Janet Fraser, a home birth advocate and founder of the site Joyous Birth, recently experienced a personal tragedy when her baby died at her home in Australia on March 27 during her free birth or unassisted childbirth (where a woman gives birth at home without the aid of a midwife or doctor).
When a tragedy like this occurs, people are often left scratching their heads wondering how something like this could happen, what went wrong, and lastly, who’s to blame? I don’t know if we need to point a finger to make ourselves feel better, but it seems to be human nature to ask, “why did this happen?”
While I did not consider giving birth at home without a midwife in attendance for my home birth, I know a handful of women who chose an unassisted birth and I respect them for it. I believe these women did a great deal of research in advance, knew what they were doing, trusted their bodies and their babies and were prepared to go to the hospital if any issues arose. Although I don’t know her, I trust that Janet Fraser would fall into this category as well. Not everyone agrees with me though and some, like Amber Watson-Tardiff, are suggesting that what Fraser did by having her baby unassisted was “reckless, neglectful and borderline criminal.”
Jessica Gottlieb of Eco Child’s Play says, “I support women who chose a home birth. But a free birth? I cannot see the wisdom in it. Neither can Ms. Fraser’s baby.”
Watson-Tardiff goes on to say, “I hope she is at least subject to an investigation for child endangerment.”
Ronda Kaysen of MomLogic says she sees the value of home birth as a way of reducing medical intervention, but believes giving birth without medical assistance is “absurd.”
Fraser’s “free birth” argument, which on the surface appears feminist, is actually the opposite. It doesn’t empower women to take control of their own bodies. It sends them and their babies into the dark ages of medical care – where women give birth with no medical care at all and face the very real possibility of death as a consequence.
For the record the police are investigating the death and have said “it was not clear whether the baby was stillborn or died after delivery. If a baby is stillborn, there is no autopsy. If a baby is alive at birth and dies soon after, it is considered a matter for the coroner.”
I guess I give Fraser the benefit of the doubt and assume that like most mothers she was doing what she thought was in the best interest of her baby. Although she coined the term birth rape (birth interventions done against the woman’s wishes), I don’t believe she would put her child in harm’s way rather than accept a potentially life-saving intervention. Then again I don’t know Fraser and have not spoken to her, so I can only speculate just as others are doing, but I prefer to give her the benefit of the doubt. However, I do believe that whenever a child dies, there should be an investigation into the death.
While many are blaming Fraser for her baby’s death since she did not have a doctor or midwife in attendance, no one seems to mention the fact that babies die in the hospital, where doctors are present, all the time.
Laura Shanley, author of the book Unassisted Childbirth and owner of the Bornfree! website who blogs at Letters from Laura – Thoughts on Unassisted Childbirth, brought up that point and shared another perspective many of us may not have thought of when she shared the following statement with me:
I don’t know Janet, but of course my heart goes out to her. An Australian friend of mine has told me that despite what the media is saying, Janet’s baby was stillborn and the outcome wouldn’t have been different had the baby been born in the hospital. Regardless of whether or not this is true, I find it sad that so many people are blaming Janet for her baby’s death. A baby is stillborn in an American hospital every fifteen to twenty minutes. According to a story on my local newscast, this is double what it was ten years ago. Yet almost no one blames hospital birth mothers (nor should they) for these babies’ deaths. This is because it’s assumed that if a baby dies or is stillborn in the hospital, everything possible was done to save the baby’s life. The possibility that at least some of these deaths might have been caused by early inductions, c-sections and other interventions is rarely discussed.
I can tell you, however, that as a homebirth advocate I have received numerous letters over the years from grieving mothers who wonder if their hospital born baby might have survived (or avoided injury) had they been born at home. The fact is, in most cases we may never know. Sometimes medical intervention saves lives, and sometimes it takes them. This is why I encourage parents to do their own research and decide for themselves where and with whom they want to give birth. In my case, I chose to give birth at home unassisted because from the research I had done I felt that the majority of problems in birth – both now and in the past – could be traced to three main causes: poverty, unnecessary medical intervention, and fear which triggers the fight/flight response and shuts down labor. Despite what most people believe, the act of birth itself is not dangerous. But our cultural beliefs and practices can make it so. In the end, it’s a personal decision. And just as the death of a hospital-born baby doesn’t mean that no baby should ever be born in the hospital, the same should be said for babies born at home. Regardless of the outcome of this case, I will continue to speak out about unassisted childbirth as I believe that in most cases it’s the safest and most satisfying way to give birth.
Genie, an Australian blogger who writes at Home Is Where the Heart Is, blogged extensively about her thoughts regarding Janet Fraser and defends her choice to have her baby unassisted at home. She feels the insinuation that women who birth at home do it to feed their own ego at the expense of their child is “a crock.”
Women choose to homebirth with their baby’s best interest at heart. They do it FOR the baby, not in spite of the baby. Yes they want to feel empowered and blissed out, but the lack of trauma and the satisfaction a mother gets after a natural birth all benefits the baby too. A mother’s health and well being has a HUGE impact on the baby. So why should we ignore the interest and well-being of the mother?
In the wake of this tragedy and surrounding media coverage, some feel the need to point out that there is a difference between home birth and free birth. Dr. Meredith Nash of The Baby Bump Project says homebirth and freebirth are not the same.
The media has failed to differentiate between freebirth or unassisted birth (no midwife or doctor) and homebirth (a birth at home, usually with a midwife or homebirth doctor). For the most part, for low-risk births that are attended properly, homebirth has been proven to be a safe alternative to hospital birth. Freebirthing is significantly more risky (sorry, I’m a supporter but also a realist). It is essential to make this differentiation. Now that homebirth is on the precipice of being banned given that independent midwives are likely going to be denied indemnity insurance from next year, the suggestion that all women who homebirth are crazy radicals or that homebirth represents the majority of birthing women in Australia (only about 2%) is ridiculous. If anything, midwives and their ability to attend homebirths will be the saving grace of the Australian maternity system. Rather than convincing the small proportion of women who avoid a medicalized birth, why not support these women in their choices by making homebirth safe and easy?
Summer Minor, who blogs at Wired for Noise and gave birth to her daughter at home a little over a week ago, references the recent Nederlands study that says home birth is as safe as hospital birth. “A new study is out from the Netherlands that gives us home birthing mothers a nice little pat on the back. Despite the labels of ‘dangerous’ and ‘unsafe’ by some, once again it’s been found to be just as safe as giving birth in a hospital.” From the BBC:
The largest study of its kind has found that for low-risk women, giving birth at home is as safe as doing so in hospital with a midwife.
Research from the Netherlands – which has a high rate of home births – found no difference in death rates of either mothers or babies in 530,000 births.
I think that Shanley said it best when she said, “In the end, it’s a personal decision. And just as the death of a hospital-born baby doesn’t mean that no baby should ever be born in the hospital, the same should be said for babies born at home.” We all must do our research and make the choices that we feel are the best for ourselves and our babies and then, find peace with our decisions.
I offer Janet Fraser and her family my deepest sympathy. My thoughts are with them.
Cross-posted on BlogHer.
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Crunchy Chicken says:
I had never heard of unassisted childbirth until today. Have these people no grasp of history or concept of human birthing culture? Isn’t the statistic that one in three women died in childbirth up until the 20th Century?
Now, I’m not suggesting a hospital birth is necessarily the way to go – I firmly believe that low-risk pregnancies and a homebirth are great options for those women that seek it.
But, if you check your Anthropology 101 textbooks, historically, most cultures have quite a supportive community mechanism for assisting birthing women. To attempt to fly solo is, well, slightly nuts. I don’t understand the impetus. Has the hatred of modern medicine pushed people so far away that they are willing to risk their own health and the health of their unborn child?
April 30th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
phyllis says:
a very sad story. i am with crunchy chicken – everyone needs a little bit of help, throughout history that’s how it’s been. thanks for sharing this post, amy.
April 30th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Jennifer Lance says:
Both of my homebirths were attended by two midwives. Even though Jessica expressed her opinion on Eco Child’s Play, I think it is important to note our writers have many different birthing experiences and opinions (and I love Jessica). We do have a writer that has had unassisted births and is planning another one in a few weeks. My own personal choice was based on the fact that anything can happen at anytime, no matter how many successful births assisted or unassisted you have had. I also wanted to share the experience with midwives. I think midwives are amazing people. I respect them greatly!
April 30th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Emily Jones says:
I had a UC last July.
Crunchy Chicken – have YOU no grasp of history? Women died in childbirth not from lack of technology, but from poor nutrition, lack of access to emergency services, and no antibiotics. Granted, some of them could have been saved by medical intervention, but the majority of common pregnancy complications, such as hemorrhage and infection, were not treatable then, but are perfectly treatable now.
