Unassisted childbirth anyone?

that sounds really cool! Only if the woods are quiet lol, I hated any sound during my labor.

hehe ahhh the sound of barking dogs!

Its not about saving money for me at all. I have full medical coverage for myself and my family. It covers all the doctors, and i pay my copays. Im paid for the year in them. So really it wouldent save me money at all.

I have known many women who have had unassisted home births. I considered it for my last pregnancy, my partner was not comfortable of a home birth at all (even with a midwife) so I opted for a hospital birth (w/midwife) to ease his fears. Now that he has experienced a hospital birth, he is very supportive of home births! It is not at all about saving money. Many women who choose to birth at home (with or without a midwife) have insurance that would cover their births in hospitals. They opt for the birth they want even if it means paying out of pocket for a midwife, for birthing supplies or even a visiting nurse to do a post birth check-up. Hospitals births (here in the US)are almost always, over-managed, over-assisted; and the statistics are very clear- the outcomes are awful! The US has one of the worst records of all industrial nations, and we have the highest rates of hospital births & access to all the technology anyone could possibly want. In many cases it's that access to technology & the interference in a sacred process that causes these tragic outcomes. Let me give you an example- almost all hospitals standardly use electronic fetal monitoring (the belt that has a doppler attached to monitor baby's heart rate). It's "non-invasive" and most women do not think there is any reason to object to it- even though it keeps them immobile, afterall we *need* to know the baby is OK constantly. The doctor that invented this devise gives presentations & speaks out against how they are overused now. It's intended to monitor high risk labors, not to keep mom in an unproductive position. Further the rates of inaccurate readings or interputations with them lead to more c-sections, more pitocin & more problems for a labor that was perfectly normal to begin with. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to babble so much. The bottom line, a home birth with or without assistance isn't for everyone. BUT for the family that is ready & willing to accept total responsibility for their birth, their health & their baby it's a viable option. Every mother-to-be should make the decisions she is most comfortable with, birth where she feels safe and be supported in those choices.

There have been several studies that ahve shown that birthing at home is just as safe, and in soe cases safer, than hospital birth. It really isn't that off the wall.How do you think babies were born for the bilions of years before hospitals? ;)