Birthing Alone

[kcangel63]

I came across this article from 1999 about home birthing unassisted. I am happy to see a positive article (even if it's 10 years old) since this will be my first uc baby.  :)

I found it a really good article and thought I would share it. 

Here is an excerpt from it:

"The scene presents one of the more common archetypes of modern childbirth: a woman and her partner, unable to get to the hospital on time, deliver their baby at home or in the car, alone and with no help arriving until after the fact. For most pregnant women, the thought of finding themselves in such a situation is a troubling, even frightening one. However, a growing number of women are actually planning to give birth alone at home, without any type of medical assistance or professional midwifery care. Instead, these mothers are choosing an option which has come to be known as "freebirth," "couples birthing," or most commonly, simply as "unassisted childbirth" (UC). For these mothers, a quiet, peaceful birth at home, with complete privacy and perhaps shared intimacy with their partner and other children, is the only way they can imagine bringing a newborn into the world.

Laura Kaplan Shanley of Boulder, Colorado is a poet, the mother of four, and the author of the seminal book on this topic, Unassisted Childbirth (Bergin and Garvey, 1994). Through her book, which the Houston Chronicle declared as having "the most dangerous book title of 1994," and her Web site, The Unassisted Childbirth Page at: http://www.childbirth.org/bornfree/index.htm, Shanley has become something of a guru to women all over the world who are themselves choosing to have unassisted birth experiences. Shanley gave birth to each of her children at home without assistance. Her husband David "caught" her first baby, but Shanley chose to be completely alone for her next three births.

"Just as the ordinary house cat knows how to give birth on her own, so too do we," says Shanley. "Many midwives and even some doctors can help us reconnect with the intuitive mind that guides us in birth, but ultimately, we have the power to do it ourselves. As the great mystic Jane Roberts once wrote, 'Miracles are nature unimpeded.' When we stop impeding our natural, creative abilities, birth, and indeed life, become truly miraculous...

Most couples who decide in favor of unassisted birth educate themselves extensively in how to recognize any symptoms in the birthing mother or baby which would require transport to a hospital. Many even decide to take on all of their own prenatal care, learning to listen for the baby's heartbeat, take the mother's blood pressure, and measure her growing uterus throughout pregnancy. Ultimately, however, advocates of UC say that not even a highly trained doctor can guarantee a particular outcome in birth, regardless of where or how a baby is born. Additionally, a strong part of the overall philosophy of unassisted birth is that the mother herself must accept full responsibility for her entire birth experience--whatever the result-- rather than, as one UC advocate describes it, "giving her power away." Some women's spiritual beliefs factor into their decision to turn over their concerns regarding their health and that of their baby to their personal higher power.

"No one, regardless of their 'expertise,' can guarantee that a baby will be born safely. Some babies die. It's simply nature's way," says Shanley in explaining her own views."

Read full article HERE.

[MissiHampt]

Well, I've been seeing an OB and I'm sure he fully expects me to show up at the hospital when I go into labor.  But, if and when I go will depend on how I feel.  I'm not planning on anything for sure.  But if everything is going great, I'll stay home and do it unassisted.  I have no fears about it at all, in fact the fear of what they might do to me and my baby in the hospital is scarier than the thought of delivering at home by myself.  I plan on refusing most things the hospital has to offer, so why bother going?

[mybabyapples]

i think i would consider a home birth if i didnt have such a high risk of bleeding.i think it would be a wonderful experience! 

[mistie900]

I didn't read the article too long lol but anyways does that mean no doctor or midwife? I would be way too afraid to do it but I think women should be allowed to do it, it's their choice. Hope it all goes well for you!

[MomX04]

Our bodies know what to do and so do we, it's in our DNA.  The only reason I had to go to the hospital was I was such high risk and nearly died with my first pregnancy otherwise I would have loved to stay home with my first one and the other three who came after.

[kcangel63]

Congrats.  I hope all goes well and happy.  :)  I know that for me, the though of birthing in the hospital again sends me into a panic attack, literally.  I would not birth there again unless I had no other choice (medical issues).  I am completely at peace with the choice DH and I have made about our upcoming UC.  I have a friend, who lives just a few yards away, that will watch our other kids, so we can have a completely intimate birth.  :)  I feel that a woman should have the ability to go through her pregnancy and birth any way she wants.  That is her right.

Quoting MissiHampt:

Well, I've been seeing an OB and I'm sure he fully expects me to show up at the hospital when I go into labor.  But, if and when I go will depend on how I feel.  I'm not planning on anything for sure.  But if everything is going great, I'll stay home and do it unassisted.  I have no fears about it at all, in fact the fear of what they might do to me and my baby in the hospital is scarier than the thought of delivering at home by myself.  I plan on refusing most things the hospital has to offer, so why bother going?

[kcangel63]

A few of my births I bled a lot.  There are a lot of herbal drinks and tinctures you can use to prevent and stop hemorrhage (raspberry leaf tea during pregnancy, mistletoe tincture during birth, shepherd's purse after birth, cayenne/vinegar/honey drink after birth, etc...).

Quoting mybabyapples:

i think i would consider a home birth if i didnt have such a high risk of bleeding.i think it would be a wonderful experience! 

[Tiffatoe]

I had my older three at a freestanding birthing center because all the clinics and DRs I called initially all treated me like a #. The BC was a converted Victorian house, the rooms all set up just like regular bedrooms. I delivered in the tub with all three :)

I had my fourth at the hospital because my placenta abrupted and I needed 3 transfusions. I KNOW a lot of the things they did for my and my babys life, but it was a horrible experience :(

I don't think I could do an UA birth, but that's just me, I needed my midwife and doula to keep me calm.

[My2angels251]

I Think its a wonderful experience ,,, I'm planning a  unassisted. birth  At home with this pregnancy , If of course everything for acording to plan .

[Just_Bethy]

I am all for home births but unassisted..???.without a doula or a midwife even..??.I don't think I would go that far...Its not just YOUR life...if anything...anything ...was to go wrong and your child didn't survive...How could you live with that?? I would want to know I did all I can ..including having a professional standing by to make sure my baby was OK.... 

[oboe_chik]

Yeah I tend to agree. By no means do I think it should be illegal, but I don't see what its hurting to have someone with medical training standing in the other room to be called in if something were to go wrong. I wouldn't do a home birth because I found one of the few great OB's around (there are no midwifes within an hour of where i live or else I would have explored that alley too) and completely trust him, and the hospital where I delivered both my kids at is one of the top 5% of hospitals nationally. I would go to the same OB and the same hospital if I were to deliver another child but again thats just me.

Quoting Just_Bethy:

I am all for home births but unassisted..???.without a doula or a midwife even..??.I don't think I would go that far...Its not just YOUR life...if anything...anything ...was to go wrong and your child didn't survive...How could you live with that?? I would want to know I did all I can ..including having a professional standing by to make sure my baby was OK....