Please help me understand-how do u know?

[onemummmy]

Hi I am just wondering, freebirthers, how do u know, if it happens, that something is wrong? How do u know when u need hospital or the ambulance? As silly as it sounds sometimes I have little fantasies of just giving birth by myself, & even if I was in hospital I would want 2 run & hide & do it myself. Not that its an issue for me right now LOL but u never know in the future I guess. The thing that scares me is something going wrong & not realising fast enough. So how do u know? Can u still have an unassisted birth if u just have a midwife quietly in the corner 'in case'?
thanks:wave:

[onemummmy]

anyone?

[Shanaynay]

I think you need to be in tune with your body, and listen to your instincts.

But you may not always know if there is something wrong. Just like in a hospital, not everything is picked up.

I think also deciding to freebirth carries a few responsibilites - things like knowing infant resuscitation, knowing methods to prevent PPH and bleeding etc.... so that if something does go wrong, you're in a position to minismise the risk or damage.

You could have a midwife sitting in the corner just incase.

[SassyMummy]

I don't know the ins and outs of freebirth, but I would say that, even with a midwife handy you could have an unassisted birth. Who cares about labels? It may not technically be a freebirth, but so what?

[Mamalicious]

I don't know the answer, it's a question that goes round in my head too. :yes:

[reAllytee]

I think you need to be in tune with your body, and listen to your instincts.

But you may not always know if there is something wrong. Just like in a hospital, not everything is picked up.

I think also deciding to freebirth carries a few responsibilites - things like knowing infant resuscitation, knowing methods to prevent PPH and bleeding etc.... so that if something does go wrong, you're in a position to minismise the risk or damage.

You could have a midwife sitting in the corner just incase.

:iagree:

Things are often overlooked in hospital anyways so there are always risks !

Hopefully the lovely demeter will be around to give you all the details you are asking for otherwise you can check out her blog as that may have details ! It also has her freebirth which is just an amazing story !

[~Emmylou~]

I think women who freebirth have a few things in common.

They're very in touch with their instincts, and they trust them implicitly. This is basically their touchstone - it's their vaginal exam, their electronic fetal monitor...it's all the "scientific" things that others rely on giving birth.

They have deep faith in their bodies and their babies.

They have excellent theoretical understanding of the "ins and outs" of normal birth and are extremely well informed. They put in hours and hours researching and talking to others.

They have strong support - the people who are going to be with them as they birth - usually partners - take it as seriously as they do and are very committed and put in the preparation they need to as well (obviously this one doesn't apply to those really rare women who do it 100% alone!)

And finally... they are women who are prepared to take full responsibility for themselves, their babies and their choices and believe that responsibility rightfully belongs with them, as the mother of that baby.

That sounds like a freebirth 101 but my point is that when women have all of those things happening, their instincts - whose purpose IS to tell them when something is wrong (or not) - are optimal and work at their best.

[bAaM]

Things are often overlooked in hospital anyways so there are always risks !

Hopefully the lovely demeter will be around to give you all the details you are asking for otherwise you can check out her blog as that may have details ! It also has her freebirth which is just an amazing story !

:iagree: When u birth in a hospital alot of the time u are pushed into drugs and uncalled for intervention.

But if u want to freebirth homebirth ect i think that you need to be 100% sure its what u want so u are relaxed.

[onemummmy]

oh well I know I wont be doing that then, I dont think im that in touch with my instincts. I know I CAN give birth, but thats different. I had midwives there so yeah..

[bubs_and_us]

freebirth may not be your cup of tea (not mine either), but a homebirth might be? you have the reasssurance of a midwife without the danger* of the hospital

*it is my opinion that hospitals are dangerous places for healthy ladies labouring and delivering babies

[shed]

I doubt that many people would choose to freebirth and just trust that they are some amazing intuitive special woman who will just 'know' that something is wrong by some instinct that the rest of us don't have.

Most women who freebirth have spent hours and hours and hours reading, discussing, researching, studying the normal stages of birth so they would know when its not normal by being educated about it.

They would also ensure that they knew what steps to take to ensure the safe arrival of their baby if anything out of the ordinary did occur.

I think most freebirthing women know more about birth than average. That might not have been true in the old days, when alot of births were unattended but not through choice, just through circumstance, but women these days have access to so much information they go into it as fully informed as you can possibly imagine.

Thats the impression I get anyway.

And my next birthing will be at home with a midwife sitting in another room having cups of tea and reading magazines. I will sing out if I need her. Its totally possible.

