free birthing

Free birthing or wild birthing is giving birth without the assistance of a medically qualified person.  You may have a doula in attendance but, while supportive and helpful, this person is of no use in a medical emergency in the way that a midwife would be.   Such a birth is also called an unassisted birth or an unregulated birth.  Another major drawback is that there is no pre-birth assessment and no indication of any problems that might occur.

There are a number of reasons why women engage in this practice.  They may have had a very bad experience in hospital for a previous birth.  Some people relax into the protocols of a hospital, others find them confronting.   It may be that the hospital can offer no options such as a birth centre or a home birth with medical support.  Having made the choice of having the baby at home, the parents may not be able to afford a midwife, particularly since the cost of a home birth is not covered by Medicare.  In rural and remote Australia there is even less choice, less support and more expense.