I've decided to write a book about freebirth in Australia, an effort to demystify this particular birth choice in what the tabloid media have demonstrated is a very hostile climate for women choosing less popular birth options.
The central question driving the project is "Why are some Australian women choosing to freebirth in the Twenty-first Century?", with a focus on what these women's experiences of freebirth have been.
I am defining freebirth as "planned homebirths which are not attended by medical professionals". This includes families who employed a medical professional throughout pregnancy but chose not to have him or her present at the birth, but excludes unplanned freebirths (where either the family did not have time to get to the hospital/birth centre or the medical professional did not have time to get to the family's home). "Medical professionals" refers to any health workers with a university degree in their field of health, be that; nursing, midwifery, general medicine, obstetrics or gyaenecology.
As a starting point I have put together a survey of 23 questions (some multichoice, some short answer) for women who have had planned freebirths and a questionnaire which explores more open-ended and in-depth issues/questions, it considers aspects of freebirth left out of the original survey.
I suspect in the future this research may also include interviews with families who have freebrithed (be they in person, over the phone or via email). I am also currently working on a survey for partners and fathers whose significant others chose to freebirth.
I also hope to include freebirth stories from mothers and fathers willing to share their experiences in their own words in the book.
If you have freebirthed in the last ten years, in Australia. Please email me at sarah@ilithyiainspired.com to get a copy of the survey and questionnaire.
ETA: I have now set up a private group on facebook for supporters and participants of the book project (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=71972723685). If you're interested in joining send me an email to let me know and I can reply with an invitation to join the group.
The central question driving the project is "Why are some Australian women choosing to freebirth in the Twenty-first Century?", with a focus on what these women's experiences of freebirth have been.
I am defining freebirth as "planned homebirths which are not attended by medical professionals". This includes families who employed a medical professional throughout pregnancy but chose not to have him or her present at the birth, but excludes unplanned freebirths (where either the family did not have time to get to the hospital/birth centre or the medical professional did not have time to get to the family's home). "Medical professionals" refers to any health workers with a university degree in their field of health, be that; nursing, midwifery, general medicine, obstetrics or gyaenecology.
As a starting point I have put together a survey of 23 questions (some multichoice, some short answer) for women who have had planned freebirths and a questionnaire which explores more open-ended and in-depth issues/questions, it considers aspects of freebirth left out of the original survey.
I suspect in the future this research may also include interviews with families who have freebrithed (be they in person, over the phone or via email). I am also currently working on a survey for partners and fathers whose significant others chose to freebirth.
I also hope to include freebirth stories from mothers and fathers willing to share their experiences in their own words in the book.
If you have freebirthed in the last ten years, in Australia. Please email me at sarah@ilithyiainspired.com to get a copy of the survey and questionnaire.
ETA: I have now set up a private group on facebook for supporters and participants of the book project (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=71972723685). If you're interested in joining send me an email to let me know and I can reply with an invitation to join the group.
