birth keeper

One word — birthkeeper, or two — birth keeper.  The term is new and has not settled down yet. The activity is birth keeping which is defined in the broadest possible way as giving support or assistance to a woman giving birth.  (This implies a free birth).  The birth keeper is carefully distinguished from the midwife who belongs in the traditional and conservative medical world where giving birth is medicalised.  Freebirthers want to be as far away from that as possible. The birth keeper  who performs the job of assisting in the actual birth is called a sovereign midwife and may or may not have any qualifications.  There is also the role of doula which a birth keeper can perform.  The doula provides peripheral help in making the mother comfortable by offering her massages, encouragement, etc.  The birth keeper can also offer hypnobirthing.  While a properly qualified independent midwife may be a suitable choice, a birth keeper with nothing but enthusiasm and a passionate belief in freebirthing is altogether another thing. There is an increasing number of them it seems.