Freebirthing?

brightyellow2

Can anyone direct me to a book or website or anything to get more info? Also do you get prenatal care from a ob or midwife? And if so do you just inform or not inform them of your plans? Thanks!

sschwege

Most women on this board are planning for med-free births with MWs or OBs.  I understand that a few years ago there were a few women on here who did or were planning unassisted births, but I haven't seen anyone post like that for awhile.  Unassisted births are not generally well thought of on this board.  

Baby Center apparently has an unassisted birth board, which might interest you.  

To answer your question about prenatal care.  The only person I know who did unassisted births did her own prenatal care.  She would see a MW once in her 7th month because it made it easier to get a birth certificate.  Apparently she had a heck of a time getting a birth certificate the first time because there was no proof that she was ever even pregnant much less had a baby.  

brightyellow2

Ok thanks! Don't want to offend anyone just looking at options! Thanks again.

pantherRN

I am 100% not condoning nor agreeing with your (perceived) choice, but there is also a forum on mothering.com for unassisted birth.

iris427

pantherRN said:

I am 100% not condoning nor agreeing with your (perceived) choice, but there is also a forum on mothering.com for unassisted birth.

That forum scares me.  

noraraeuc

I recently had a planned freebirth and chose not to deal with formal prenatal care.

pantherRN

iris427 said:

pantherRN said:

I am 100% not condoning nor agreeing with your (perceived) choice, but there is also a forum on mothering.com for unassisted birth.

That forum scares me.  

Me too, but I thought the OP should know it's out there.

Katelobster

There's a website and book called Born Free Unassisted Childbirth by Laura Shanley (not sure I spelled that right).

iris427

If you want to give birth at home, why not find a hands off midwife, who will sit back if all is going well, but be there in case of an emergency, to assess the baby, etc.? That is how my home birth was. An unassisted birth is a far cry from a home birth with a trained assistant. If you are really considering UC, check out what the Navel-Gazing Midwife says about it. She had a UC herself and her daughter had a shoulder dystocia, a life-threatening emergency for the baby that can lead to brain damage or death within minutes. She was very fortunate that her daughter ended up OK, but not everyone will be so lucky. It is one thing to read about how to recognize and handle those emergencies in a book, when everything is calm, and another to have to recognize and deal with them when you are in labor, in pain, tired, and it is your own body and your own baby. It is much better IMO to have someone on hand who is trained to deal with those situations when you may not be in a clear frame of mind. And FTR Laura Shanley had a baby die at one of her UCs. Now it is possible that may have happened had she had a midwife or been in a hospital, but it is less likely. I completely understand being skeptical of the overuse of medical interventions in childbirth, but shunning all medical care in response is dangerous too--perhaps even moreso.

wintersong

In some states if a midwife attends a home birth she can lose her license to practice in that state. :-( Thank goodness I live in Virginia where that is not the case!

brightyellow2

We're in louisiana and the laws here are strict. So far I've found 1 midwife that will do a home birth in my area. I wanna have another option if we don't like her but I still have quite a few months to decide. Thanks for all the info!

noraraeuc

I'm a midwifery student and still 100% acknowledge the safety of leaving birth alone, with knowledge just in case. Unhindered, that "just in case" is very unlikely.