In fact, when birth first moved into the hospitals, the maternal mortality rate ROSE until the US was the worst in the world for which statistics were know. The mortality rate only started to decline when antibiotics were invented, and aseptic routine implemented. (People knew that germs could be transmitted by contact by that point, but up to that point, doctors continued to refuse to wash their hands, insisting that they could not possible be the ones making patients sick.) At that time the #1 cause of death to pp women was puerperal fever, which was given to them BY THE DOCTORS. Hospital-acquired infections currently account for 2 million+ infections in the US every year, and 26,000+ deaths.
Okay, that being said, there are cultures in the world who choose to birth unassisted. But the primary reason for UCs in our country is lack of options. If a woman wants to VBAC, in many states, the hospitals don’t support VBAC, and if there are licensed midwives, they are prohibited from attending them. So many women have a choice between an unnecessary c-section or home birth without a midwife. Same with breech birth and twins.
Even so, many women still feel called to birth unassisted. Maybe they want it to be a private family affair? Maybe they don’t want any strangers around them during a time where they need to focus? But all UCers that I have known do a TON of research and educate themselves on when to call for help.
It’s not like we live on the frontier. I live 5 minutes from the biggest, baddest hospital in the valley. If I were to experience a complication, it would be literally 10 minutes to get there, during which time they would have the OR set up for me. Even in the hospital it would take a minimum of 5-10 minutes to get the anesthesia and people set up to perform an emergency c-section. There are VERY few complications that will kill a mother or baby in less time than it takes to get to the hospital, and those types of complications will probably kill you no matter where you are, before anyone even knows something is wrong.
In any case, there are no studies done on the relative safety of UC, so it cannot be unequivocally stated that UC is more dangerous than midwife-assisted home birth. The only numbers out there on UC include ALL unattended births, such as precipitous births, dumpster babies, and any birth that occurred outside the hospital and in the absence of a professional birth attendant.
Rather than crow about how dangerous it is that women take on the responsibility for their outcomes, you all should take the time and do some research. Find out what are the real dangers, and whether or not a mother has the right to assume the risks herself. Then you can come back and defend your position.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Niecey says:
It’s very sad indeed. What’s more sad is that when she’s already grieving, and no doubt already blaming herself (that’s what grieving mothers do, even when we know we did nothing wrong, we find a way to blame ourselves), the world thinks its a great time to point the finger at her, tell her what a naughty girl she’s been and use her tragedy as an opportunity to speak up against the home birth movement. Some people are just sick.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
Brenna says:
Very nice, balanced post. I do not pretend to understand the decision to have an unassisted homebirth, but I do think that many of them women who do make that choice do it with the best of intentions. Babies die, as sad as it is, under all circumstances and to blame a grieving mother at this point is just wrong.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Summer says:
I was going to leave a huge comment, but Emily pretty much said it all perfectly. Yes, I have done the research. Mountains of it. And that’s why I don’t compare my modern, easy life to that of a woman living 100+ years ago.
April 30th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Kona says:
While I think that stories such as this one give us great opportunities to discuss the safety and merits of UC and the differences between UC and Homebirth, I do NOT think it’s appropriate to dissect the details of this particular tragedy. To do so without any knowledge of the specifics and people involved is highly irresponsible. Frankly, Amy, the benefit of the doubt is not yours to give to this family.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Amber says:
I think it’s so disappointing that one case leads people to conclude that home birth is unsafe. We are all different, our births are all different, our situations are all different. The sad truth is that not every birth outcome is good. We simply cannot say that because this one birth did not turn out as well as we could hope for, that this in any way is a risk for anyone who wants to birth outside of a hospital.
April 30th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Tiffiny says:
Very nice Emily. My heart goes out to this family.
April 30th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Crunchy Chicken says:
Emily – Historically speaking, I wasn’t referring to “modern” medicalized birth and its inherent issues, because there are many. As for tribal cultures who practice unassisted birth, very few first time mothers deliver alone. It is interesting to learn that women are willing to go to the extreme of an unassisted birth for something like a VBAC when a licensed doctor or midwife could attend to her. That seems even more risky than what I was alluding to earlier. Just out of curiousity, in what states are VBACs unavailable? In what states are midwife assisted births illegal?
Perhaps I’m taking far too literal an interpretation of “unassisted” birth, but the impression I got was that the woman was giving birth without the help of any individual who had knowledge of childbirth to assist her. The option to seek emergency medical care gets a little sketchy in that does the individual have enough knowledge to know when to act and will they have enough time or ability to obtain it? Particularly when it comes to something like hemorrhaging, where speed is an issue, or infection, where knowledge and expertise is an issue. That’s when a trained birthing assisting would be highly valuable.
Also, to make the assertion that an unassisted birth is just as safe as using a trained, licensed midwife without any data can be construed as equally misleading.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:06 am
Sheryl from A Much Better Way says:
If this birth was a tragedy that would have happened no matter what the birth location, why is this poor woman being attacked for her choice?
If a baby dies in the hospital (as they do all the time) is the mother vilified? Of course not.
May 1st, 2009 at 1:39 am
Bits4babies says:
My heartfelt condolence goes out to the family. Whether a baby is still born or dies shortly after, you cannot imagine the loss you feel.
I don’t want to be a judge on this, she is an expert after all and probably felt that there was nothing wrong until the baby was born.
It’s alright for everyone to point fingers at her, but honestly, can they really? Think about how the family feels right now. Show some compassion.
May 1st, 2009 at 2:14 am
chelle says:
How sad that a baby was lost.
May 1st, 2009 at 3:39 am
Mimi @ The Things We Do says:
So sad that a baby was lost, my heart goes out to Ms Fraser and her family.
We all make the choices that we think are best for our family. While I can’t comprehend giving birth with no help at all, it’s all about choice. We should be allowed to make educated decisions about what is best for our family and not judge others by their choices.
I do, however, think they should investigate the death. You never know, it may vindicate her and help to give her closure.
Great, balanced post Amy.
May 1st, 2009 at 6:06 am
lilbet says:
Amy,
This is well written and I applaud you for sharing this issue.
You know how I stand on this. Midwife for almost 15 years, I don’t like home birth. Things can happen so quickly that getting to a hospital makes no difference.
We moms are charged with keeping our children as safe as possible. I, personally, would err on the side of caution and enjoy the security of having a NICU and all attending staff in the wings.
Just like I would ask my child to wear a bike helmet, seatbelt, etc. I do everything possible to make sure my son is safe.
Sadly, this woman has been dealt the ultimate blow. Sadly, it is worse yet because she was such a strong voice. Sadder even is the fact that women’s choices will be affected by this incident.
While I would never advocate home birth myself, it’s important to me to know that women are empowered with choices. This may be the ultimate tragedy of this woman’s reckless behavior. That the focus on her terrible misjudgement will create an unbelievable backlash.
May 1st, 2009 at 6:43 am
Shotgun_Mary says:
Crunchy Chicken: I would encourage you to seek out the International Cesarean Awareness Network at http://www.ican-online.org/ and educate yourself about how difficult it is to come by a VBAC in many states. Where I live a woman would have to travel up to five, possibly six hours away in order to be “allowed” an attempt at a VBAC in a hospital setting. Also, only slightly more than half of the states allow midwife assisted birth out of the hospital. In the rest of the states the midwives operate under a gray area of the law. In some states, like Illinois, midwives are actively prosecuted for attending out of hospital births. Because of this there are women out there that literally have no other choice than to go unassisted if they hope to avoid future surgery and injury.
May 1st, 2009 at 7:20 am
Emily Jones says:
Crunchy Chicken – Re: VBACS, that is the point I was trying to make. In most of the US, doctors refuse to attend VBACs, and licensed midwives are legally prohibited from doing so. So for many women, their only choice is to use a doctor and have an unnecessary c-section, or to do it at home without a licensed midwife. Here is a breakdown of VBAC rates by state, and the hospital bans on them:
http://alternativebirthservices.blogspot.com/2009/03/ican-state-by-state-vbac-hospital.html
Midwifery is either illegal, not provided for, or not protected in 17 states. Here is a list of midwifery licensing laws by state:
http://mana.org/statechart.html
Unassisted birth does not mean solo birth. It simply means birthing without the assistance of a paid professional. In my own birth, I had my husband and two friends, who had both had their own births previously.
And I never asserted unassisted birth is just as safe as midwife-assisted birth. I said, “it cannot be unequivocally stated that UC is more dangerous than midwife-assisted home birth.” That is, that no one can go around talking about how dangerous UC is, because there are no numbers out there to prove it. (In my personal experience, I would guess that mortality is comparable, but morbidity and transfer rate is much higher among the UC crowd.)
May 1st, 2009 at 7:31 am
Emily Jones says:
lilbet – as Amy pointed out in her post, birthing in the hospital is not “erring on the side of caution.” Study after study, including the one she quoted, have proven home birth to be JUST AS SAFE as hospital birth. Except home birth has a much lower incidence of injury and infection to mothers and babies. So really, the safest place to birth is at home, when you consider morbidity as well as mortality.
