Unassisted Childbirth
Have you ever considered giving birth unassisted? Without doctors, nurses, midwives, or anyone else. Just you, your partner, and your baby. I know that for some women that sounds like a nightmare, but a small percentage are choosing to give birth without anyone else around.
Over at Natural Moms Talk Radio there is a great interview with Lynn Griesemer, mom of 6 and author of Unassisted Homebirth: An Act of Love. The interview is a podcast so check it out when you have time to listen in peace. I know trying to catch something with kids around can be a test in multitasking skills.
There are a lot of reasons why some women choose to go unassisted. Some have religious beliefs, some feel that doctors and midwives inhibit their body’s ability to work, some just work best alone. The number of reasons why is as long as the number of women choosing this. One thing that they all have in common though is intelligence and a desire to do what is best for their children.
My second son was a planned unassisted birth. Though the plans were changed at the last minute I spent plenty of time talking to other women who had went unassisted before or were planning it themselves. We shared information, conversation, and a sense of community in knowing that we were stepping outside the lines together. These women were passionate and dedicated in understanding their bodies and the bodies of their children, in learning what they needed to know to make birth happen as safely and calmly as possible.
If you are interested in learning more I would suggest visiting the Unassisted Childbirth forum at Mothering.com. There you can talk to mothers in all stages about their own experiences, gain knowledge, and maybe understand a little better about why someone would choose to go unassisted. You should also check out Unhindered Living, Pure Birth Australia, Born Free, and Empowered Childbirth.
childbirth, birth, free birth, unassisted birth, unassisted childbirth



June 17th, 2008 at 9:43 am
[...] Links by Stacy Ochsman Summer over at The Attached Mother wrote a great piece about unassisted home birth. It isn’t for me, especially after I had an [...]
June 21st, 2008 at 10:42 pm
[...] Birth and the AMA by Summer M. I can’t help but feel a little odd that right after I wrote about unassisted childbirth the AMA came out against all kids of home [...]