Freebirth Kind of Weirds Me Out
The front page of today's Washington post has a large feature story called "Do-It-Yourself Delivery." The story details the experiences of a few women who advocate "freebirth," which is to say, having a baby at home, largely unattended by any licensed medical professional.
My knee-jerk reaction to the story, after realizing that as the father, *I'd* be responsible for cleaning up the mess, was outright dismissal of these women. I lumped them in with the Diaper Free Baby people in the corner of my mind.
But after reading the article, and following the subsequent chat on the Washington Post's Web site, I can't sit here and continue to condemn these people. That isn't to say that I agree with them or that I their ideas intrigue me and I'd like to subscribe to their newsletter. It's just to say that I don't think I can throw up a couple thousand words decrying them.
One of the central beliefs of freebirth advocates is that childbirth is a natural process and does not need the intervention of doctors, medicines, or technology. Given that children were born naturally for thousands of years before the first OB/GYN shop opened up in Babylon, there's a nugget of truth in that. This natural process argument loses me when support by phrases like "brings us closer as a family." I don't particularly believe that.
Freebirth advocates also point to the large amounts of research and planning that go into a natural home delivery. They say that women (and men) who are preparing for a freebirth are more knowledgeable than many other expectant couples. To which I reply, "duh."
Like I said above, I can't out-and-out condemn freebirth advocates, particularly when the medical community has such disparate opinions relating to things like vaginal vs. C-section delivery. But there is no way I would want my child to be born this way. There are going to be risks associated with childbirth until the end of time. Having a baby born in a hospital has its own set of risks from human error to mechanical failure. But 10 times out of 10 (though I'm really shooting for just two times out of two), I'd want my wife - and child - in that hospital bed.
UPDATE: The two women participating in the freebirth discussion on the Washington Post's' Web site did not answer my question. So, if you are a freebirth advocate, I really want to know the following:
1. Are there any special sheets or linens used in freebirth?
2. Do you throw the linens and sheets away or do you wash and reuse them?
3. Who cleans up the birth area?
4. What becomes of the placenta?
My knee-jerk reaction to the story, after realizing that as the father, *I'd* be responsible for cleaning up the mess, was outright dismissal of these women. I lumped them in with the Diaper Free Baby people in the corner of my mind.
But after reading the article, and following the subsequent chat on the Washington Post's Web site, I can't sit here and continue to condemn these people. That isn't to say that I agree with them or that I their ideas intrigue me and I'd like to subscribe to their newsletter. It's just to say that I don't think I can throw up a couple thousand words decrying them.
One of the central beliefs of freebirth advocates is that childbirth is a natural process and does not need the intervention of doctors, medicines, or technology. Given that children were born naturally for thousands of years before the first OB/GYN shop opened up in Babylon, there's a nugget of truth in that. This natural process argument loses me when support by phrases like "brings us closer as a family." I don't particularly believe that.
Freebirth advocates also point to the large amounts of research and planning that go into a natural home delivery. They say that women (and men) who are preparing for a freebirth are more knowledgeable than many other expectant couples. To which I reply, "duh."
Like I said above, I can't out-and-out condemn freebirth advocates, particularly when the medical community has such disparate opinions relating to things like vaginal vs. C-section delivery. But there is no way I would want my child to be born this way. There are going to be risks associated with childbirth until the end of time. Having a baby born in a hospital has its own set of risks from human error to mechanical failure. But 10 times out of 10 (though I'm really shooting for just two times out of two), I'd want my wife - and child - in that hospital bed.
UPDATE: The two women participating in the freebirth discussion on the Washington Post's' Web site did not answer my question. So, if you are a freebirth advocate, I really want to know the following:
1. Are there any special sheets or linens used in freebirth?
2. Do you throw the linens and sheets away or do you wash and reuse them?
3. Who cleans up the birth area?
4. What becomes of the placenta?
Labels: delivery
Delivered by SteveJeltzFan. Born on 7/31/2007 01:47:00 PM PERMALINK
3 Comments:
We are a UC family and I will answer your questions, but first I must say thank you for not being hostile and attacking like so many others. it is not your choice we are attacking, we are merely saying this is what is best for OUR family.
Now to your questions:
1. Are there any special sheets or linens used in freebirth?
not so much. We purchased a bed bag, the plastic bags that one would put a mattress inside for moving, to protect the matress later in my pregnancy, close to due date, so I wouldn't saturate the bed with my water breaking. We also purchaswed chux pads and some blue toss away drop cloths. I ended up giving birth in the bathroom using the toilet as a squat help while my husband caught-where my water broke as well. We used the chux pads afterward for the postpartem bleeding and until I expelled the placenta.
2. Do you throw the linens and sheets away or do you wash and reuse them? We toss them as that is how they were made.
3. Who cleans up the birth area? It truly wasn't very messy. Both my husband and I took care of it, but like I said, there wasn't much mess at all.
4. What becomes of the placenta? We froze ours and are planning an apple tree to plant it under. Half of it will be thawed, dried and powdered and re-frozen for a natural menapause hormone therapy.
We are pregnant with number three and s/he will also be born UC after an unassisted pregnany.
1. No, just old ones usually. Most unassisted birthers don't give birth in bed anyway. That's a cultural symbol that stems from doctor-attended birth. I gave birth in my bathroom, kneeling on top of some old towels. We had an old set of sheets on the bed for the first few hours after the birth.
2. I washed them. Hydrogen peroxide removes blood like a charm.
3. My husband did. It wasn't that messy though--basically we used lots of towels (mostly during labor, as I was in and out of the Jacuzzi tub a lot). Cleanup involved throwing them in the washing machine and wiping off a little blood that was on the tile floor.
4. I froze it until spring, when I planted it under a rose bush. Planting placentas is a pretty common practice--they're great fertilizer.
Hi Steve,
Mairi and I never saw your questions. A producer from the Post picked out a few dozen questions and passed them on to us in a chat room. It was actually fairly chaotic "backstage" as we attempted to answer as many as we could in a short amount of time while the producer encouraged us (well, me!) to hurry things along.
So in answer to your questions, I never used any special sheets, but my births were actually fairly "neat" - my water often broke over the toilet or little baby bath tub that I stood over. I generally gave birth over the bath tub also. There was very little blood. Most people believe birth is bloody but often it isn't. The blood you see in hospital births is often from the episiotomy - which of course I never had. I only used a few towels which I washed. I burried the placentas in the backyard. Good luck with your birth!
Laura
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