Freebirthing: What is Freebirthing and Why is it Becoming Popular?
Many people are interested in freebirthing and home births since the topic has become hot online and in the news. 20/20 did several stories abot home births and free birthing.
What is freebirthing?
Freebirthing is when someone decides to have a birth at home without assistance of a midwife. Wikipedia offers a great explanation of freebirthhere. The term home birth usually means the patient had assistance by a midwife.
Is Freebirth as Popular as the Media Makes It Sound?
Although in some parts of the country freebirth may be gaining popularity, in reality I do not believe freebirth is a popular as the media is making it sound. Many medical professionals and government officials may believe freebirth is more popular than it actually is simply because if a woman has a labor at home with the assistance of a midwife and the midwifes help is alegal or illegal this woman will protect her midwife by claiming the birth was performed unassisted. This may be done to protect her midwife.
Are Home Births becoming more popular?
Yes, I do believe there are a growing number of home births in this country. Although, it would be hard to get actual data I believe many women are opting to have their children in their homes rather than at the hospital. This may be due to the comfort of the woman in her own home, the ability to labor as her body request her to (ie. a womans body may not instinctively want to lay in a bed or be strapped to monitors during the labor as the woman instinctively knows this may hinder the labors progress), to avoid a c-section, the fact some hospitals are denying women services to the obstetrics wing due to reasons such as lack of insurance (although hospitals are still required to admit a laboring women in the emergency department by law many women either do not know this or would prefer to labor with the help of a provider they have established a relationship with),or the fact that in many cases a woman may belong to a group of doctors and is no longer ensured a particular doctor to be there during their labor.
Many studies are also showing that in most situations, a home birth may be safer than a hospital birth. Read the Book: Silent Knife: Cesarean Prevention and Vaginal Birth after Cesarean By Nancy Cohen.
Why would anyone consider a freebirth instead of a home birth?
I do not know all of the reasons. However one reason may be this: In some states, midwives are required to carry insurance. These insurance companies often create rules that dictate what the provider must tell the patient to do. If a midwife is in the home, they may still have a set of rules they must follow while caring for the woman. In these states, women may feel they are still being controlled even in their homes and I believe in these situations they may opt for a freebirth.
Published by Sarah Holmes
Sarah is a weekly columnist for the News-Gazette. She enjoys writing about various topics including SEO, internet marketing, social networking and saving money on groceries. View profile
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12 Comments
Post a CommentWow, even after 4 kids, I will still be having my 5th in a hospital this summer! It is very likely that one of my children would not have made it, and my youngest would have definatly not survived if I had delivered them at home. I think if you are comfortable with your midwife and with your birthing partner, having a baby in a hospital can be a very private moment. I could never risk the life of my baby just to be tucked into my own bed.
Good explanation. I can't imagine that this is actually becoming a popular trend in American culture.
Excellent article :)
I have 4 kids and this is the first time that I have heard about freebirthing. Thanks for the very informative article!
This sounds a bit dangerous. What if there are complications during the birth?
I enjoyed your article & found it very interesting. But there's NO WAY I'd ever do this! I'd be scared silly to even try it.
For a normal birth, freebirthing is a wonderful experience. However, I do think midwives should present and they should be licensed and qualified. I had a perfectly normal pregnancy, and my baby was in position on Friday, but Sunday I felt an unusual movement. On Monday, I started to leak fluid. On Tuesday night, I went into back labor, and the doctors discovered that the baby had turned itself upside down on Sunday, resulting in a breech birth. This is the reason giving birth shouldn't be considered just a "natural thing that women have been doing since the beginning of time." Plus, as my mom once said, going to the hospital to give birth and saying ten days (that's how long they kept you in the 50s) was the only vacation she ever got!
Great work :)
What are they thinking...rather than finances?
I can't imaging not having a midwife, or at least someone who knows what they're doing, but I think every woman should have the choice to give birth to their child in any way they feel comfortable.