And statements like this: “This may be the ultimate tragedy of this woman’s reckless behavior. That the focus on her terrible misjudgement will create an unbelievable backlash” is exactly what Amy is talking about in her post. There is no proof whatsoever that the baby died as a result of her decision to UC. Maybe the baby just died. Sometimes bad things happen. To simply assume that her choice to UC caused the baby to die is ignorant and judgmental. I’ll say again what I said before: do some research and learn more about what UC entails before you go around telling people how reckless it is.
May 1st, 2009 at 7:37 am
inthefastlane says:
And then…there are the stillbirths that are PREVENTED because there was proper monitoring of the baby and medical personal recognized that the baby was in distress and took the steps to deliver the baby safely.
A relative of mine had a hospital still birth. This baby would still have died in a home birth, assisted or otherwise. But, this was actually a clear cut case of doctor negligence and the hospital has settled with the parents. This is a baby that should have/ could have been saved had the staff been paying proper attention. And it is these cases, that make me nervous, and yet even more nervous about giving birth without assistance of any kind.
May 1st, 2009 at 8:26 am
Emily Jones says:
inthefastlane – Multiple studies have shown no improved outcomes with constant monitoring. That is to say, constant monitoring does not “save lives.”
Your own example is contradictory – you say that the baby would have died regardless, and yet it was negligent on the part of the doctor? How is that possible? If no one could have predicted or prevented it, then it is no one’s fault. Perhaps this is heart of the insistence of negligence in home birth tragedies, and UC in particular: in a UC, there is no one to blame when something goes wrong.
And since you admit that constant monitoring and being in the hospital would not have saved their baby in the first place, why do you say it makes you more nervous for home birth? To me, hospital incompetence = want a home birth even more.
May 1st, 2009 at 8:31 am
Mediamum says:
Amy, thank you for writing the best piece of real, balanced ‘journalism’ I’ve seen in quite a long time. You could teach ‘professionals’ a thing or six.
In response to some of your commentors: As an Australian mother of four, I’m familiar with the state of play in the birthing community in Australia.
I think it’s so disappointing that the most vocal opponents to ‘alternative’ birthing (ie anything other than a booked c-section these days) are the least educated, have never really questioned anything, have all the tests, get their record sheets stamped at the right times, all because it’s simply the ‘done’ thing. They yell about the irresponsibility of anyone who does otherwise, without really finding out why they made that decision in the first place.
Newsflash: While some women make choices for their births that others don’t see the sense of, the best response would be to ask why they made that decision in a balanced manner and get an education rather than judge and scream and accuse, which helps nobody.
I question why one person’s birth experience has to be proven to be better than anyone else’s, and why we need to fight each other to ‘prove’ what is reasonable.
Babies die in every birth situation. None is perfect.
May 1st, 2009 at 10:00 am
inthefastlane says:
Emily, I believe you mis-understood me. The baby would have died at home. If the hospital had monitored the baby properly (they did not), the baby would not have died.
Sorry, if the error was on my end. Luckily, I don’t have to make this decision any more. And really, I believe in a woman’s right to chose how her baby is born. My only point being that in the case that I mentioned, had the hospital done their job, the baby would have been saved. At home, the baby would still have been still born.
May 1st, 2009 at 10:25 am
Brandy says:
So many good thoughts found throughout all of the posts. Inthefastlane, midwives have ways to monitor a baby and most often times do a fabulous job and are more than competent. Part of the reason that they do so is because they tend to stay with the birthing mother for most of the birthing experience. They do monitor the baby frequently and check the mother as needed. They are often able to tell immediately when something starts to go wrong because they are there whereas, hospital staff is not. Hospital staff has to rely on electronic monitoring because they cannot possibly attend to every woman on the maternity floor at once. A midwife does and so does her assistant. Homebirth is not cave like. They use homeopathic and herbal remedies wisely, they have spent so much more time w/ the families prenatally, and have each others wisdom to draw from. I don’t think it’s wise to say that your relative’s baby would have died at home too because that certainly may not be the case.
As for UC, I firmly believe that women should birth wherever they darn well please. If they want to have their baby in a cave, in their home, in a field, etc. then so be it. We all have to live with the consequences of our choices (good or bad) no matter what we do. Having had a baby w/ a CMN first and then my second at home w/ a CPM, I realized that I had taken their lives in to my own hands. Heck, I did that upon conception. The foods we eat, whether smoke, drink or do drugs (even whether we take aspirin for heaven’s sake!) and have an epidural are all choices that we make that have consequences for our children. My first CNM told me (when I was asking her about her choice to selectively vax her children) that we all have to make choices and the tough part is dealing with the possible consequences. She said “you have to make your choice and then deal with the consequences whatever they may be. Whatever you decide has to be something you can live with for the rest of your life.” I feel it’s applicable to how you birth your child. For someone who strongly believes in the power of UC, if they were forced to have their baby in a hospital and something awful happened, they’d have to live w/ that consequence and would feel terrible about it. If someone who wanted a hospital birth ended up inadvertently having a homebirth and something happened, then they would suffer the same grief. The questions of “why” would be different but they still end up with the same feelings of guilt and saddness. The key here IMO is not whether this was the right or wrong thing for this family to do. It’s more of how they will deal with their grief and whether they are able to live with the consequences of their actions. We all have to do that on some level in our lives and I truly hope that they are able to do so. It has to be hard enough as it is to mourn the life of a child w/o all of us stating whether she should be charged and investigated. Would you all want to be charged and investigated if something went wrong w/ your birth regardless of where it was? If this was her fault (and I’m totally not saying that it is) then she will have to live long days of knowing that and I imagine that would be worse than any investigation or “punishment.” I feel for the family deeply.
May 1st, 2009 at 11:26 am
Candace says:
First, I am so sorry to hear of this mother’s loss.
My take on the larger issues that surround unassisted birth…I think that it underscores the need for MORE, not less, choice.
Perhaps if women felt that their needs and wishes would be respected, they would welcome more participation from the birth experts of their choosing. By over-medicalizing birth, we set up a choice of two extremes, both of which may be right for some families, when most of us fall in the middle.
I also agree with Laura as quoted in your post. There are some babies who would be lost to us no matter what, some who might be saved by medical intervention, and some who are lost as a result of medical intervention.
Somewhere in there are guidelines that would, on the whole, maximize what medical science can do without causing more harm than good…but we can never be 100% sure in any particular case and I do believe that the families’ wishes must be part of any calculation.
And none of this second guessing brings back any babies…and families who lose their babies should be given room to mourn that loss.
May 1st, 2009 at 6:30 pm
andi says:
a wonderful, balanced post, and one that i truly appreciate, being a UC mom myself.
i guess i’ve come to the point in my life where i accept birth and death as part of the life cycle. we cannot prevent every big bad wolf from knocking on our doors, no matter how hard we try. hospital, assisted homebirth, unassisted homebirth…all have risks, all have benefits. why do we constantly try to find someone to blame? why do we NEED to point the finger at someone? yes, it’s tragic when a baby dies, but death is a part of life, one that society simply refuses to accept.
i’m so sorry that Janet, on top of her grieving, is being made an ‘example’ of. shame on those of you who are vilifying not only this woman, but other women who choose a similar path. if you weigh your options and decide that UC isn’t for you, that’s perfectly fine! if, god forbid, you lose your baby in the end, i sincerely hope you aren’t thrown to the wolves for your choice as this woman has been. and shame on those of you who ‘speak’ for her child. poor taste, indeed.
beating your chests and ranting about statistics from past centuries is not going to make a woman who’s chosen UC suddenly change her mind. we already know. we’ve read about it, seen the statistics, and taken them into account when making the decision. we are not uneducated.
in the end, it’s not our place to sit in judgment of a woman who’s just lost her child. i have to wonder, though…if the investigation decides that she is ‘innocent’, who then will you all point your fingers at? god?
May 1st, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Emily says:
Ms. Frazer, you poor woman, I am so sorry for your loss. Just reading about it brings tears to my eyes. I hope and pray that your family has a chance to grieve in peace, and that someday you are able to forgive yourself. Why do you need to forgive yourself? Because we mothers blame ourselves for everything that happens to our children, whether it is our fault, or preventable, or simply a part of life. Do I blame you for this terrible tragedy to hit your family? Absolutely not. Do I think you should stop the work you’re doing, advocating for women’s right to choose? Absolutely not.
You see, I am a “victim” of the system, a statistic. My first birth, in a hospital, resulted in a C-section. As a result of that first C-section, and the subsequent weakening of my uterine and abdominal wall, my second C-section saved my life, and the life of my daughter. Had the birth been a VBAC as I was hoping, my uterus would have ruptured.
Looking back on it, I see steps taken that led to that first surgery, things that could have prevented it. If I had educated myself more on the subject ahead of time, I might have opted for a midwife-assisted home birth. I might not have had that horrible surgical experience, might have been able to hold my baby sooner than 8 hours after birth, would not have had my system pumped full of drugs I’m allergic to, and would have been able to nurse my baby, instead of the uneducated hospital staff shoving bottles at him.
