UNASSISTED CHILDBIRTH:

FROM PRIMITIVE TO ITS RISE

In its most basic sense, what is unassisted childbirth (UC)? As what the term implies, it
would literally mean a way of giving birth without assistance. It could be as simple as the mother
saying, “I gave birth with my child alone, and without any midwife or doctor”. It is therefore,
giving birth at home without the aid of medical interventions.

One of the proponents of this type of giving birth is Laura Shanley, a self-styled birth
consultant. According to her, the birthing woman 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 the position to be in, etc. She assumed that the woman giving birth is
the true expert on her own body.

Trying to scrutinize the simple definition provided by Shanley, she would refer the course
of labor as the acquisition of knowledge regarding the signs of true as well as false labor, the
danger signs of labor and delivery, as well as length of a normal labor. A woman confined in
their home planning to deliver her child unassisted would not be that knowledgeable regarding
the things she needs to know about labor and delivery, especially primagravida mothers. A
pregnant woman would panic if she feels pain on her lower back that radiates around her
abdomen in a girdle like manner, but who would assure her that this is just a sign of a true labor?
Instead of having progressive cervical changes, what if there are no cervical changes occurring,
considering that the mother herself or anyone around her do not know how to determine cervical
effacement and dilatation, will she be aware that this is already a sign of a false labor? Unlike
when she is confined in a labor room of a hospital, the attending nurse and the doctor will have
the responsibility to monitor her condition as well as to determine when is the right time for the
pregnant woman to deliver. She will be given assurances that she is undergoing true or false
labor depending on the signs she is manifesting since these health care professionals are
knowledgeable enough with the manifestations that could possibly happen. By this, it would be
safer to define unassisted childbirth as a way of giving birth without medical assistance during
the time of labor and delivery, but with medical support during prenatal period so that doctors
will be advising the pregnant woman if she needs to continue her plan of doing unassisted
childbirth based from the findings of the obstetrician. By virtue of this, the life of the mother and
the child would not be at risk.

Considering the laws governing unassisted childbirth, if there are any, these are rarely
legislated against, and even when they are, these are not often enforced. In the first place, when
talking about legality, there should be a law pertaining to the practice that could either allow or
prohibit performing it. If in case this will be prohibited, corresponding sanctions and
punishments are to be implemented. However, if we are going to look at it, people will feel
easier to reason out incidences. It is very easy to say that the delivery of the child seem turned so
quick that they were not able to rush the mother to the hospital anymore. With this kind of
reasoning, authority would no longer do actions to prove that the mother really wanted to deliver
at the hospital however it ran out of time. The authority would be hearing the same explanations
but what can they do to prove the validity of their reason? Are they going to assign policemen at
each laboring mother at their home to assure they would comply with the protocol of delivering
at the hospital if in case the mother already feels the urge to deliver? It is indeed a comical idea
in case that will be the solution, but only officials with uncritical thinking would really think of it
since it needs more policemen considering that fact that hundreds and thousands of women are at
their labor each day, and no one will be left to facilitate traffic at the avenues and peace at the
streets.

In third world countries like the Philippines, unassisted childbirth has been a long
practice if in case Filipinos would define it as giving birth without the presence of licensed
doctors or midwives, who exclude the quack doctors who are common in the country. However,
the present concept of unassisted childbirth is already different with that what we knew before.
Unassisted childbirth does not really require anyone (except for family and relatives who can
give emotional support but not instructions during delivery), and thus home delivery is not
encapsulated in this practice. But, the bottom line, can our country adapt this manner of delivery?

