, giving birth.
"I think a lot of people think a woman who would want to have an unassisted birth would be a little bit crazy," said Margulis, who holds a Ph.D. in literature, and is a contributing editor for Mothering Magazine. "I think I may have had that reaction as well. I am definitely not a crazy person. I am a very educated, thoughtful and caring person. I am not a person who takes a lot of unnecessary risks. The whole point is it is not risky if you do your homework."

I would really like to know what 'homework is done' I am sure that there is a lot of information.... but if it takes a Bachelor of Midwifery student 3 years to learn how to be a competent Midwife and a Registered Nurse a further 12 months as a post graduate course or 18 months if in Europe to be a competent midwife - how is it that women think all it takes is a bit of homework to be able to recognise when things are going wrong with a birth where medical intervention may be required for both the woman and baby......

I appreciate that many women may have fallen foul of medical intervention which has scared them.....however I firmly believe that Freebirthing is not the answer.... a more collaborative approach is required with more flexibility from our health professionals and hospital system.... rather than a fear factor or paternalistic approach.

I would like introduced into Australian legislation the clause that is in British legislation which makes it illegal for a midwife to refuse to care for a woman....so women who choose to have a homebirth and they may be considered "high risk" are supported by a midwife... and the midwife is protected by the legislation and has support from her supervisor of midwives ( we would have to introduce a similar system here) and all care is clearly documented if required for legal reasons, therefore protecting the woman, baby and midwife...

I have been practicing midwifery for many years... and I have to say that every birth is unique, special and at times unpredictable.... however I am so acutely aware of what is normal that when things begin to become abnormal it is like a sixth sense for me.... how do women who are freebirthing understand this or even begin to think they know when often times it can be a total surprise.... the difference being that if recognised early enough help can be close at hand....Yes I also am a firm believer of a woman's body knows what to do and how to do it.... but as we all know this doesn't always go the way it is meant to do... years ago we had a much higher childbirth morbidity and mortality rate and why was that, in a nutshell, women hemorrhaged and infection was high on the list. This has been reduced why, because we are better educated, we know more (through research) and have better treatments. This brings with it higher expecations.... that everything will be normal.... and yes 90% of the time it is.... but I would not want to be in that 10%.

A sad reflection is that Freebirth is on the increase, although it is difficult to prove this fact. This therefore means as health professionals we are failing women and not respecting their choice, we need to re think this whole position....

Please help me understand why some women think it is best to have a freebirth...

What is Free birthing? please help answer the question!

In recent months I have heard this term used more frequently. This is a new phenomena for me, "Free birth" or "Free birthing". I am guessing it is the same as an unattended birth, meaning that there is no health professional present. Is this a correct assumption?

These are open questions in an effort to get some answers from the women who choose this option so that i can understand what freebirthing is, you don't know if you don't ask.

What is freebirthing?

What makes women decide to have a freebirth?

How common is freebirthing? Is it becoming a more favourable choice for women?

Are our midwives and obstetricians not meeting the needs of women?

How many women do you know who have had a free birth? or contemplating a free birth?

If anyone knows the answers to these questions, please feel free to comment.