Because of the voice you are, women are starting to realize they have choices. Please don’t stop being their voice, their advocate. If not you, who will speak for them?
Amy, this was a wonderful and balanced, open-minded post, very well-written, and I’m glad to see that some women can support other women for their choices, regardless of the outcomes. I wish I could say the same of some of these commenters…
May 1st, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Cate says:
Hey all…
I see Emily has already been here, educating y’all. She is a fantastic example and advocate for this type of birth.
I just wrote a blog for Eco Child’s Play about Sheryl from A Much Better Blog, who also did a UC (and commented here).
http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/05/01/unassisted-childbirth-one-womans-story
I had two hospital births attended by midwives. The first was a very peaceful, wonderful, supportive birth, and I could have done it anywhere. (5.5 hours)
The second I also could have done anywhere, but *should* have chosen to do alone at home with my DH, as the “medwife” and nurse only got in our way.
http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/03/12/the-medicalization-of-my-natural-birth/
In the 10 minutes we were in the labor room with the attendants, it was entirely me, my DH, and my unborn child who made the birth a beautiful experience.
Home birth is entirely safe, lilbet. You may have the medical training, but your response makes me sure that if you were my care provider, I’d run as fast as possible in the other direction. It’s exactly this type of fear mongering (“things can happen so quickly”!) that leads to WAY too many interventions…and then to C-sections. It sounds like you subscribe to the ever-popular “Oh my God! She’s gonna blow!” theory of labor and delivery.
A large-scale study in the Netherlands, where 30 percent of births are at home, recently showed that there was not a higher rate of infant or maternal mortality in the home setting.
http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/04/17/home-birthing-is-gasp-safe/
Janet Fraser’s story is tragic, but it shouldn’t be held up as the example of all home births or UCs. Especially not in the U.S., which has one of the highest infant mortality rates of the developed world.
Thanks, Amy, for posting this!
May 2nd, 2009 at 7:59 am
Adventures In Babywearing says:
I agree with you. I think right now I can only imagine what this Mom is going thru- no matter what the circumstances I will believe she had only the right intentions and think that we should consider her and not place judgment.
I had a wonderful homebirth and hope this doesn’t taint the picture of it for others (and I know Janet would never want that to happen either.) What you said about babies injured or dying in a hospital… So true.
Steph
May 2nd, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Jenny says:
How totally sad. It’s bad enough that her baby died, but to have other moms blaming and condemning her for it when all she probably wanted was to birth her baby in peace? That’s just pathetic. These people need to have a little compassion.
I would probably never go unassisted because I just don’t know enough. I need a midwife to guide me. However, I have a friend who is going unassisted the same time I am due (in August), and she is well-equipped and has already had a successful birth center birth. She’s seeing a doctor to check and be sure she’s low-risk. Her mother’s an RN and will be there, and she herself is an experienced doula. I think it’s a reasonable choice for her, even if it’s not for me.
May 2nd, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Lauren says:
This particular case, and not necessarily free birth in general, makes me angry. It reeks of arrogance. I cannot imagine her grief, but it seems she did this (free birth) to prove a point.
She has a history of complications (emergency cesarean, although I’m guessing that she felt it was unnecessary) and zero-prenatal care (thus, no clue as to the condition of her child) and continued through a week (!) of labor undeterred and, from the sound of her interview days before, unconcerned.
She is quoted as saying, “I could do this for days” (referring to labor). What about her baby and his/her heart?
Also, she compared alerting a hospital of her birth to alerting an ER before skiing. How are the two comparable? Does skiing regularly result in the life of a child?
Those comments, in isolation I understand, seem callous.
While, I don’t know her and I understand I am judging a situation without knowing every detail, it’s hard to conclude that she had the best interest of her child at the center of her concerns, rather than her own ego.
May 2nd, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Kat says:
check your facts… babies do not die “all the time” at hospitals.. this was reckless for you to state this… yes, sometimes you read in your local paper that babies die at our hospital but most are stillborn prior to arriving…
May 3rd, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Sarah @ BecomingSarah.com says:
I think Shanley did say it best in that last quote. The fact is that we all make the choices we feel are the best, given the resources we have. And there is no way for us to know how things will turn out.
I am so sorry for her and for her family’s loss. My heart goes out to them.
May 3rd, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Anisa says:
Thanks for the great post!
For my son’s birth, we chose an out of hospital, free standing birth center. it was just a few block from our house, and by the time it was time to go there, my husband and I both had thoughts of just staying home and catching our boy ourselves. Things were going well, we had really prepared, and we were both quite calm and comfortable. But, we still went to the birth center. I’m glad we did, since I had a placental abruption in second stage and was bleeding pretty heavily (my midwife ended up transfering me to the hospital).
But despite that, my husband and I knew that our next baby WOULD be born at home. We hired a midwife though, because we are not experts, and we know that things outside of our control (like the abruption) can happen. I’m due in July, and I can’t wait.
Pont is, I can relate to how a woman could feel like she could give birth unassisted. I’m sure there are many who have and can (though I’ve never read much about that).
It is such a shame that Janet Fraser is being blamed, especially at this time. :( She was prepared, I’m sure and clearly knew the risks. Why do people feel the need to heap blame upon a grieving mother, especailly without ever considering the number of infant deaths in the hospital? :(
May 4th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Trilla says:
Anyone that puts their own child in danger because of their personal mission is unfit to be a mother. I don’t care what their rights are. What about the child’s right to medical care?
May 4th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Birthkeeper says:
The mere fact that this woman is being made an example of is sickening. To imply ( or flat out say, as I saw in one comment ) that she had this coming because of how vocal she was…is calloused and disgusting. A prior cesarean does NOT make the pregnancy, labor, or birth high risk.
Being in the hospital or having a midwife present does NOT mean that you will not have a baby who dies.
A woman who had a still birth with a midwife present summed it up beautifully – home birth and UC babies must be more cherished than hospital birthed babies. Because when a baby dies in the hospital, it is accepted. It is accepted that all was done that could have been done, and that it was just a part of the family’s journey in life, or a cruel hand of fate. But when a baby dies in a home birth ( unassisted or not ), justice HAS to be sought. The mother HAS to be scrutinized for her horribly irresponsible choices. She is made to feel like a murderer, instead of being allowed room to grieve the loss of a child that she carried inside of her for 10 months. The child that she cared so much about that she did her best to avoid a repeat cesarean for the baby’s sake.
Instead of incredibly cruel and disgusting comments ( such as saying that you feel sorry for the BABY ), why aren’t we mourning WITH mom? Put aside whatever small-brained aggressive thoughts might be going through your head about what YOU deem as irresponsible or dangerous, and grieve with this woman as one to another.
Shame on you all. Shame on you for thinking that this is something that YOU need to debate. Shame on you for pointing a finger at her and scrutinizing very personal and thought out decisions. Shame on you for being so ugly when this woman is beyond heartbroken.
May 4th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
anonymous says:
Right on Birthkeeper!
May 4th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
mandamom says:
Ditto Birthkeeper! Ditto! She probably knew more than most midwives know. She studied, researched, prepared, probably had various things on hand for various birth type “emergencies” etc…spent hours and hours ..well months, preparing. And yet she is said to be “unfit.” Yet, in this country, we now have a president that has no qualms about killing babies. It’s ok for women to make the “choice” to kill their babies, as long as it’s assisted by some “medical professional.” Even OUTSIDE the womb. Babies even left alive to die, alone and cold. With NO “investigation”. But a mother who WANTS her baby can’t “choose” to give birth at home alone, w/ all the things that are needed, with all the necessary preparation. Somehow, once again, it’s pure magic if you say you have “medical professionals” on hand to “DO something”…. SOCIETY MUST GET A GRIP!!! I do not see this as politics. It’s a matter of natural law and absolutes and ethics… Yk, while I’m at it, the same thing could probably be said of me. I was going unassisted w/ my third..had an abruption, but w/ little bleeding. Something that could have happened at ANY moment of pregnancy, not just labor. From the time it took to call paramedics, get transported around the corner literally to the hospital, get into the OR…pathology shows in that amount of time baby died. There are NO guarantees in life. People don’t, do NOT, want to accept that. I have gone on to adopt a beautiful baby girl who was almost aborted. LIFE is beautiful. Let this mother grieve in peace. Please!
May 4th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
jenny says:
As an OB nurse and a midwife I have to say that I have seen even the most low risk pregnancy turn into a high risk birth. Complications such as acreta’s, abruptions, respiratory distress, etc are not easily predictable by even the most experienced practitioner.
May 4th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
John says:
I don’t understand this at all. What’s the big deal about going to a medical facility to give birth to your child? I don’t understand why some people overly romanticize it. Some of you make all sorts of bizarre decisions that are essentially self-centered and self-serving.