In our country, especially those who are in rural areas, many pregnant women are not
able to attain high educational levels, thus they have low knowledge regarding proper and
accepted child bearing techniques, and they have a lot of beliefs that they are still following up to
these times. How would these women be privileged to undergo such kind of giving birth if they
have low comprehension regarding ways on child bearing? How come they would practice the
proper ways of unassisted birth if they could not even practice proper attitudes during
pregnancy? Unassisted birth would be a technique hard to practice in our country. Unlike in the
United States where most women attained high educational backgrounds and where superstitious
beliefs are uncommon, comprehending the proper ways of unassisted birth would not be hard for
them. Comparing the two races of women, the practice possesses a larger threat on the health of
the Filipino women. In this case, those women who should be privileged to practice this way of
giving birth should be screened. It should not be permissible to all women because of the harm it
brings to both the mother and child. Where would a poor woman give birth? On a bed that rails
are rusted and where linens are not properly washed? More truthful than not, socioeconomic
status of the woman should be considered. This does not mean that those who have high quality
of living will those who will save money since unassisted childbirth no longer need bills to pay.
In this case, unassisted childbirth should not be seen as a manner to refrain from paying hospital
bills, but as a means to let the women learn on her own about delivering techniques. Meanwhile,
it does not mean that the poor woman is not privileged to learn on her own, unless she attained
enough level of knowledge in order to comprehend the ways to have proper labor and delivery,
and is able to promote sterility during the course of labor and delivery. To generalize, however,
at present, our country is not yet ready to legalize this manner of delivery. It can pose greater
maternal and child mortality rate. The main contributor to this is the attitude of pregnant women
who do not subject themselves for prenatal care.

In contrast, advocates of the unassisted childbirth claimed that most of maternal and fetal
deaths occur because of hospital deliveries. According to them, giving birth is a normal function
of the body, thus this should not be viewed as a medical emergency, as how they termed it. In
response to this, claiming birthing as not an emergency is somehow improper, considering some
instances. Are we not going to consider giving birth an emergency if the mother already
manifests hypertonic contraction and bleeding? The advocates also stressed that most of the
interventions performed by health care professionals during birth creates more harm than good in
a normal birth, and this motivates the pregnant women to choose to follow the natural way of
giving birth, allowing her to position herself in her most comfortable situation. Also, the fact that
during delivery, privacy is no longer provided among women because of some widely scattered
videos concerning their delivery. If these are the factors that motivate the pregnant women to
undergo unassisted childbirth, it seems a paradox that the health care professionals are the ones
who are unable to take care most of their client. To let not this happen, health care professionals
should put in their heart the responsibilities they have accepted.

However, the truth is, hospitalization really contributes to an increase in maternal and
infant mortality rate. In an attempt to progress the labor, a physician would prescribe a drug to
speed it up. In turn, this faster contraction would create pain, making it for the physician to
prescribe another medication to relieve the pain, and when it crosses the placental barrier, this
would create an adverse reaction on the part of the unborn baby. On the other hand, while the
mother is in their home, there is a chance that she will be sexually stimulated by her husband,
since studies revealed that some couples choose to have sex while on labor, which is somehow
impossible to perform while in the hospital. This sexual stimulation actually prompts for the
oxytocin in the body to pour more through the mother’s system, and faster contraction would
occur, and no need for medicines to speed it up. In a more severe case, if the mother’s body
cannot tolerate to deliver the child through normal spontaneous vaginal delivery, emergency
cesarean section is being ordered. With this type of delivery, the mother is at greater risk of
developing complications. An addition, statistics revealed that in the United States, one out of
four babies is already delivered through cesarean section.

The worst report, women who delivered at the hospital find dissatisfaction with the
treatment that they are receiving, as well as how their babies are being treated. Just after
delivery, their baby is being taken away from them for the baby’s own newborn care, without
creating an initial contact between the two. Unlike during unassisted childbirth, the mother has
the full privilege to have an initial contact with her newborn. Also, while the pregnant is on the
delivery room of the hospital, she feels inferior as if she is not treated as a patient because she
receives yell and shout from the attending doctor or midwife, instructing her with loud voice to
do pushing to expel the infant. Unlike during unassisted birth, the mother has her own control of
herself, assuming positions she is comfortable with.
 If we are going to look at the above reasons for accepting unassisted childbirth, it is not
far that in the future, this manner of delivery will be accepted worldwide, and this manner of
delivery will outweigh all other forms. It is therefore a primitive method that slowly makes its
way to raise it its popularity. Despite all arguments regarding unassisted childbirth, in the end,
what is the most important is for the pregnant woman to freely choose the way of delivery she
wanted, taking into consideration the best way to assure her optimum health, as well as the safety
of the infant.