More and more women decide to give birth at home. Just a few days ago, the influencer gave birth Rachel Brathén, better known as Yoga_girl, her child at home. She has actively shared both the pregnancy and the birth on her social media and met both praise and criticism after her home birth.
Now the subject has been widely discussed and many people’s opinions differ as to whether it is risky or not to give birth at home. The midwife and the influencer Asabea Britton will also address the topic in his summer talk in August.
Asabea has previously called births that take place at BB “medicalized” in her podcast. She has also discussed “the free birth movement”, where femininity is to be natural and something you strive for.
The midwife’s words about home birth
News24 have talked to Mia Ahlberg who is a licensed midwife, acting director of operations at Karolinska Huddinge for pregnancy and childbirth and a researcher in epidemiology about the risks and benefits of home birth.
Ahlberg has experience in implementing working methods at Karolinska to be able to offer home birth within the healthcare organization.
The risks of home birth
According to Ahlberg, there are some risks with giving birth at home and this type of birth is not recommended for everyone.
– The risks during pregnancy that can lead to complications during birth are there regardless of where the birth takes place. At home or in hospital. That is why home births are recommended above all for women who have no known risk factors during pregnancy, says Ahlberg to Nyheter24.
Trained midwives are important for safe childbirth
She also says that the research that compares birth at home and in hospital where the women had no known risk factors previously should be equally safe. But she also points out that it is only safe if you have experienced midwives around you.
– It is important to remember that the research shows that home births are safe, provided that there is an organization around the woman. An organization that ensures that she is supported by trained midwives during the birth, that the midwives have the right equipment with them home and that there is an established organization for how transfer to hospital should take place if a complication occurs.
She also says that complications can occur even in women where no previously known risk factors have been seen.
– It is important that there are trained midwives present during the birth and that they can get help when the woman needs more advanced care in hospital, says Ahlberg to Nyheter24.
Advantages of home birth
But according to Ahlberg, there are some advantages to home birth as well.
– Studies show that there are medical benefits to giving birth at home, for those women who want to give birth at home. There are great psychological gains for the pregnant woman who wishes to give birth at home if she is offered that opportunity with good and safe support.
Therefore, women give birth at home – without help from healthcare
Why some women choose to give birth at home completely on their own, without midwives, Ahlberg believes is due, among other things, to the fact that the woman does not trust the care.
– There is research that shows that women who give birth at home, without having trained midwives by their side, usually do so because they do not trust the care, says Ahlberg.
She believes that these women may think that the care will impair her own conditions to give birth in the best way.
– Each individual woman who makes that choice naturally has her own personal reasons and it may not always be about a distrust of healthcare, but I think that is often included as a reason, Ahlberg tells Nyheter24.
The midwife about influencers who give birth at home
There are several influencers who talk about giving birth at home and share when they do it themselves. Ahlberg cannot answer whether it affects people, but she believes that home birth is usually well thought out by those who do it.
– Since home birth is unusual in Sweden and very few healthcare organizations offer it in Sweden, knowledge is low. Social media and influencers spread information to people, and the influencers who inform about home birth may contribute to more pregnant women knowing that it is a way to give birth. But as I said, I don’t know if it affects the personal decision, says Mia Ahlberg to Nyheter24.