What is freebirth?
When you choose to freebirth you choose to birth on your own, at home without the presence or care of any medical professionals. You may invite a partner, friends or family members to witness and support you, but no midwife, doctor, nurse or licensed individual is present at a freebirth. Freebirth may sometimes be called unassisted or autonomous birth and sometimes even is interchangeable with the term “home birth”. If it sounds really far out, consider the fact that your foremothers birthed at home surrounded by family and not by instruments. And those were the days when birth stories were passed down with pride, not fear and trauma.
As a freebirther you are probably influenced by at least one of the following:
You had a previous traumatic, medical birth and you do not want any medical interventions in this next birth.
You want to stay home to birth, but you cannot find a home birth midwife who you want to invite into your sacred experience.
You want to avoid all prenatal tests and procedures that a licensed midwife or obstetrician would require.
You know that you are capable of birthing without anyone overseeing you, checking your cervix for dilation or measuring your baby’s Apgar scores.
You want to be left alone to birth so your body and intuition can guide you.
You are committed to allowing your baby to initiate labor when he or she is ready, even if that means you go way past your estimated due date.
You do not want to outsource your care to someone who cannot honor all your birthing wishes.
I did not have a freebirth with my children. If I were to have another, I definitely would choose freebirth. After the Radical Birth Keeper School, I now feel much more confident to share what I learned attending births as a doula. Birth is meant to take place at home and most of the procedures and “active” management protocols of birth that take place inside the system actually sabotage birth. Babies and mothers know how to give birth. They do not need to be saved from this normal mammalian process.
Of course, medical intervention can save lives, but true emergencies are very rare, especially when a mother is completely in charge of her own birth, the baby is born directly into her arms and breastfeeding is initiated right away. When our bodies follow our biological design, we can be healthy and whole. In our culture, we are taught that birth is a tragedy waiting to happen and when a woman is measured, prodded, and her risk assessed at every turn, she is so much more likely to “need” the medical interventions she was trying to avoid in the first place.
However, this path is not for everyone. You may feel more comfortable with a midwife or OB. And I truly understand that reality. There is no way I would have been comfortable with an unassisted birth at age 29, pregnant with my first baby in New York City. But as a doula, I have seen so many women pursue medical care because they believe they can achieve an unmedicated, undisturbed birth in the hospital or birth center and I do not support that idea any longer.
If you choose to have your pregnancy and birth managed by a medical provider, you should be aware of what that will entail. Watch the documentary The Business of Being Born. Read Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering by Dr. Sarah J Buckley. You will learn that Obstetricians are surgeons. Most of them have never even seen a truly spontaneous, physiological birth. They cannot explain the hormonal blueprint of birth. They will not leave you alone to birth in your own way. Licensed midwives (as opposed to unregulated, traditional or lay midwives) have to follow certain protocols and carry certain equipment and medications if they do not want to lose their license. For example, in the state of Arizona, you cannot go past 42 weeks of gestation if you are being cared for by a midwife or a doctor. Their license won’t allow it. They will insist you are chemically induced no later than 42 weeks (much earlier if you’re with an OB or hospital midwife) or they will drop your care. Induction comes with all sorts of consequences, primarily that it interferes with the hormonal blueprint of birth and will dramatically increase your likelihood of a surgical birth.
If you want to learn more about anything you read here, book a session with me. I provide pregnancy and pre-pregnancy coaching. Don’t wait until you’re in the second trimester with your first pregnancy to ask your friends and elders about their births.
And above all else - you should do exactly whatever it is you want. Whether that’s a free birth or a hospital birth or something in between. I just hope you are not outsourcing your sacred power as a birthing woman.