# Anyone have an unassisted birth?



## mamawannabee

I have already looked into this and it is legal, and was wondering if anyone has done this. It would be just me and OH, both who are medic trained and have childbirth training from that. If it wasn't for that, I would not feel comfortable even thinking about this. I will still be seeing the OB throughout pregnancy and if there is any doubt that something could go wrong, I would go to the hospital instead. But I wanted to see if anyone else had done this, and how it went?


----------



## sarah1980

silver_penny had an unassisted homebirth. 

Here's her birth story:

https://www.babyandbump.com/birth-stories-announcements/425883-home-birth-nathaniel-g-w.html

Here's the thread where she answered lots of questions about it:

https://www.babyandbump.com/home-natural-birthing/427385-ask-unassisted-homebirther.html

Good luck.xxx


----------



## mamawannabee

Thank you so much! It is so limited in practice that there are not many stories out there. I have had little luck finding anyone else who has done this. I will read through her story and that thread :)


----------



## ixchel

Try googling Laura Shanley ;)


----------



## Blah11

Not for me but I have no training in regards to labour and birth. Unsure what I'd do if I was in the US and homebirths were illegal in my state though. I know you said you are trained and so is your OH but idk, if an emergency did arise i'm going to guess youd be useless as you're in shock/pain/whatever after just going through a traumatic delivery.


----------



## mamawannabee

Blah11 said:


> Not for me but I have no training in regards to labour and birth. Unsure what I'd do if I was in the US and homebirths were illegal in my state though. I know you said you are trained and so is your OH but idk, if an emergency did arise i'm going to guess youd be useless as you're in shock/pain/whatever after just going through a traumatic delivery.

This is what I am afraid of, not that I wouldn't know what to do in the emergency, so much as I am afraid I would act differently being my own child. The emotions are so different than going through it with someone else as a patient, and telling them this is how it needs to go. I really don't want a mw present as it goes against my whole reason for not wanting a hospital birth, if I was going to plan that, I would just go the hospital route, but that's really not what we want. There are no birth centers anywhere nearby so that is not an option, and the unassisted home birth is looking better and better the more research I do. The EMS units are right down the street and could be here in two minutes, but the hospital is 20 minutes away which is what makes me nervous.


----------



## SyllyPoohBear

I recommend you look up a list for unassisted home births. Definitely need a doppler and to know the normal for heart rate for baby in labor. Lots of things you need.. But I think it's something that is unique to the person. My sister is doing an unassisted home birth this time... Just well research it. :)


----------



## Mervs Mum

There are free birth/unassisted birth support groups on the net that are full of information regarding going unassisted. Babycentre UK has one so I imagine the US one would too x


----------



## Blah11

Is there any close friends you could have present too? Just so theyre not as emotionally involved (although obv they would be) as you and your OH? Maybe someone is the same work field?


----------



## mamawannabee

Blah11 said:


> Is there any close friends you could have present too? Just so theyre not as emotionally involved (although obv they would be) as you and your OH? Maybe someone is the same work field?

There are plenty of people we could ask to be there who are in the same field, it is not a job I stuck with, but OH has and he knows people from all over the area. Two of them live in a shared rental about a 1/4 mile away so we could ask them to be ready if we just give them a call during labor to let them know the time is here. I wouldn't want them to be at our house, but they are close enough they could be here in an instant. 

And I already have looked at all the lists with every intention of getting books about emergencies in addition to all the needed supplies, especially the doppler to keep a check on LO's hb. If there were any signs of distress we'd be off to the hospital. I just believe in the power of our bodies to lead us through labor and hate how overmedicalized it is here, when most of the time it does not need to be. The c section rate for our state is 33 percent, which is up from 20 percent just ten years ago, which shocks me because the doctors get so pushy when delivery isn't going fast enough.


----------



## sarah1980

mamawannabee said:


> Thank you so much! It is so limited in practice that there are not many stories out there. I have had little luck finding anyone else who has done this. I will read through her story and that thread :)

You're welcome.