Doctors and hospitals are not perfect, why would someone would forego the added safety net should something go wrong completely escapes me.
I won’t say this woman deserved what happened to her. That would be cruel and without basis since I have no idea if this could have been prevented. However, I will say that if this baby died because she neglected to get appropriate care due to her own stubbornness and selfishness then, yes, that should be investigated.
May 4th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Susan says:
I agree entirely with what John said. I delivered a beautiful baby boy 7 months ago who was 7 weeks early. I have the team of doctors at NYU to thank for his amazing health and mere one week stay in the NICU. Had they not given me a steroid to accelerate his lung maturity when there were signs earlier in the week of pre-term labor, things would have been much more grave (another woman with a 33 week birth spent two months in the NICU). Doctors aren’t our enemies. I also had a doula (who is also a nurse and midwife) present to help advocate for my wishes / explain everything that was going on to us. I could not have asked for a better experience.
It seems to me that childbirth is about the baby not about the mom. No one will remember going forward that you gave birth that day — they’ll think of it as your son or daughter’s birthday. It’s about them and what is best for their well being, having not asked to be brought into this world. To me, that means do everything humanly possible to make the birth as safe as possible. It’s not about empowering the mother….as John said, that seems pretty self-centered and self-serving.
It’s horrible that this poor child died and I do hope that it wasn’t the mother’s decision making that led to it. And if it was, then yes, she should be investigated.
May 4th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Toni Hansen says:
Jenny- Are you an OB nurse and a mEdwife or an OB nurse? You can’t be a midwife and an OB nurse. The two are a contradiction in terms. If you are truly in tune with your body, you would know when there was a real problem.
Susan- I am sorry for your little one and yourself to be born 7 weeks early. That, however, falls outside of the realm of normal. If I went into labor at 33 weeks (planning a UC) you bet I would go to a hospital. Some women don’t though and that should be there choice. They choose to let God (or another power)have the ultimate authority over their child’s lives.
My prayers go out to Janet Fraser and her family.
May 4th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
jenny says:
Birth is an amazing experience, for some life changing but John is absolutely right when he says it is being overly romanticized. I have watched as birth and pregnancy have evolved over the years from the experience of bringing life into the world to an experience of “who had the better birth”. At what point did refusing the assistance of medical professionals make you a better mom? When did it make your birth better? Isn’t the end result-a baby, the same?
I have delivered hundreds of babies and do so with both empathy and skill. I have had to perform medically necessary procedures on women that differed from their original birth plan, and that makes me a rapist? My goal is a healthy mom and baby and I use my education, insight, and experience to do so. Chossing to forgo the help of a professional is ridiculous and in this case possibly criminal.
May 4th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
jenny says:
Toni- I am an RN and a midwife. I have worked for ten years as an OB RN and another six as a Registered midwife. As for being in tune with your body being the factor for getting help. I beg to differ. Many OB concerns are silent and do not declare themselves until it may be too late. I delivered all five of my babies at home with a RM. With baby number three I had a massive post partum bleed, upwards of two liters. There is no doubt I would have died if I chose an unassisted birth. There was also no reason to think this would happen as my previous births were perfect. If I had been at home without help and appropriate medical interventions I would have not made it to the hospital in time.
May 4th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Susan says:
It is absolutely possible to be an OB Nurse and a Midwife. My doula, in fact, is all 3 — a trained and still occasionally practicing nurse, a doula and a licensed Midwife too. She’s amazing.
And Toni, it has nothing to do with personal choice or god — it has to do with the safety of the baby you’re bringing into the world and the safety of you as a mother. And you cannot tell me that it would EVER be the safest thing to have an unassisted birth. What would you do, for instance, if the baby had the umbilical cord wrapped around his or her neck? How, on your own, would you deal with that? I nearly died, when I was born 36 years ago, for this very reason and fortunately my mother delivered me with “assistance”. Honestly, those who would deliver a baby on their own, by choice, are no better than those who would let their child die for reasons of “religion” as opposed to getting their child the medical assistance they need.
May 4th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Mike says:
Sorry, but the choices this woman made were hers and she bears the responsibility for them. She’s a public figure on this issue.
If she’d been successful in birthing, then that would have been held up as a validation of her arguments.
Her failure to protect her child from death is HER failure alone.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:15 am
Elizah Leigh says:
I’ve been peeking at your site for the last few months and first want to say to you “bravo.” I finally decided to comment today because I think that your general green perspective on parenting would really complement the other voices in an online green social network that I’ve been a member of for the past 6+ months. It seems as though you already have a lot on your plate, but considering that you are so in tune to eco-friendly parenting, I just thought that I’d recommend that you check out http://www.greenwala.com — I hope that you agree that the site needs your voice!!
May 5th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Barrett says:
So many comments – I probably read about half. One point I didn’t see raised explicitly is the importance of preserving women’s choices, options and alternatives.
This is a really sad case, first and foremost for the family. Part of the reason this woman may have chosen an UC is because she couldn’t find anyone willing to trust her, or who she could trust to treat her the way she needed to be treated. A huge reason women homebirth with midwives is because they can’t find a hospital that will treat them with respect and a “hand’s off” approach. Sometimes, a woman writes a birth plan and literally get laughed at in the hospital. “It’s my way, or the highway” seems to be many hospital mantras – can we be surprised that women will end up choosing the highway then?
I long for the day where a woman can give birth anywhere she wants, with anyone she wants. I long for the day where homebirth is legal and transparent in every state, and midwives feel supported by the local hospital and have a good rapport with the doctors in the area. I long for the day when a doctor practicing for 5 years can say to me “Yes, I’ve seen a birth with no interventions” – today, that’s a rare doctor indeed. Imagine, some doctors have never seen a NORMAL birth – a woman free of cords and monitors, birthing in whatever position feels best for her. Finally, I long for the day when ACOG and other institutions aren’t trying to take away choices, options, and alternatives, but are trying to PROVIDE them.
That’s what’s best for moms and babies, and that’s what will raise our current atrocious numbers of child and mother mortality in this country.
Notice that I didn’t judge this specific case. It’s not about whether I would do what she did. It’s about me having the best access to care, and me deciding what the best route of care is for me and my child.
Barrett
May 5th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
Birthkeeper says:
Jenny,
Study after study has SHOWN that the risks of complications are LOWER at home than they are in the hospital. This means the rate of respiratory distress, hemmhorage, lower apgar scores, etc.
I have NO DOUBT that you see low risk births turn bad quickly…the only difference is, you’re in the hospital.
May 5th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Birthkeeper says:
John –
Who is romanticizing it? Is it romanticizing when a woman cares to not return to the place in which she was traumatized and abused? I dare say that if a man were forced to receive multiple rectal exam, stating that he had no choice, or that if he were strapped down and cut open for something he realized was later totally unnecessary…he’d never go back. Or, being a man, he’d make sure something was done about it. Because of the type of ignorance and utter stupidity shown in the comments here ( and the other bloggers who arrogantly believe that this woman’s tragedy is theirs to dissect ) women are afraid to share their story. Because they are told that they are overexaggerating, outright lying, or “romanticizing”.
It is AMAZING to me that a woman can choose to KILL her unborn child because she doesn’t want responsibility…but a woman who desires to flee from the environment in which she ( and quite possibly her baby ) was traumatized and has a tragedy occur…then she’s just a negligent murderer.
I’ll say it again – shame on you all. Especially those of you on here claiming to be midwives.
May 5th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
jenny says:
Birthkeeper- I am not sure where you came to assume that my deliveries were in hospitals?? About 90 percent of deliveries I do are at home and the remaining ten percent are about evenly split between the hospitals and the birth center.
I worked for ten years as an OB nurse prior to midwifery.
And believe me I have had several uncomplicated, low risk births go bad at home and need immediate transport. I have also had to, in conversation with the family, vary from the original birth plan in order to adjust to the circumstances. I am an absolute advocate of home births and if you read my previous comments you will see that I delivered all of my children at home, WITH a skilled midwife. Even with my education and experience I would never attempt an UC….in the throes of labor your clinical and instinctual judgement is impaired.
I have seen many hospital, dr attended births go very badly and the emotional toll it was going to take on the woman, in the long term, was evident. That is in part why I studied to become a RM. I support women in making the best decisions in regards to the birth of their child but in no way could I support a woman in going it alone.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Dare (GiveThemRoots) says:
Amy- WOW. I don’t know what else to say. I did want to let you know that I linked up to this and hope you don’t mind. I think you did a fantastic job writing this and staying as objective as possible. :)
May 6th, 2009 at 10:39 am
homebirther says:
Contrary to what has been stated in this blog, Janet Fraser did not coin the term ‘birth rape’ although she uses it a lot.
I believe it originated in the ‘navel gazing midwife’ blog, in a very moving entry where she personally (a hospital midwife) admits to perpetrating birthrape on a number of occassions and being horrified to realize it in hindsight.
