Unassisted birth

[summer rain]

There is a big difference between a planned freebirth and a planned hospital birth where there just doesn't happen to be anybody in the room at the time. Freebirthing surrounded by a team of medical staff in a medical institution and having dilation checked by medical staff and all of that isn't freebirthing. Not that it matters what birth choices women make but it gets very confusing when people call birth center births homebirths, and hospital births free births, and births with interventions are called natural births just because baby comes out of Mums vagina. I don't think anybody has a problem with women birthing at hospital with nobody in the room - freebirthers on the other hand face birthing with no medical professionals on hand and no medical equipment available which is an entirely different situation and a huge difference is that the freebirthing woman takes complete control and responsibility for her birth outcomes whereas a hospital patient has handed over their care to medical staff. Having said that I do consider roadside births with no medical staff or medical equipment on hand and homebirths where the midwives don't turn up until after the placenta has been birthed to be unplanned freebirths....which again is a different scenario to planned freebirths.

I never said my son's birth was a 'free birth' I said when he was born as in actually coming out, it was unassisted and I preferred it to my other births including my home birth, never claimed it was like having a completely 'free birth' at home or anything like that. That birth had a great deal less interference than my home birth, the midwives only arrived just before he was born then but there was a lot of interference from then on. I personally wouldn't want to have a home birth again because of this. No it's not confusing because I didn't make the claims you said I am all I did was share my experience and said I preferred it to my controlled, coached births, please do not put words into my mouth. Honestly you can't even share your experiences without being jumped on and that's a crying shame.

 

[Sam Pearson]

I didn't put words in your mouth,

Last time I had an unassisted birth in hospital.

My post wasn't to have a go at you personally but for the purposes of clarification and the above statement is exactly the kind of statement that causes confusion. Unassisted birth and freebirth mean the same thing - birthing in hospital when the medical staff happen to be outside of the room isn't freebirth/unassisted birth.

Freebirth or Unassisted birth (UC) = birthing without the support of medical professionals at all.
Free pregnancy or Unassisted Pregnancy (UP) = pregnancy without the support of medical professionals at all.
Hospital birth, Birth Center birth, professional midwife attended homebirth, lay midwife attended homebirth are all assisted births\ including if the medical staff are on hand but just outside the door or in another part of the house.

 

[summer rain]

I'm sorry but I disagree. While the midwives were in the vicinity they were not directly outside and when he was actually born they were nowhere around. You're entitled to have your definition but at the end of the day I was not assisted when he entered into the world, nor had I been seen or examined by them for several hours previous to that. There were also no doctors in the maternity department that evening either as they had been called away to a neighbouring hospital where a c section was being performed. I meant no confusion and the OP knows exactly where I was coming from.

 

[H2Omommy]

i had a natural birth, it was not easy....at all. I hired a doula and she was amazingly helpful, it was my first so there was nothing i could do to get me ready for it. But once i was in the middle of it and doubts came in she kept me on track. Now i am so glad i went drug free, the baby was so healthy and recovery was quick. For sure i will have a natural birth with my next baby.

 

[AmeliasMum]

Yup, two of them, and planning our third. It's our 4th child, but I had a hospital birth with my 3rd babe, and was left with severe PTSD due to it. So my first two were Unassisted Home/Waterbirths, third was hossy, and 4th we are hoping to be another UC. Pain free, less than 4 hours start to finish for all my births, but the one in hospital was in a room full of strangers, under bright lighting, after having my waters broken against my will, and stuck with Pit which caused premature placental detatchment and PP bleeding. It almost killed my daughter, who was born WITH her placenta. I am seeing a proper OB this time, giving in to all the testing, and NOT telling anyone I am planning on another UC. Just going to use the "it happened so quickly" card and head to hospital with 12 hours of the birth. If all looks right to proceed with another UC that is. If something flags us as too risky, we will head in to L and D.

 

[Sam Pearson]

Sounds like a plan, AmeliasMum

 

[lynnikins]

my youngest child was a UC, it had been a planned homebirth but we were refused MW care when we phoned for them to send the HB team to us as there was another HB in progress, i made the choice that we would go UC if we needed to and prepared for that and my husband did phone the ambulance but all that did was give him someone to talk to as the dispatcher offered me no assistance at all and the ambulance didnt show up till about 5/10min after AJ was born. I knew the system was overstretched in our area and had prepared myself for the possibility of having to give birth unassisted by anybody and im really happy it happened the way it did, we had to transfer afterwards but that was so they could check my tear.

Next baby we hope to have a home water birth and havnt dicussed if we want mw's or not yet

 

[17thy]

Yup, two of them, and planning our third. It's our 4th child, but I had a hospital birth with my 3rd babe, and was left with severe PTSD due to it. So my first two were Unassisted Home/Waterbirths, third was hossy, and 4th we are hoping to be another UC. Pain free, less than 4 hours start to finish for all my births, but the one in hospital was in a room full of strangers, under bright lighting, after having my waters broken against my will, and stuck with Pit which caused premature placental detatchment and PP bleeding. It almost killed my daughter, who was born WITH her placenta. I am seeing a proper OB this time, giving in to all the testing, and NOT telling anyone I am planning on another UC. Just going to use the "it happened so quickly" card and head to hospital with 12 hours of the birth. If all looks right to proceed with another UC that is. If something flags us as too risky, we will head in to L and D.

I am almost certain I would have had bad PPD(PND) had I birthed in the hospital a second time. Best of luck with your healing UC this go around.