Best of luck,

Sarah.xxx


----------



## Ju_bubbs

I had an unassisted birth with my LO, though it was unplanned! It was the most amazing thing I have ever experienced, and I am seriously considering planning an unassisted birth this time round. I'm just not sure that I'd enjoy it quite as much, or be quite so relaxed about it if I didn't know there WAS a midwife on her way, somewhere! But, planned properly, I'm sure it would be even better than last time.. as it wasn't planned I had no one at all, 'in the know' there, I had my OH, and it was his first baby, so he had no birth experience, and I had my sister there as she did photography at college, but again, she has no children and it was her first birth experience... so I knew everything on was on me!!

Here is my birth stpry if you want to read it! https://www.babyandbump.com/birth-stories-announcements/506934-better-late-than-never.html


----------



## Fuchsia1412

Can you tell me more about your reasons for wanting an unassisted birth and not wanting midwives present..? For interest...! I'm worried about giving birth this time around as i've moved and want a homebirth this time (last time birth center) and for some reason I feel like..the midwives here might not be as progressive as where I lived before. I loved my midwife in Cambridge where I had my last...


----------



## mamawannabee

Fuchsia1412 said:


> Can you tell me more about your reasons for wanting an unassisted birth and not wanting midwives present..? For interest...! I'm worried about giving birth this time around as i've moved and want a homebirth this time (last time birth center) and for some reason I feel like..the midwives here might not be as progressive as where I lived before. I loved my midwife in Cambridge where I had my last...

For me, it's mostly that I believe in the power of our bodies to deliver our babies, and the fact that in the US, it is overmedicalized to the extreme. Women have had babies since the beginning of time, and so long as there are no obvious complications leading up to birth, which I will continue to see my OB up until the end to ensure, there is no reason why you shouldn't be at home. There are actually less risks to mom and baby by doing this in births considered low risk to begin with. Less chance of intervention, need for c section, infection, ect. 

I think if OH and I weren't trained to deliver, I would be considering a mw run homebirth instead, but in our situation I feel comfortable without that. I believe that my body is capable of naturally delivering our baby calmly, quietly, and in the position I choose, in or out of the tub, mostly options I don't have at our hospital. We have no water birth, must be in the bed on your back, and there are several people in the room, as well as a high c section rate, pushed episiotomies, and labors induced if not progressing fast enough. None of this is natural, and unfortunately there are no birth centers near by where we would have more delivery options. I really want OH to deliver baby and for us to be the only two present, as I've heard a lot of others say about unassisted birth, if you weren't there to make the baby, you don't need to be there for the delivery. And after birth, I want to let the cord stop pulsing on it's own, let the placenta come naturally, and leave baby unbathed so vernix has time to naturally absorb, all of which are also difficult, if not impossible to accomplish in the hospital. It is such an intimate time, so long as it is not harming anyone, it is what I want for our birth. 

Not that I look down on anyone who wants a fully medicated hospital birth led by an OB. Personally, it's just not what I want for our family. But if the doctor has any concern about delivery, or if there are any complications that arise in the rest of pregnancy, I will obviously do whatever it takes to get LO here safely and I hope anyone else considering home birth would also. And if anything were to come up during labor that worried me, we would also head straight to the hospital, but so long as birth is normal and without complications, I feel as though it fits our wishes best, and will be the least stressful for baby also.


----------



## Guppy051708

Hi there! i know this a rather old thread, but i was just wondering if you had made your decision on an UCB or not? I am thinking of doing this myself. I too am in the states (NH). My insurance flat out refuses to cover a HB MW. And i refuse to go back to the hospital unless their is a true medical need. We can't afford to pay privatly to a MW either (not even on a plan). My insurance will cover a free standing birth center (FSBC) MW though. I have been seeing them and I will remain seeing them until my child is born, however, I am just not sure if i want to birth assisted at the FSBC or if i would rather birth at home unassisted. The FSBC is an hour drive away and i am due during THE WORST winter month of the year. I am not scared about giving birth in the car along the way to the FSBC, but i am worried the one hour car ride will slow my labor. (I had a VERY long and very hard labor with my son, it was 30 hours and 100% back labor, i was unmedicated, it was a water birth and he came out posterior) and so the length of time scares me and i want to avoid anything that is going to hinder my labor progression. Anyways, i am very confident in my abilities to birth a baby on my own, especially since i MCed on my own and because i delivered a sunny side up baby intervention free. I am also a birth doula and a child birth educator and i have my husbands support 110%. To cut to the chase, ive been thinking more and more about an UC...every time i envision it i am at home by myself (with DH and DS) and doing my own thing. I truly feel as if my birth would be faster and better....but this is conflicting to me as i do sincerly trust my MWs...i just dont know how i feel about the commute.


