Forget the OB/GYN.
Forget the midwife.
More and more women are choosing to take part in unassisted births… having a baby without the help of a trained professional such as an OB/GYN or a midwife. Not because of an emergency, but because that’s what the mother chooses ahead of time.
Would I ever have an unassisted birth? No. Never. Mostly because I would be scared to death that there would be an unforeseen medical emergency and no doctor or midwife around to help. What if the baby gets stuck? What if there is extensive damage? What if the baby doesn’t start breathing? What if the cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck? All these questions would be floating around in my head, driving me insane.
No, I could never personally do it.
I’m not even sure how I feel about other women having these types of births. I totally understand WHY they would want to… the belief that birth is a normal function and not a medical emergency, the belief that birth is a private matter, believing that medical interventions cause more harm than good, being able to birth the baby according to what your body desires and not what a doctor dictates. A lot of these women simply want a home birth, but many states don’t allow doctors or midwives to attend home births. So instead, they choose to give birth at home anyway, without medical help.
Proponents of unassisted births believe it’s empowering. I’m sure that it is.
However, I just don’t think personal empowerment is worth the risk to not only my life, but my unborn baby’s life as well.
Below is a link to an interesting MSNBC article about one woman’s journey:
More Women Choose Do-It-Yourself Births