May 6th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Toni Hansen says:
Susan-
I would slide the cord off of the neck. A cord around the neck is not an emergency. Any truly educated, learned, researching woman would know that. Cord around the neck is at the very bottom of my list of concerns. I invite you to check out an article written by Emily Jones.
http://jeremyscorner-grifter.blogspot.com/2009/02/cord-around-neck-is-not-emergency.html
Jenny-
What did your midwife do at home that you could not have done yourself for your postpartum bleeding?
May 7th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
lilbet says:
Wow, Amy, this sure sparked some volatile comments.
The only piece of advise I would give those of you that are proponents of home birth, etc would be to soften your approach. Your anger and militancy are what clouds the issue and turn off people who might really want to hear you to learn more.
Studies studies studies are often quoted as the basis for one’s argument. I’ll give you a little hint on quoting studies. Studies are PAID for. Often times the entity paying for the study has a vested interest in the results. One should ask:
1. Who paid for the study?
2. How many people were studied? Some frequently quoted studies have less than ten participants.
3. And was the study refuted by another?
If you’re going to quote them, then quote all of the above so the reader can make an educated opinion about the validity of the study. This is no different than the studies that are quoted as part of marketing materials. The word study often has no value.
Many of you seem extremely angry about this issue. My experience with your approach is that it’s lost in the emotion.
I would suggest a softer touch. You will often be heard and not written off as a militant “liberal”.
As my son grows older, I’ve found that I have less passion about birth experience, breast feeding, attachment parenting, etc. We as parents would be better served supporting each other and respecting each other’s decisions. As long as the child in question isn’t being intentionally harmed, isn’t our ultimate goal the same? Raising wonderful human beings?
I wonder how many of you will feel in a few years when your kids are older.
I wonder at what happens to the children who are exposed to so much anger–whether it’s raised in a stand of justice or whether just out of hate–is the result on our children any different?
Children learn what they live and learn more from your actions than from your words.
Best to all of you. Interesting discussion Amy. It would be nice to hear you chime in to defend some of your readers who don’t always agree with you. Our voices should be heard without being threatened or insulted as well.
May 7th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
jenny says:
Toni- attempts at manually stopping the bleeding with uterine massage and nipple stimulation were not successful and within minutes I was blacking out. An IV was initiated with 40u of synto and I also needed Ergot and eventually Hemabate-none of which would be available to a layperson.
May 7th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Bec says:
Wow…not sure if I should wade into this debate or not. Maybe I’ll just state my opinion and back away slowly.
It’s my understanding that “free birth” involves receiving no perinatal care. If this is the case then I really do believe it’s paying with fire.
Aside from that I don’t have a problem with home birth or even unassisted childbirth. Personally I’d *prefer* women to have a train midwife/ob attending, but I don’t get to make decisions for all women. I would have loved a home birth with Erin, but obviously you can’t have a medically necessary c/s at 26 weeks at home.
I do wonder though, has this experience change Ms Frazer’s mind? It’s none of my business, but I do wonder.
May 9th, 2009 at 12:04 am
cluck and tweet says:
for me, at the end of the day, the bottom line is this: a mama lost her baby. And for that, we should all grieve.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:17 am
UmFiona says:
I just wanted to say that I am so sorry for this woman’s loss. Some culture do practice birth alone and consider it to be a badge of courage, so to speak. However, even in those cultures other women are not far off from the birthing mother. I personally couldn’t have had a successful birth alone, and would have had myself and my child hurt in a hospital. I am really greatful for my midwives. My daughter’s shoulders got stuck. Alone, I would have never gotten her out alive. In a hospital, I would have probably recieved a huge episiotomy and my daughter could have had her collar bone broken in an attempt to get her out (this happened to a friends child who also had broad shoulders). Happy middle way.
May 16th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Laura says:
I am not a mom yet, and I have just started to think about having children.
It seems obvious to me though that every birth has its risk and every type of environment poses some threat. Hospitals are very germy, and nurses and doctors are notoriously overworked. I have heard many stories of women and babies dying in hospital births. But at home with a midwife, you don’t have the potentially life saving skill or equipment you might need in case of an emergency. And in the case of Janet, she seemed to trust herself more than either.
I think you have to roll the dice is some sense and hope you made the right decision. I don’t think it is fair to blame any women for the decison she makes whether it is at home or in a hospital. I pray for all women who have lost their children and hope that God will ease their grief.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Homebirth in the news, Good and Bad. | Mama is... says:
[...] line. But, here I have a link to an blog post that sums up the two different takes on this story: Home birth advocate’s baby dies during free birth, prompts questions by Amy Gates. Including a quote from Laura Shanley: In the end, it’s a personal decision. And [...]
May 22nd, 2009 at 4:45 pm
ARMP says:
I wanted to respond to ‘Crunchy Chicken’s’ comment: “But, if you check your Anthropology 101 textbooks, historically, most cultures have quite a supportive community mechanism for assisting birthing women. To attempt to fly solo is, well, slightly nuts.”
As an anthropologist, whose research focuses on ethnopediatrics I can tell you that many cultures have long traditions of women birthing alone. From nearly every continent on the planet there are societies in which women seclude themselves for birthing and then return to the group with their new infant. In many of these cultures the attitude is that birth is a rite of passage, for which separation from the group is necessary. (If you want to get technical I would question your belief that giving birth alone as being ‘nuts’, as insane behaviors or attitudes are typically social constructs.)
Furthermore, as for statistics on infant mortality in history, they are extremely inconclusive given the fact that many populations were excluded and that infant mortality was based on the infants first year of life. It is estimated that infant mortality could have been as high as 1 in 5 at the beginning of the 19th century when many infants were fed a flour and water ‘formula’ instead of being breastfed– not necessarily because of inherently dangerous birth practices.
May 23rd, 2009 at 6:34 am
heatherj says:
jenny- there are herbs that one can purchase from birth supply stores in order to counter the pp bleeding out. also, don’t know if you had delivered your placenta or not, but I know of several women who have stopped excessive bleeding or stopped themselves from passing out by placing a part of placenta under their tongue.
bec- not all plans for UC birth include rejecting hiring out for prenatal care and many women do their own prenatal care. Really, pee sticks are online, blood pressure is easy enough to do on your own, and dopplers/fetascopes are not that hard to come by. I can weigh myself and measure my own fundal height every month if I want to. Many women focus more on connecting with their body, eating healthily, and heightening their spiritual focus. It has not been difficult for me to feel the symptoms of something turning badly in my own health on my own and then find a solution.
umFiona- when I delivered my 10-11lb baby boy at home unassisted, I experienced shoulder dystocia, and I corrected it. I believe that women have the answers inside themselves if they will only listen to it, but how difficult would it be to listen to what you are being led to do in a situation like that when you are outsourcing your birth to someone else? When someone is relying on someone else’s expertise in a situation, they are less likely to discover that they already had the knowledge inside themselves. My body moved in delivery exactly as I needed in order to correct the situation, and it was not something I would have known prior. Our bodies were made for birth, even if our minds sometimes are clouded by society’s perception of us.
My heart goes out to Janet over the loss of her child. It does rise a debate over homebirth and unassisted birth, but that’s what happens when the “system” is being questioned by some that aren’t afraid to stand up against it.
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:55 am
birthadvocate says:
I wanted to comment on the post that eluded to the fact that if Janet did not have pre-natal care then she was some how responsible for this tragedy….my girlfriend just lost her baby at 20 weeks. She did have prenatal care, but the baby died, just as this baby died.
Babies die.
The medical system would not hold my friend accountable, so why should we hold this woman accountable. Because her baby died in utero and she didnt know? That to me makes it even more tragic.
Imagine having to carry your dead child in your arms, or to birth a baby who will never cry, smile, or suckle at your breast. Imagine that you will still bleed, make milk, and be reminded daily of what you have lost.
We should show compassion not judgment.
I think she has suffered enough.
Lastly, I can not stand the “it happened to me” comments for either side, UC, homebirth, hospital birth or C section.
So what. It happened to you. Doesnt mean it will happen to me or to anyone else.
We need to SUPPORT women in the choices that THEY make for THEIR bodies and THEIR CHILDREN, what you think about it, has no consequence. People will change the story to suit them, so if your baby was “saved” by going unassisted, by birthing at home, or in a birth center, by having an epidural, or by having a c -section or a whole host of other interventions, you will find SOME reason to justify it. That is just human nature.
SUPPORT and EDUCATION is needed, I cannot stress that enough.
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:48 am
Sam says:
A lot of the later comments keep going on about a solo birth, and to quote one “Some cultures do practice birth alone and consider it to be a badge of courage, so to speak. However, even in those cultures other women are not far off from the birthing mother. I personally couldn’t have had a successful birth alone….”
People are getting confused, unassisted birth refers to a birth not attended by a trained midwife or OB. It does not mean birthing entirely alone (though some might.)
