Unassisted birth?

[anita665]

I've been thinking about this too. My second birth was very nearly done completely alone and it was amazing. I would love to do it alone this time but there is still that bit of fear in me.

 

[MrsSmartie]

As a midwife, I am very keen for a homebirth and hopefully will hypnobirth. I know things can be different in the US and it makes me sad that women there feel unsupported. However, in the UK, with a strict birth plan and discussion with the midwives at your homebirth it can really be your own journey but just with their experience to make sure you have a live baby at the end and can help if anything unexpected, like a big bleed, happen. I know most births are straightforward but your midwife is there to make sure all is well. If the midwife is allowed to listen in to the baby then they can just make sure that the baby is coping with the labour. If nobody is checking and the baby died (I know it is unlikely but it is a definate risk if the cord is tight or baby is hypoxic) then it is a question of could you live with the decision you made to have nobody there? If all is well then yes, anybody can deliver a baby, they deliver themselves, it's the birth experience over baby's safety argument. With a good supportive midwife then you can have the best of both worlds. I really urge everyone to think it through very carefully, your midwife is not there to go against your wishes or disturb your birth, they just want to make sure that you have a live babe in your arms at the end and that you are safe afterwards. Birth is the most natural experience in the world, but don't forget that it was also a massive killer, and still is in developing countries, before we knew how to care for women and babies. However, I do completely despair at the horrible medicalised births that are the standard in the US, it is a terrible shame. xxx