Sometimes, women who want a freebirth are aware of the risks. But some feel this is their only option.
Articles on Home birth
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They sound similar but come with very different potential risks.
People rarely speak plainly of birth, and even more rarely spell out the details in positive terms.
A free birth is when a woman chooses to have a baby, usually at home, without a registered midwife or doctor in attendance. It’s much riskier than a planned home birth.
Women favour seeing the same health provider throughout pregnancy, in labour and after they have their baby – whether that’s via midwifery group practice, a private midwife or a private obstetrician.
There will be lessons we can learn for the future of childbearing once the pandemic is over.
The pandemic will affect types of care and social beliefs about reproduction in the longer term.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads, pregnant women are facing new health risks and a health care system that’s changing around them by the day.
During a pandemic, a home birth starts looking better every second. Midwives with their specialized skills in low-risk normal birth can be of great service.
Compared to women who give birth in a birth centre, those who give birth in hospitals are much more likely to have interventions – from epidurals, to labour augmentation and caesarean deliveries.
The benefits of midwifery for women and babies globally are clear. In Canada, innovations in midwifery centres and services are tempered by low pay and high rates of burnout.
Evidence suggests that microbes play a vital role in health. But what microbes we get depends whether we were born in a hospital versus at home. That could impact our health decades later.
A professor of midwifery education reviews the research evaluating the safety of home versus hospital births.
Women often express a fear of giving birth en route to the hospital, and these fears have some basis.
Does the growth of ‘freebirthing’ mean that women are rejecting professional advice? Or is there something else going on?
Are we overscheduling our children even from the moment of their birth? We live in an on-demand world. Movies are shown on request, food is delivered on call and drivers arrive when beckoned. As an economist…
Home births are on the up but hospitals still matter.
The ongoing and sometimes emotive debate about risks and rewards of giving birth in hospital or at home is nothing new. What is new is the attention being given to the legal rights and responsibilities…
The recall of hired home-birthing pools after a baby contracted Legionnaires’ disease will inevitably lead some women to worry about having a water birth at home. While the incidence is rare, it is worth…
Women who give birth at home as part of a publicly funded home birth program have an overall low risk of problems such as stillbirth, postpartum hemorrhaging and emergency cesarean section, a new study…
Top contributors
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Professor of Midwifery, Associate Dean Research and HDR, Midwifery Discipline Leader, Western Sydney University
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Assistant Professor, Midwifery Education Program, McMaster University
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Caroline Homer is a Friend of The Conversation.
Deputy Director (Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion), Burnet Institute
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Post-doctoral Fellow in the School of Medicine, Western Sydney University
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Senior Lecturer in Midwifery, Monash University
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Lecturer, King's College London
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Associate Professor of Economics, University of Southern Denmark
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Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist & Associate Professor, Adelaide University
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Professor of Statistics and Econometrics, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
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Adjunct Associate Professor, Adelaide University
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Adjunct Professor, Australian Centre for Health Law Research, School of Law, Queensland University of Technology
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Assistant Clinical Professor of Midwifery, Yale University
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Associate Professor, Anthropology, Deakin University
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Clinical Assistant Professor, Director of Interprofessional Education, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University
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Visiting Lecturer, Midwifery, Birmingham City University