Recommended reading from our Bradley birth class and on the Unassisted Childbirth email list is Emergency Childbirth.
I have two reactions to the concept of planned, unassisted childbirth:
1. WHOA! WHAT IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG?!
Whether alone or with a midwife, if something goes really wrong, the best recourse either way is to call 911.
However, I find extreme comfort in knowing that there is someone checking in with me, someone who has attended many births (in my case, thousands), and can identify problems that we don't see. My experienced midwife will be there to answer questions we have in the moment, preventing us from getting too excited. A midwife can reassure us that X, Y, or Z are normal during birth. She can respond quickly if the baby is not breathing at birth. And, she can take care of or provide support for cutting the cord, preform an apgar test, and other post-birth routines.
It is my non-expert opinion in this moment that an unassisted childbirth is only an option for women with low-risk pregnancies and invested birth coaches who have done research, taken classes, or otherwise become very familiar with the birth process. Through discussions with other pregnant moms and women who have given birth, I strongly feel like women who were more prepared have better success with a natural birth. I've chatted with some pregnant women who have no idea what to expect during labor, but that they just know that the doctor knows best or the drugs will take care of it. Some of them are scared, because they don't know what to expect. There are many women who want to have a natural childbirth, but do not understand what is going to happen during birth, so they get caught up in some of the challenges of birth. A woman's confidence in her body's ability to give birth can make a huge difference in her birth experience.
This isn't always the case, and some very prepared women end up with medication or surgery, and some unprepared women can have a very successful natural birth. Take my mom for example. From our conversation yesterday, it sounds like she read some articles about what the medication does to the baby and decided that she wasn't going to have any of that. She had two natural births with no birth coach in a hospital. I keep talking about how my mom is an amazing woman, and her snecdotes of why that's true just keep rolling in.
2. OMG, HOW LIBERATING!
What an incredible concept to just give birth at home without assistance. Though I am not one to opt for an unassisted childbirth, learning more and more about birth, I am pretty confident that I could labor without assistance. I feel like Cortney and I have got this, and that our midwives are going to be bored just hanging out waiting for the baby to be born. I can think of many reasons why this would be an option for some folks:
- Increased control over the birth experience. Many health care providers have policies and procedures that may not jive with parents' preferences. For example:
- Most health care practitioners have a date past which they want to induce or transfer to a hospital.
- If your water breaks, many practitioners view that as the clock has started ticking and they'd like to see the baby born within a certain time frame after that, because they fear the risk of infection.
- In some states, direct entry midwifery is illegal. Certified-nurse midwives are legal in all 50 states, but most of them work in hospitals.
- Unassisted childbirth is free. Though I don't believe that cost should be the only consideration, it certainly can play a role.
- Birth happens on it's own time, and no one will be there at all to measure how far along mom is in her progress. This measuring can actually hinder the birth process.
From to Lana Shanley's website:
Modern physics has proven that the very act of observing something changes it. Birth is essentially an emotional/spiritual/sexual act. And just as most couples would find it hard to relax and have sex with others in the room, many of them feel the same way about birth.
Women’s bodies were designed to give birth. When a woman is physically and psychologically healthy (free from fear, shame, and guilt), babies can often be born easily.
Some women actually prefer to give birth completely alone. Of course, most of them would say they weren’t alone – God, their innerself, or the larger consciousness, was with them, guiding them each step of the way.
Unassisted childbirth is empowering for the woman, her partner, and her baby. Women who have given birth with little or no assistance often describe it as the most fulfilling experience of their lives. With no one around to tell them what to do, when to push, or which position to be in, many women find they know how to give birth.
I have a pretty comfortable amount of control over Lily's birth at the natural birth center where I am giving birth. However, there are still places where conventional methods can intervene. If I near 43 weeks, birth center policy won't allow me to deliver at the birth center, and would require a hospital birth. If my water has broken, and it's close to 24 hours of labor, then according to the birth center policies, we'll have to transfer to the hospital.
We had two incomes when we started to pay for the birth center, but if I was doing the whole thing alone, I wouldn't have been able to afford it. My insurance only covered 80% of the birth center fee, but not a certified professional midwife. For me, it only covers certified-nurse midwives. But it covers most of in-network prenatal hospital care.
Sure, not everything will go the way I'd like it to go, but knowing that there are more options than just going to the hospital is refreshing. Would I chose to have Lily at home with no midwife if the birth center's policies prevented me from having her there? No. I would certainly go to the hospital. While I am totally confident in my body's ability to give birth, I do know that I would need help, and everyone will be more comfortable with at least one health care professional checking up on us.
Laura Shanley is my hero. Every woman, even those who will not go "unassisted," should read this book. It will support the self-confidence you deserve. Watching the film, "Orgasmic Birth," and reading about Laura Shanley changed my way of thinking, my confidence and my life.
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