ETA: I do think women in labour have incredible instincts that they aren't usually encouraged or allowed to listen to, and freebirthing would make them more prominent.

[MummaBear03]

I think women who freebirth have a few things in common.

They're very in touch with their instincts, and they trust them implicitly. This is basically their touchstone - it's their vaginal exam, their electronic fetal monitor...it's all the "scientific" things that others rely on giving birth.

They have deep faith in their bodies and their babies.

They have excellent theoretical understanding of the "ins and outs" of normal birth and are extremely well informed. They put in hours and hours researching and talking to others.

They have strong support - the people who are going to be with them as they birth - usually partners - take it as seriously as they do and are very committed and put in the preparation they need to as well (obviously this one doesn't apply to those really rare women who do it 100% alone!)

And finally... they are women who are prepared to take full responsibility for themselves, their babies and their choices and believe that responsibility rightfully belongs with them, as the mother of that baby.

That sounds like a freebirth 101 but my point is that when women have all of those things happening, their instincts - whose purpose IS to tell them when something is wrong (or not) - are optimal and work at their best.
Yep! Everything ^^ she says :flowerz:

It takes someone who is so in touch with themselves that they would just know if something wasn't quite right. Don't think I'd do it, I don't even know when I'm ovulating or when to expect a period :laughing: but people who would Freebirth are people who know their bodies really, really well and have strong instincts.

I've been following demeter's story of EC and it's truly amazing. Hopefully she can answer some questions for you :yes:

[onemummmy]

freebirth may not be your cup of tea (not mine either), but a homebirth might be? you have the reasssurance of a midwife without the danger* of the hospital

*it is my opinion that hospitals are dangerous places for healthy ladies labouring and delivering babies

yeah I guess I was asking about freebirth cos I dont want someone doing stuff 2 me & touching me etc & I thought if u have a midwife then that will happen. anyway its just this loopy thing in the back of my mind lol

[bubs_and_us]

yeah I guess I was asking about freebirth cos I dont want someone doing stuff 2 me & touching me etc & I thought if u have a midwife then that will happen. anyway its just this loopy thing in the back of my mind lol

i think they would be more respectful of your wishes than hospital midwives. for example, if you didnt want VE's, i think they would be understanding, instead of saying 'we have to - its hospital policy'.....

also, i think could could find a hands-off midwife... one who will let you do your thing in peace, and only assist if you need it.

definitely a lot better than a hospital

[Rating]

How much does it cost to hire a midwife to assist (or not assist) with delivery at home?

[onemummmy]

Rating I think its approx $4000

[bubs_and_us]

it depends where in OZ you are.... here in wa, we have the community midwifery program, which gives us access to HB midwifes for a fee of $120 only (that includes antenatal care, birth and postnatal care). its funded through the govt.

otherwise, for an IM, you'd be looking at roughly $3000

[onemummmy]

it depends where in OZ you are.... here in wa, we have the community midwifery program, which gives us access to HB midwifes for a fee of $120 only (that includes antenatal care, birth and postnatal care). its funded through the govt.

otherwise, for an IM, you'd be looking at roughly $3000

how do u fond out what its like in other states?

[bubs_and_us]

TBH, im not sure. if you contact your dept of health and ask if they have a govt funded homebirth program, that would be a start. im sure the health dept would know!

as for an indy midwife, i went to www.midwives.org.au

[susmamma]

My grandmother 'free birthed' a couple of times. Of course it wasnt called 'free birthing' then. It was wwII and she was on the kitchen floor all alone with sirens going off in London.

And when she wasnt busy free birthing a breech 4.8 kilo baby, she was busy having regular home births with her other children, asissted by the local doctor. And then after one such home visit after delivering her fifth child the doctor headed off. When another baby appeared, her sixth child, she'd homebirthed twins.

Sometimes I wonder about all these labels for birth. When my grandmother had her 6 children she just had them... and then got up and did a load of washing.:D And I can be almost 100% certain she hadn't "read" a single thing.

[Ffrenchknickers]

yeah I guess I was asking about freebirth cos I dont want someone doing stuff 2 me & touching me etc & I thought if u have a midwife then that will happen. anyway its just this loopy thing in the back of my mind lol

Whereabouts are you onemummy? Are you pregnant lol? Why not look into a birth centre? The one I went to (RWH) was great...the midwives would do as little or as much as you wanted. NO internals etc etc if you requested not to....they would leave the room whenever you asked them to...but they are nearby in the case of an emergency:)

[kymmy]

... women who are prepared to take full responsibility for themselves, their babies and their choices and believe that responsibility rightfully belongs with them, as the mother of that baby.

