I wonder how illegal it is, for example, if TBA (traditional birth attendant) always involves a registered midwife, then perhaps no law will be broken. Is it paid? If not, does she practice „midwifery“? Do women have the right to choose where to give birth, that is, they must be their own home (one of the women in my study chose to have her baby at her mother`s house, who was closer to the hospital if she had to be transferred)? It got me thinking. My first reaction was, „Good for women to have chosen the type of obstetrics they want,“ but then, when there is a horrible witch hunt until this „illegal“ activity is stopped, there will be many women who will not have the kind of care they want and need. Alison Edwards of Doula UK, whose 700 members advocate for pregnant women, says she has seen a threefold increase in calls for free birth in the past two weeks. I want to emphasize that the status of a person who catches the baby does not relieve him of his legal and moral responsibility. When I suggested catching my firstborn, I was repeatedly warned by a number of authorities, my wife`s family, and the various prenatal professionals who examined my wife that if my wife or newborn died, I could be charged with manslaughter. This happened in Hawaii, but when I was in the UK, a similar situation prevailed. What a terrible situation. It seems to me that the action (of the trust) is illegal, but I guess the time is a bit short to get a judicial review! If the only option is to wait until she is in labour and then call a midwife who may not be qualified or experienced, it seems just as unsatisfactory in terms of the pleasure of childbirth. However, she could find out if there was an independent midwife who would be willing to come and ask the health authority for the fee because she was not able to provide the service she wanted, which she is obliged to do.
Previously, fees were paid for these reasons. Claire Feeley and Gill Thomson (2016) Tensions and conflicts in `choice`: women`s experiences of freebirthing in the UK www.midwiferyjournal.com/article/S0266-6138(16)30123-1/abstract It is quite possible for a REGISTERED midwife to be extremely intuitive and empower a woman giving birth. And we do so knowing full well that we are legally and professionally responsible for our actions. It makes me horrified to hear that this woman has no interest in theory! And I`m certainly not a theorist. That seems extremely fishy to me. It seems more like the woman has her own ego as her first concern, not the well-being of the woman and the baby. „Sometimes women who refuse to go to hospital are threatened with referral to children`s services as a means of coercion. A referral should only be considered if there are concerns about the baby`s well-being after birth, not because the mother is exercising her legal right to refuse care. „If you have an unaccompanied birth, you must first `report` the birth to the Child Health Information Service within 36 hours. This is required by law.
This means that your baby will receive an NHS number and you will also be offered newborn screening. If you give birth with a midwife, they will. You can ask your local maternity hospital or GP how to notify the birth if you are planning an unaccompanied birth. Being present at a scheduled CU is also not illegal. However, in the United Kingdom, section 45 of the Nursing and Midwifery Order makes it a criminal offence for persons other than a midwife or registered medical practitioner to „cared for“ a woman during childbirth, except in an emergency. This is not to prevent birth partners from supporting women, but they must ensure that they do not assume the role of midwife by performing midwifery functions such as monitoring birth progress. The Council of Nurses and Midwives has produced guidelines on the subject, stating that birth partners, including doulas and family members, „may be present during delivery but may not assume responsibility, support or assume the role of licensed physician or midwife, or provide midwives or medical care at birth.“ As I understand it, it is not illegal for a woman to give birth to her baby alone or with the help of „Samaritan“, in fact it would be an absurd law. The question of who should be present is not very controversial here (and does not seem to be raised often), as the midwifery and medical professions have had a legal monopoly on birth care for most of this century, and all the others are very clandestine, including one or two religious groups I`ve heard of.
A husband was arrested a few years ago when he announced his intentions and accompanied his wife to work. Safety issues will always be a concern, but I believe the choice should remain in the hands of the informed pregnant woman, who visits her and what is happening to her. Of the 1,700 people who responded, 72 said they had seriously considered free delivery, including the desire to avoid hospitals, not being able to have a partner with them during labour, lack of access to a birthing pool, and lack of childcare during the pandemic. I remember a man who was prosecuted in Wolverhampton for deliberately insisting on being his wife`s midwife. He still threatened that for the second. As a student there (1984-1985), I remember the debate about not only safe birth, but also the legal requirement to register birth – and then register it. You cannot have given birth to someone without the state knowing of its existence! After all, I made no assumptions about the culture or nationality of the working woman. It wasn`t until I thought about my post that I thought about taking into account some thoughts about women who are outside the dominant culture for reasons of nationality, culture or religion. The issue of race is not of paramount importance here, but only the issue that women should be able to give birth where they feel safest and where their partners are morally and legally responsible for the care they provide. „I would choose a continuity of care midwife over a free birth every time, but that was not an option,“ she said. I told my miserable midwife about my plans for an unaccompanied birth and guess what. They will not support it and are happy to tell me what I can and cannot do, which has no legal basis.
Women would not be forced to give birth without assistance if midwifery professionals had respect for working women, it`s as simple as that. The midwife is not allowed to get too involved or look between the legs. In an ideal scenario, I would have a midwife in the next room watching TV and calling her if I think it`s necessary to check heart rate, etc., and then she can leave and let him know when IV is born. But I don`t trust anyone to do this for me without thinking they have to be there. Private midwives are not legal in the UK, but I wish they were, because then I could pay a decent midwife for decent care and say what I want. In the meantime, all I have to do is boycott the NHS „She made me feel bad and asked me how I would live with myself if something went wrong. But I know my legal rights to choose where I break. I am the one who has no support for the birth I want, and I am cornered. I didn`t say this woman was doing anything other than talking. We „gave birth“ – we listened to the FH and grabbed the baby.