In Janet Fraser’s case, she was assisted by her partner and a female friend. Without knowing other specifics of the birth, it would be unjust and presumptious to say or imply that a trained midwife or a hospital birth would have made any difference to the outcome.
For the record, ALL births were ‘freebirths’ until the 40s or 50s, before then, midwifery was not regulated, no one gave birth with a trained midwife. As others have said, it would pay to do some research.
I agree with those who believe we should have choice. Up until the 50s most women in the UK gave birth at home, and most were only attended by a female friend or relative, or a ‘self-titled’ untrained midwife, and it was completely down to luck as to how good, or bad she was.
It’s good that medical care and trained professionals now exist and give mums the option and ability to take advantage of the medical care, but to do a complete U-turn so that ALL women should be forced to have medicalised births attended by midwives or doctors, is damaging and unfair.
Do I want to give birth in a grubby hospital, in a stark room? No. Do I want to play pot-luck with whether I get a good midwife who respects me and listens to me, or one who is more interested in playing it by the book and doing things her way for an easy life? No.
Women need to be allowed to choose how they birth, we should feel for those who have no choice, but that works both ways, those who have no access to medical care, and those forced to give birth in a hospital surrounded by strangers and machines. No parent should be vilified for a decision they make in good faith.
May 24th, 2009 at 4:57 am
Eilat says:
I read this post and then skimmed through the comments, reading most of them. It seems that the discussion always devolves into hospital vs. home, “safe” vs. “reckless”. As someone who had a birthing center birth with my first, and a midwife assisted homebirth with my daughter just under 5 months ago, I would say that there is nothing more empowering than a natural unfettered birth experience, and doing it at home is even more incredible than the birthing center. We were a family of three and then we became four, without ever leaving our home.
What I don’t understand from this discussion, and from the “movement” in general is why one would choose to free birth if a homebirth with a midwife is an option. Midwives are such incredible people. They commit their time and focus, one patient at a time, in the face of judgment and dismissal from the medical community. They provide whole-istic care: body and mind, mother and baby. My midwives could tell me more about what was happening in my uterus using their hands as their only tools. My singular visit to the OB proved that without his high-tech ultrasound, he know nothing. A good midwife is calm, focused, and knows when to utilize technology, all the while trusting the mother and her body.
I don’t understand the motivation behind free birthing. Is there a problem with having a midwife in attendance? I mean, if she is a home birth midwife, then it is really unlikely that she will do anything abusive.
I think the discussion of hospital vs. home for a healthy, low risk mom, is over, if you look at the facts. ACOGs nonsense notwithstanding, study after study shows that home births lead to better outcomes.
So, I have yet to hear the argument in favor of eliminating the midwife from the equation. And does free birthing mean no prenatal care? Because, again, that part I just don’t get.
May 24th, 2009 at 7:10 pm
TheFeministBreeder says:
For those who don’t understand how in the world a woman can choose UC – I’ll tell you how. Having been the victim of an unnecessary cesarean the first time, and having to wage a legal battle WHILE in labor during my VBAC (which I accomplished, no thanks to the medpros) I can say that I will absolutely go unassisted for my next birth, if I have to. I won’t ever give birth in a hospital again if it can be helped, and since homebirth is illegal in the state of IL, most providers won’t come near me with a ten foot pole – even though I’ve already HAD a vbac, and my uterus has been “tested.”
Why not go to the hospital? Because I cannot take another fight light that. I have developed such a severe phobia of OBs that the sheer sigh of gynecological equipment sets off a severe physiological response in me. I would never put my baby or myself in that situation again. And you can thank the doctors and hospitals for that.
Now, if I could find a great midwife to attend my homebirth, then great. But this state isn’t leaving me a whole lot of options, and I’m not close enough to a border to travel.
May 26th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Jen, mom to a lot! says:
Wow! This topic has sure engaged it’s readers and lent itself to some great dialogue. I have five kids, four by birth and the last through adoption. I am also an RN on a high risk maternity floor. I am most definitely in the minority in my views of birth at work. I believe very strongly in the gift of natural childbirth, in womans intuition, and in family centered/woman guided care. I have had four amazing hospital based births all but one completely natural with NO medical intervention. Did I have to fight for it? You bet….Would I have done it at home with no assistance from a trained professional? No way.
Health care providers are not out to get you. We do not “get off” on over medicating our patients, rendering them unable to push, and then surgically prying their babes from their bodies. While some may believe in epidurals and modern medical interventioins, the majority of us want nothing more than an empowering birth directed by the family and a healthy mom and babe.
May 26th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
TheFeministBreeder says:
@Jen, mom to a lot!
Yeah? Tell that to the NURSE who told me if I didn’t let her give me Pitocin that my baby would be born “with apgars of zero – that means dead.”
Tell this to the sOB who told me my baby would be born with cerebral palsy because my water had been broken for a few hours and I wouldn’t let him cut the baby out of me.
Tell THEM they don’t “enjoy” scaring the shit out of a woman and rendering her totally unable to birth a baby.
All I know is that I got a perfectly healthy 10 lb baby, NO thanks to ANYone at the hospital.
May 27th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Jen, mom to a lot! says:
Feminist Breeder, in no way am I saying that there are not crappy medical “professionals” out there. I have worked with several. All I am saying is the the majority of OB’s, family docs, RN’s, and midwives that I work with do their job well and with a loving heart. A life of being on-call, getting up at all hours, missing family events, paying crazy malpractice insurance, etc are not, for the most part, done by people who want to do harm.
Many people who have not worked with a large maternity population seem to think that because all was well with their UC, their babe, their situation, that this will be the same for all, when it is simply not the case. I have been around long to have seen some very horrible situations arise from from low-risk pregnancy’s.
I would never tell anyone to not deliver at home. It is an amazing and empowering experience. I also would never tell women to fear the medical system from my own personal experiences. Women need to be educated about their rights, the rights of their baby, and what to expect in hospital. Fear mongering helps no one.
May 28th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
FarmMom says:
I’m concerned with the judgements I see coming from both sides of the fence.
Our society views a woman who gives birth in the car on the way to the hospital as brave and as a supermom. The women who make the choice to be “unattended” are bad women with no respect for life… see a problem here?
I live in a state where I cannot have a home birth unless it is unattended and I live more than an hour away from a hospital and 1/2hour from a town. I have a history of very short labors and I have every intention of having my baby in the hospital with a midwife attending.
If I end up having to deliver at home will I be condemned? The what if’s are terrifying, my husband and I are preparing for a hospital birth and an unattended home birth, just in case.
I would rather be informed than not, but even if I chose to be unattended it is never your place to judge or pity my decision.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Ladyg says:
The one thing I will add to this is that in my research it would appear that the baby in question had a CONGENITAL malformation incompatible with life.
That means in no uncertain terms, that the child would not have survived EVEN IN THE HOSPITAL. The only thing that could possibly have been different, is if 1) it were detected sooner and she had a very late abortion, or 2) She transferred to the hospital and they did a c/s in which case the only difference would be that she would have been in labor a shorter time, baby still would have died.
It is important to differentiate between deliberate negligence and accident of birth. I don’t hear condemnations about incidents like what happened at a hospital around here less than a year ago — a woman had an intestine nicked during a completely unnecessary c/s and died three days later. It didn’t even make the papers. Or the pathetic 46% c/s rate at a local hospital — which statistically has to be increasing the maternal and infant mortality rates. Or the woman whose epidural went haywire and she is now permanently paralyzed. Not even worthy of a blip in the radar for hospital births. Oh, and its just an accident. She should be happy the baby is OK. And even if the woman died, well she had the best care available (even if the best care was screwed up. It was just an accident. The baby is ok.)
But a child dies in UC and its front page news. Apparently negligence in a hospital is excusable? Maternal death only matters if it was an out of hospital birth? We can be 100% sure that in a hospital death could only occur by accident?
None of these statements are valid.
Just as we shouldn’t condemn all hospitals or all drs for single (or in most cases multiple) mistakes or otherwise that lead to the maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, we should not hold up a single death in the UC community and use it to condemn a way of thinking. I really had hoped we had gotten rid of that back with slavery and having women owned by their husband or nearest male relative. I remain disgusted by the vitriol in this case, and feel that this reflects far more on the lack of research people are willing to do while supporting their emotional opinion. It would certainly make things better for all of us if folks would look into the data before reacting, and then think about what they are saying.
I personally will go back to the words of MLK,jr. We are all in this together: what happens to one of us happens to all.
I am saddened by that this woman will bear the burden for us all. The death of her child is a sad tragedy and I hope that she has the support and strength to withstand the torrent of inappropriate vitriol that she bears.
When a woman or child dies after a hospital birth, or has an unnecessary c/s, I am also saddened. Sad that this family now bears the burden of an inflexible system that doesn’t take into account the needs and wants of individuals, and minimizes their pain.