.

Gosh this hit me!
I don't have my husband's support. He said he will accept a homebirth but said if anything happens it will be my fault. It upset me. But if I take what you say in a more positive way - to say responsibilty, well it just makes me think differently.
Rights and responsibilities of the birthing woman should stay with her imo.

[demeter]

I wouldn't say that I'm terribly "in touch with my insticnts", to be honest I don't really know what that means. But I do know that I know my body better than any medical professional.

Do you need a doctor to tell you that you feel sick? Nope, you figure it out first and then you seek medical help when you realise something doesn't feel right.

Remember that birth is an elimination process that your body is perfectly designed to do, like pooing. You trust your body to poo and wee and menstruate at home without a midwife or a doctor. Extend that trust to birth. That's all I did.

And it doesn't matter where you give birth, as a parent you are always responsible for your body and for your baby. That doens't mean that a negative outcome is your fault. It's not about blame. The medical model of birth is far too litigation focused. You make plans for the what ifs (which rarely happen if you give birth unhindered).

In my own experience nothing went wrong. I was in labour for 59 hours, and at times I was worried that it was taking so long, but at some level I always knew that everything was fine, because it never occurred to me to seek medical help. I just needed my support team to give me pep talks every now and again :)

[OJandMe]

I had a hospital birth. With a brilliant midwife through the Mater Midwifery Group Program.

No one touched me. AT ALL. No monitoring, no internals, no nothing... just me, and bub and encouragement...

In fact, the only thing my midwife DID do in the birthing process was catch Gabriel.... as he came out with one push just as we were telling DH to come get ready to catch him. :laughing:...

She only just caught his head before it hit the yoga mat.

[demeter]

^that's rather off topic.
Do you mean to say that you knew that everything was fine and didn't need assistance throughout the birth?

[onemummmy]

The reason I asked about this is because of a previous intervention riddled birth, & my feelings that I could never or would never want 2 do it that way again. It wont be a possibility anyway. Pure curiosity:) Thanks 4 replies:wave:

[Leisa21]

I wanted to homebirth but DH wasnt comfortable. He said its my choice but he would prefer to do it at hospital or at a birth centre. We couldnt get into the birth centre so I booked into hospital and decided to play it by ear. Of coarse I researched home birthing. I was diagnosed with pre eclampsia and polyhydramnious at 34 wks. My BP was dangering on stroke high and it was induction or medication. I chose meds but that didnt work. I decided to take the induction on my due date. I was booked for afull induction.

IN the room was DH, Mum and Nigel my midwife at the mater mothers in brisbane. I never saw a DR the hole time. I had one internal and only because I wanted it because after they broke my water I went into labour without drip or anything after 4 hrs of non stop contractions I felt ready to push but I wasnt 100% coz my midwife said it was unuasual. He didnt want to give me an internal in case I got worried if I wasnt very dialated. ANyway I was 10cm and it just gave me some confidence. The DR missed my birth becase it was so quick. I delivered after 6 hrs. I squatted him out and bubs was given to me without the midwife even looking at him. I held him for 2 hrs then DH had him for an hour. It was so wonderful I felt like I knew what I was doin the hole time. I wasnt interferred with which changed my whole perspective of hospitals and drs. they were brilliant. I know now I could labour at home and I would be fine but I dont want to anymore. I felt for me it was the right environment. I think we all know our bodies an however we choose to birth we would be the first to know if something good - like dialating or bad like the baby is distressed before any Dr or Midwife would. I hope whatever you decide you get the outcome you are wanting. Best of luck.

[Mamalicious]

^that's rather off topic.
Do you mean to say that you knew that everything was fine and didn't need assistance throughout the birth?


I don't think it's off topic at all.

Here is someone who wants the benefits of a freebirth yet doesn't feel confident in herself to know to seek help if she needs it.

OJ gave her experience, which I think would be helpful for someone in the position of the OP.

[Leisa21]

I don't think it's off topic at all.

Here is someone who wants the benefits of a freebirth yet doesn't feel confident in herself to know to seek help if she needs it.

OJ gave her experience, which I think would be helpful for someone in the position of the OP.
I agree which is why I made my post above because I thought the OP could benefit from hearing a positive hospital birth. Its important when choosing your birthing model to know all your options and I benefited from hearing how other people found their model of care.