Extreme childbirth: Freebirthing
New Scientist - issue 2585
- 06 January 2007
- Magazine issue 2585
Giving birth without any medical help would terrify most women. New Scientist talks to some who say it’s the only way
ONE HOT afternoon in August 1977, heavily pregnant Laura Shanley felt the early twinges of her first labour. Instead of calling a midwife, she called over some friends. When her waters broke, she didn’t dash for the hospital, just the bedroom. On hands and knees she gave birth to her son, John, in one swift push. Ready to catch him was the only other person in the room, her husband, David. Over the next few years Shanley, who lives in Boulder, Colorado, went on to have four more babies in the same way.
Giving birth at home instead of hospital is not all that unusual. What sets Shanley apart is choosing to go it alone without any professional help. She is part of a movement that advocates unassisted childbirth, or "freebirthing". The backlash against the perceived overmedicalisation of childbirth in the west has already seen some women reject hospitals in …
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The whole article is at Mama Mid(wife) Madness for your reading. It annoys me that the title is extreme and it’s apparently so warped that autonomous birth has written a VERY long rebuttal.