Hopefully someday the needs of women will be given the same priority as the needs of babies. Hopefully someday, we will stop needing to denigrate others in order to validate our own choices. And hopefully someday, we will be the keepers of a system that doesn’t pit the needs of one against the needs of another.
May you all find peace in your choices, and the strength to allow others their choices. And where necessary — the opposite as well.
July 27th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
James says:
I am a pediatrician, and consequently have seen many hospital births. I have never been present for any home birth. The right to choose where a mother delivers her child is hers and her family’s.
I strongly encourage unassisted birthing mothers to at least get basic tests (Group B strep status for example) and other prenatal care to give the peace of mind that an issue such as infection is unlikely to present itself. No matter how much research you do, no website will tell you what your body is doing.
Some advocates of unassisted birth are quick to point the fallacies of western medicine. This stance does not help detractors see and want to learn about the other side (and this is the fundamental purpose of the websites is it not?)
This story is tragic, but is in no way the norm. Home birth is a natural and perfectly reasonable way to deliver a child. The numbers can be manipulated any way one chooses, but the real issue is that acceptance of another person’s rights would solve almost every one of the world’s problems… but I digress.
In the hospital when a baby dies, freebirth advocates aren’t pointing the finger at the mother and the doctor and slamming them… why lower yourself to such a low level? Everyone should pray for this mother and support her. Unless I’m severely wrong, the mother did not intend for this outcome. Let this story bring people together, not divide them.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
gennfamily says:
35 years ago my mother and a baby she delivered in a hospital (one of my sisters) contracted hepatitus during the birth! During one of my own childirth deliveries 21 years ago, the ob. cut open my vagina and rectum into one opening and inserted his arm into my body to pull my “sunny side up” baby out while I was screaming and trying to climb backwards off the table. A friends baby died of an infection contracted during delivery. Not one of these doctors was ever held responsible or even questioned for these events. I’m sure millions of women could add as serious or worse experiences at the hands of medically “safe” and “responsible” hospital childbirths.
October 8th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Baby Bump Diaries says:
This is so sad!
November 21st, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Jen says:
I have had 2 hospital births. My first(because I chose to trust my medical prfessional) was enduced. I was given potossin(spelling?) and left alone, no nurse in the room, though I did have a button I could press(sorry, not the same as having someone with you). My water was broken for me at 12:30 and my MOTHER delivered the baby at 2:30 because the doctor(and nurses) were not in the room when he decided to make his entrance. I’m not saying that they weren’t needed, as I don’t know how to cut a cord and all the other crap that needs to be done, but, honestly, I didn’t feel the medical professionals really gave a good damn about my comfort, needs or well being, as long as they had a machine hooked up to my belly they thought they knew everything.
Fast forward 3 years. I chose to have baby number 2 in a hospital as well. I felt the labor pains come on, went to the hospital, was told I was only 3 centimeters dialated and that I was probably just wishfully thinking she was coming. My Mom(bless her) threw a hissy fit and demanded I be given a room, an hour later I was 7 inches dialated. My water broke on its own(again no nurse or doctor in room) about 45 seconds later there was her head! The doctor didn’t even have time to wash her hands before she caught my daughter. Then she cut the cord, did whatever else needed to be done and that’s all I saw of her.
Now, I guess things could have gone differently, but on a practical level, I paid that hospital almost 20,000 dollars to esencially do nothing for me. Is it worth that much to feel ignored? Not important? I did the work and neither experience was I at the hospital for more than 24 hours. Maybe things can go wrong… I know so very well that things do go wrong in life as 2 years ago my house burned down and I lost both of those beautiful babies in the fire. Was the fire my fault? No, it was proved, but not before our lovely community pointed fingers, said how I must have been on drugs or drunk and just LET them die. I know how it feels to not be able to greive because of all the blame that’s being cast, not only by ourselves, doing the whole survivor guilt thing.
My heart goes out to all the mothers who have lost children, we, as humans, make choices. That what makes us different.
I am now pregnant again. I am looking at all the options. Midwives, hospitals and unattended as well. I was born at home, my husband was born at home, as was all three of his siblings. No harm to any of them. Do I look at all the options? Yes, I know what it feels to lose a child. But I also know what it feels like to be in a hospital and not feel cared for in the least.
Maybe I shouldn’t say anything, my opinion is just one of many… but the root of all of this is that a woman lost her child, she didn’t murder her child and blame should not come from those who do not know.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Anonymous says:
I think it is ironic and sad that her baby died in her attempt at “Freebirthing” Maybe this tragic event will cause some to reconsider and think a little more about the consequences to their selfish actions and reevaluate if they are willing to sacrifice their childrens lives for their “Experience”
January 11th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
Allison says:
Of course my heart goes out to any parent who has lost a child.
In response to Emily Jones’ comment about ready access to emergency care, I wanted to share my dissapointing story on that front. She said you can get emergency care within 10 minutes, but this is not always the case. I had a home birth with 2 midwives in 2007. The birth went SUPER smooth, I was a very healthy 24 year old, and everything LOOKED totally normal, but still I had to go to the hospital afterwards for a severe post-partum hemmhorage. We called L&D ahead, they said they would be waiting for us, but still took almost 2 hours for an OB to come to the ER – at a VERY good, but busy, SF Bay Area hospital. It was partially due to poor communicate/poor organization, but he was also busy with other emergency cases at the time. I almost bled to death, and needed 2 blood tranfusions. Doctors could not figure out what caused it, but said I would have been treated many hours sooner if I had an OB already attending me at the time. 2 weeks later, I hemmorhaged again, but not as severely, and it took about 2 hours to get an OB, again. Needed 2 more blood transfusions, and 2 (minor) surgeries before I was fully functioning again. So unless I can find an OB who will agree to be on call during a homebirth, I will have my next baby in the hospital with a nurse midwife (with OB backup), because I can’t imagine leaving my son without a mommy.
While I think ERs and ORs ARE MUCH faster when a baby is involved, I seriously doubt the ability of most hospitals to treat unexpected critical obstetric emergencies in the necessary time frame. I know other home birth mamas who needed an emergency c-section and it all went smoothly, so do your own research. However, you are taking a chance on whether an OB will be available in time. I grew up in a small town where the ER is much faster, but blood transfusions, etc. still require transport to a bigger hospital an hour away. My OB thinks a smaller town with a good ER and OBs is a much safer situation for a homebirth. So I would advise home-birthers to research the local ER, L&D ahead of time, to assess the best hospital to go to, resources available there -can they treat everything or will there be a transport and more delay? – and the expected wait time to see an OB/get an OR when the ER is very busy. Talking to an understanding OB to get their advice would be a great first step, too – although they will ALWAYS advise you to stay in the hospital, they might give you some insight about how the local system is set up. My OB said that some times when SHE is CALLED to the ER, patients have already been there up to 6 hours! Yikes.
I think if it were possible to have an OB (preferably one you know!) on call during a home birth, that would be ideal. Yet the litigation-minded medical system is not set up like this. I only know one midwife with a practice specifically geared this way – but the OB has to do it “under the table” and she is the most expensive midwife in the area. But I personally feel (based on experience) this is the BEST possible setup – homebirth with an OB on call for immediate care in an emergency.
One other personal thought, death is a part of life. As many have stated, babies (and mothers) die in the hospital, too. I am SO thankful for medical technology that saved my life, but I also believe it can cause harm when used improperly and unecessarily – which I hear about VERY often from friends who are mamas, nurses and doctors. Among other reasons, I chose homebirth to have the greatest control over what interventions were performed, as I didn’t want misuse of technology to CAUSE problems. I can be certain that my hemmorhage, however awful, was caused naturally, by my own body. I don’t see how any blame can be placed on any mother for her baby’s totally natural death. Medical technology can now save even the most critically ill people, but using these interventions is a personal CHOICE – and even when doctors and nurses and midwives and parents do everything right, people will sometimes die – nature is not always within our control, nor should it be.
February 21st, 2010 at 6:33 pm
ladytempest82 says:
Crunchy Chicken-
Just two examples to answer some of your questions:
VBACs are unavailable in any hospital Walla Walla, WA because “required equipment is not available.” It’s a stupid excuse, but the one given to mothers in order to force C-sections on any mother who has previously had one.
Midwife attended births are not illegal in Wheeling, WV, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a midwife in the area (specifically, a 60 mile radius), much less one willing to attend a home birth.
There are lots of places in the country with similar problems. For mothers who do not wish to be subjected to unnecessary procedures considered standard and required by the local hospitals, free birth is the only other option. I actually had one doctor in Wheeling tell me that if I refused *any* of the procedures she considers standard (including induction right at 40 weeks, an IV, and constant fetal monitoring), that she will refuse to deliver my child, even if I’m in the maternity ward and in active labor! Where would she expect me to go at that point? I’d be safer and way more comfortable at home.
July 21st, 2010 at 5:59 pm