Unassisted Birth

Is It for You? By Shel Franco

Women today seem to fall into two categories where childbirth is concerned: medically managed or natural. The first group wouldn’t think of delivering their babies any place but the hospital. The second sweetly chants, “There’s no place like home.”

At first glance, neither group seems to have much in common. But upon deeper consideration, one correlation can be made: Both groups deliver their babies into the hands of a birth professional: a doctor or a midwife.

Many people are surprised to hear about a small number of women in the natural childbirth group that hold such faith in the innate power of females to bring forth their young, they choose to birth alone – without a doctor or midwife.

“In an unassisted childbirth no one acts as a midwife,” says Laura Shanley, author of Unassisted Childbirth (Bergin & Garvey, 1993) and the mother to four children born unassisted. “Instead, the birthing woman herself determines the course of her labor. Partners or friends may participate to varying degrees, but no one instructs the woman as to how to give birth, when to push, what position to be in, etc. Occasionally, suggestions may be offered but it is assumed that the woman giving birth is the true expert on her own body.”

Why and how these women birth unassisted are only part of the intrigue. Their experiences impart on them a profound wisdom that may change the way modern society views childbirth – a wisdom that can empower all women, regardless of how they choose to give birth.

The Power to Believe
“I constantly recommend Laura Shanley's book to people who have no intention of birthing at home, much less unassisted,” says Josephine Joyner of Omaha, Neb. “I find that regardless of the birthing environment, if a woman is looking within and prepared to give birth rather than be delivered, she is in a much better position to understand what her and her child's needs are and can go about getting them met much more efficiently.”

Joyner has experienced two pain-free unassisted births, one of which is featured in Judy Seaman's documentary film, A Clear Road to Birth.

While many women would find the idea of being alone during childbirth scary and stressful, Shanley points out that some women are actually inhibited by the presence of others during birth. And at least one childbirth professional seems to agree.

Grantly Dick-Read, author of Childbirth Without Fear (Heinemann Medical) writes, "If left alone in labor, the body of a woman produces most easily the baby that is not interfered with by its mother's mind or the assistant's hand. If left alone, just courage and patience are required. Faith, if she is a believer, is the secret to having a healthy baby and being a happy mother."

Faith is abundantly present in the stories of unassisted birth and is something all birthing women can benefit from. For some, like Shanley, faith is inherent with their first pregnancy. For others, it takes time to believe.

Leilah McCracken of Vancouver, Canada, didn't always think "outside of the box." Her first five births took place in hospitals. After everything from induction to Cesarean sections, she lost faith in the painful process of birth in a hospital and turned to a lay midwife to birth her sixth child at home.

By the time she became pregnant again, McCracken had a new perspective on birth and had found new faith in the miraculous process. “My seventh child was born unassisted at home – not out of experimentation or rebelliousness, but because I knew my body and spirit work for birth,” she says. “I knew in my deepest being, finally, that I could give birth as all my ancestors have: with splendor and perfection.”

McCracken’s experience left her so moved that she went on to become an outspoken advocate for homebirth and unassisted birth, dedicating her time and finances to her www.birthlove.com Web site.

Sacred Action
Forty-five weeks from the first day of her last period, Jenny Hatch of Boulder, Colo., gave birth to her son, Andrew. She recalls how she danced and sang through the three-hour labor. “I had no physical pain before, during or after the birth and never used any form of pain medication,” she says.

Hatch, organizer of the second International Husband/Wife Homebirth Conference, delivered her 11-pound son into the waiting arms of his father. Despite the fact that her son required breathing assistance from a volunteer fireman and she required hospital transfer for excessive bleeding, she does not regret or blame the unassisted birth. “I have this reoccurring fantasy of [the volunteer firefighter] handing Andrew back to me, tipping his baseball cap and saying, ‘Have a nice day Ma’am!’ and then leaving,” she says. “I honestly believe that had he done so, I would have latched Andrew onto my breast which in turn would have stopped my bleeding and we both would have been just fine.”

After all that, Hatch still believes in childbirth as a normal, non-agonizing, natural act, and that's something every woman could benefit from, whether she births at home or in a hospital. Replacing the fear with faith just might deliver women from the throws of childbirth agony and into the open arms of the miracle they helped to create.

Want to see more?

• Birthing From Within: Experiencing Childbirth in Your Own Way
• Childbirth Without Fear: The Teachings of Grantly Dick-Read
• A Good Birth, A Safe Birth: Choosing and Having the Childbirth Experience You Want
• Talk about it!

About the Author: Shel Franco is an associate editor for iParenting.com and the mother of three.