Iv seen a few of these on you tube and to be honest they concern me. I know im only just into my training but I feel that these women are irresponsible in posting these and that maybe it might encourage other women to follow their example. One woman in particular states that she did all her own antenatal care. Im thinking what if she had an undiagnosed condition that could have put her and her baby at risk? What are your thoughts on it does it concern you too or am I over reacting?

What do others think? Some of the videos are quite controversial, yet others are briiliant for educational purposes, I know our uni are using some of them now x

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I think an unassisted birth should only ever happen in an emergency situation, when it isn't possible for expert help to be provided in time.

I don't think any woman should ever provide her own ante natal care, she isn't trained to pick up on any complications early enough for treatment to be provided, I think it is madness to be honest and just asking for trouble.

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Totally agree, midwifery care is there for mother and baby safety.

Whilst i can understand women wanting natural births without intervention, having a midwife on hand to monitor progression puts the mother and baby in a safer place.

there is no law which states the midwife must be "active" in the labour and birth but being there would surely make the experience even more enjoyable being safe in the knowledge that there is an expert on hand to watch out for potential risks.

Hi There

I think some of the you tube vidoes are really interesting, I know that when I first starting thinking about studying to be a midwife I went on to look just to make sure I could handle it and not want to pass out. he he

Here is on of the vidoes I came across think its really good(even thought its American)

oh i cant believe it took me to the end of that clip to realise it was a dummy!!! My observational skills are bad.

What do people think of the counting to 10 to aid women to push? Have you seen this?

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I have very few issues with unassisted births, if the motivation has not been due to feeling that they cannot receive the care they want from midwives and health care providers. Women I know who have had unassisted births are very clued up about pregnancy and also in tune with their body and baby. They did it because they believe that is what birth should be like. As for not receiving ante natal care from a midwife, what does actually really mean? No scans? I've known many women with midwives who decline these. No blood tests? Ditto. No listening in antenatally? Guidelines already says that it is unnecessary prior to a certain gestation (24 weeks?, I'm not sure), and really before that point, all auscultation does is confirm that the baby was well at the point of listening in. Women do tend to be able to tell if they feel that they are growing and certainly from the point of view of women who are proactive and takes ownership of their pregnancy, they tend to spot things like low iron levels etc. and address the issue nutritionally.

Yes there is always a possibility that something can go wrong, but that is a small risk - childbirth isn't an exact science and occasionally things do go wrong, but I like to balance that with the risk of over-medicalising childbirth and all the ensuing risks of birthing in an obstetric environment where childbirth is seen as a disaster waiting to happen and a condition which needs to be controlled.

I agree with you there, in particular considering the over-medicalisation of childbirth, what do you think of people putting all these/their videos on you tube?
I think perhaps more normality on there has the potential to either scare women, or encourage and facilitate normality, I'm unsure.
I think the new 'Business of being born' dvd will hopefully create a good underpinning for those in particular in America, just hope the message gets through here, as of late, the rates it seems are going to esculate out of all control aren't they?

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I haven't seen the BOBB dvd, I have heard some midwives talk about it, albeit indies so I am stating the bias of my comment. A couple of the midwives found that BOBB failed to make the connection with what is going on here in the UK (hahah hah it being made in the States and all, I know) but what I mean is, we need to engage the audience and highlight that really, our stats and culture here in the UK are not that far off from what was on the BOBB dvd. On the other hand though, others have reported actual students (non midwifery ones) who saw the dvd and was absolutely enlightened by it. They hadn't realised that birth could be anything other than traumatic and medicalised. So maybe we ought to take it to schools or colleges, influence critical thinking amongst our future parents?

These You Tube unassisted birth films? I've not seen them. I think women in general find birth in general scary anyway. It's an uphill battle. I don't think many women really can see why they ought to really fight to keep it normal.

I'm going to see it tmoz night, our Trust is putting it on for us so I may do a thread about it tmoz, it will be hopefully enlightening, we'll see.

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