----------



## labydird

I had an unassisted birth for my 3rd although totally by chance! We were planning ahomebirth anyway but I had no labour and baby was born in seconds without me realising it (the midwife called it a silent labour)!! Even then we had to call the midwife as by law (in the UK) you cannot cut the cord yourself and must wait until a midwife/ other health professional arrives.


----------



## ZoeZo

I'm reading 'Hey, who's having the baby anyway?' and after reading mamawannabees post I can't believe how much intervention and lack of choice their seems to be in hopsitals in the States, even things such as you must be on your bad in a bed?! I guess we're pretty lucky in the UK

Sometimes I have a dreamy thought that I'd like to hide away somewhere private and birth by myself, must be a primative feeling, I know that it's not a good idea for me personally though!


----------



## ljo1984

id not choose an unassisted birth but after having had a natural labour and delivery i really wouldnt be scared going it alone next time if mw's didnt get there in time. i have read birth stories of uc and think there amazing. x


----------



## Guppy051708

^AAgreed.


----------



## Sam Pearson

I've freebirthed twice. I have no "official" training but that's not to say I wasn't able to train myself. Sure that was quite some commitment but I was committed to having a UC and the biggest hurdle of a UC isn't gaining the knowledge requried to handle an emergency but having the trust in your body and understanding what it needs to birth well. I found the best tactic was to get through the "what can go wrong" stuff well before the end of my pregnancy so I could spend the weeks leading up to birth preparing for a normal birth. Bringing fear to any birth isn't a good idea so debriefing from my hospital birth and medically managed homebirth were important for us. I didn't expect my OH to be my midwife in any way as he was initially concerned I might - to me a freebirth means taking full responsibility myself - my OH was only responsible for supporting me in any way I wanted and transferring me to hospital if I needed medical treatment (we actually lived closer to the hospital than the local ambulance station so we worked out that would be the fastest plan of action if the need arose). I do feel that pregnant women should all be prepared to freebirth - there are no guarantees and women find themselves caught out all the time hence babies being born on the side of the road and funnily enough I"ve yet to read about a roadside birth that had any complications.


----------



## Sam Pearson

ljo1984 said:


> id not choose an unassisted birth but after having had a natural labour and delivery i really wouldnt be scared going it alone next time if mw's didnt get there in time. i have read birth stories of uc and think there amazing. x

I found with my hospital birth I turned to the hospital staff to "help" me birth but they were't much help, with my independent midwife attended I was anxious for them to arrive and once they did I again emotionally and practically handed over to my midwives to "help" me birth but they weren't much help. I was slow to catch on that the work was all mine. With my freebirths I wasn't looking to anybody to arrive or do anything - I looked myself and I just simply birthed. It was that straightforward. We simply took the phone off the hook and locked the door and didn't leave the house. I laboured while my family carried on as usual - read, baked, watched tv, played, slept, ate the cake, made another, filled the pool etc. Then I birthed, we put the pool down and we settled in to enjoy our babymoon.


----------



## mamawannabee

I have already had my baby now, we planned a water birth at a birth center, wound up at the hospital with an induction due to the amniotic fluid all leaking out (without me knowing!). They did an u/s just to check as I was 11 days past due date and it was all gone. As much as I didn't want the birth I got, it has given me a much better feeling of the hospital, I had such a fear before (cried as they transferred me there) but it turned out well. I would absolutely do an unassisted birth in the future as long as I felt the pregnancy had gone smoothly with no complications.


----------



## Sam Pearson

Congratulations!!!


----------



## ZoeZo

Sorry to hear it wasn't as you planned, but glad hospital wasn't as awful as you thought, and congratulations on the arrival of Everly! x


----------

