“Midwife to Myself”: Birth Narratives among Women Choosing Unassisted Homebirth*

Abstract

Most pregnant women in the United States today choose a normative physicianguided pregnancy followed by a medically managed hospital birth. Some, however, choose the care of a midwife during pregnancy and birth, whether in the hospital or, more rarely, at home. Despite growing research on both these paths, a third option chosen by some women has rarely been studied: a planned birth at home with neither a doctor nor a midwife assisting. In this article, I examine the stories told by women in this underresearched population to consider how they make and explain this highly unusual choice. Analysis of online birth stories and in-depth interviews with women who planned and had an unassisted homebirth reveal ways in which these women rely on competing discourses of midwifery and medicine to craft a unique sense of agency in birth .

Women desiring less care than recommended during childbirth: Three years of dedicated clinic

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13] Many of these women have had a previous traumatic childbirth experience. However, ample recent literature exists on the motivations of women who choose to go against medical advice in their birth wishes and opt for a home birth in a high-risk pregnancy or even an unassisted childbirth.…”

“…However, ample recent literature exists on the motivations of women who choose to go against medical advice in their birth wishes and opt for a home birth in a high-risk pregnancy or even an unassisted childbirth. [8][9][10][11][12][13] Many of these women have had a previous traumatic childbirth experience. 10,[14][15][16] An important cause of this trauma reported by women is lack or loss of control, interventions being performed routinely without informed consent, and lack of support and communication by maternity care professionals.…”

Frames and Narratives as Tools for Recruiting and Sustaining Group Members: The Soulforce Equality Ride as a Social Movement Organization*

“…Participants' narratives, when told to potential adherents, can also heighten emotions already present and attach those emotions to new ideas and thus new lines of action (Chasteen Miller 2009;Francis 1997a,b;Nolan 2002;Polletta 2002). Narratives often include a sense of injustice, often coupled with anger (Gamson 1995;Hercus 1999).…”

Using narrative inquiry to listen to the voices of adolescent mothers in relation to their use of social networking sites (SNS)

“…Narrative has been widely used to address the complexities and subtleties of human experience in teaching and learning (Beattie, ; Craig, ; Stone, Wilson, & Beresford, ) and is now used in both social and human science research. There is currently greater appreciation that personal narrative is a powerful way to generate new knowledge, with this method having been used to inform nursing practice and education (Kucera, Higgins, & McMillan, ; Mangum & Avery, ; McAllister et al., ) and explore women's experiences of—labour and birthing (Ireland et al., ; Miller, ; Straus, McEwen, & Hussein, ), breastfeeding (Ryan, Bissell, & Alexander, ) and motherhood (Brand et al., ).…”