The culture of childbirth has changed significantly since I was I was born (back when God was a boy and dinosaurs roamed the earth). There have been many movements concerning more natural approaches to childbirth. Homebirth has become more popular as women feel more confident about controlling their birth experience.
When it comes to having a baby, you have several options that are well-known: Standard birth in the hospital with drugs, Standard birth in the hospital without drugs, c—sections (I hope no one attempts these without drugs), and home birth. You can have an obstetrician or a midwife attend your birth. Some women elect to have a doula who helps advocate for the mother during the birth. This seems like a reasonable number of choices.
But there is one more choice you may not know about. It’s called Freebirth – natural childbirth without a medical attendant. No doctors, no midwives, nothing. It’s not emergency childbirth. It’s a planned event. Homebirths are usually not legally restricted if a certified nurse midwife attends. However, laws vary widely by state. There are some restrictions against unassisted childbirth, but they are few and are rarely enforced. As you might guess, many medical societies in the U.S. and abroad have come out strongly against Freebirth.
Unassisted childbirth advocates claim that a woman knows her own body best and should be making all the decisions. They make the valid point that a woman should be supported emotionally during childbirth. Many advocates believe that interventions from doctors are more dangerous than the risks of childbirth and interventions can interfere with maternal bonding. They believe that the best way to support a woman is to leave her alone – no drugs, no fetal monitors or other medical equipment. They say that women should not fear childbirth but embrace it. The women typically don’t receive prenatal care but do research on their own.
This is all well and good, but I, of course, have an opinion about this (I have an opinion about everything). I would be terrified to give birth without a medical professional nearby. That would definitely increase my fear and would make me feel very unsupported. I don’t think doctors are always right, but the “natural” mortality rate of childbirth—no interventions – has been estimated as being 1500 deaths per 100,000 births. In the US, the current rate of deaths is 10 per 100,000. Those are pretty different death rates.
Homebirth, free or not, was never an option for me. I didn’t want to have to do the cleaning afterwards and neither did my husband. The food in the hospital sucks but they have a janitorial staff there. We didn’t have to worry about scooping the goop out of the tub with a slotted spoon. Also, I dislike pain. I try to seek remedies for it whenever possible.
I found a quote by one advocate that said: “Birth is sexual and spiritual, magical and miraculous”. I think she might be over idealizing things a smidge, but I only really take issue with the word “sexual.” For those of you who haven’t been involved in a birth, I should let you know that there are a lot of things about birth that you don’t learn until you’re pregnant. Once you start reading in-depth about birth, you find out some icky things. That’s why the word “sexual” amuses me. So, which part is sexual? The pooping on yourself? The blood? The vernix? The baby? I don’t know about you but in my mind, the presence of a baby takes all the sensuality out of any situation.
The community of people who want to make birth as natural as possible are always coming up with new ideas. In addition to Freebirth, there are some other fun ideas:
- There is a whole set of people who don’t believe in cutting the umbilical cord. They leave it on until it falls off on its own. That means the placenta hangs around for a few days after the birth. It’s called Lotus Birth and I totally didn’t make it up. Gah!. You either wrap the baby and the cord and the placenta up together. You can also keep a bowl beside the baby to hold the placenta. The corn will dry up and detach naturally within a few days. Then you can have a ceremonial burial for the placenta or make a stuffed animal out of it or whatever floats your boat.
- There’s a thing called orgasmic birth which is exactly what it sounds like. I think you have to get to a certain level of Zen to achieve it. Here’s a quote: “If conception feels good, why not childbirth?” There are women who have claimed to experience it. It hasn’t happened to anyone I know. However, here are some quotes from women it actually had this experience:
- If you want to see videos and share thoughts with the members of this community, here is a good website: http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/. I saw the woman who runs this site in a documentary. The film was about unusual birth decisions and WHEW DOGGIES did she stand out as a crazy.
- Oh, and just for fun, I dare you to click on this link: NSFS (Not Suitable For the Sane)
