I’ve spent a lot of hours over Easter reflecting on the extraordinary discussion that has unfolded here over the past few days since I posted on the tragic death of free-birth crusader, Janet Fraser’s baby and my bafflement as to why anyone would take such massive risks by eschewing all form of medical support during birth.
In the days that followed my post, I’ve read every single comment – and the thread is still going strong. It has been fascinating and heart-breaking and informative. Hundreds of comments have been left, hundreds of stories and thoughts shared and the tone of the comments could not be more different to my experience writing about this on Essential Baby when the freebirthers came after me with flaming sticks.
I do feel like I’ve learned a little more about the reasons some women have for choosing to birth at home and I also sympathise with those home birthers who are furious with the freebirthing movement for their radical stance, something many home birthers believed has tarnished the image of home birth and the women who always have a trained midwife by their side. A distinction should be made between home-birthing and freebirthing and I am happy to make it. I am talking here solely about the practice of FREEBIRTHING.
Because the freebirthers? The women who choose to give birth at home without ANY medical support? Who choose not to even have their baby’s heart monitered during labour? That’s another very different story. To further try and understand the headspace of a freebirther and to educate myself, I spent some time over Easter on the Joyous Birth website. I also looked at many of the forums. One commenter had posted an article about freebirthing that recently appeared in the Age by John Elder who had interviewed Janet Fraser during her labour.
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Look, free birthers are women who feel the only superiority they have over men is in the ability to house and expel a human fetus. Regardless of the fact that said housing and expelling almost always leave women with permanent bodily scars, undesirable changes and outright damage, free birthers insist that the inherent female "power" of pregnancy and childbirth should not involve or be interfered with by anyone other than mom herself and perhaps a passive, submissive doula/midwife. These women are full of anger because the only significant so called power they claim for themselves involves horrific pain that leave their bodies changed for the worse to the point of forever negatively impacting self esteem, basic comfort, waste elimination, sex, even the simple wearing of a tampon. They are pathetic and their zeal to elevate pregnancy and childbirth to some mystical, goddess like, perfectly designed by nature events is both dangerous and delusional.
Alas, the irresponsible nutjobs are still at it. If medicine is so repugnant and offensive to you, please DO NOT EVER have a cardiac arrest in hospital as we WILL BRUTALLY JUMP ON YOUR CHEST (so-called "rape" by some definitions) in the interest of trying to SAVE YOUR LIFE. Better still, please just do not come to hospital or see your GP for anything, period.