What exactly is an undisturbed birth?
An undisturbed birth is simply just how it sounds – a birth that is undisturbed.
Undisturbed = no gloved hands poking and prodding, no cervical checks, no fetal monitoring, no induction, no coached pushing, no one telling you what you can or can not eat or drink, no one telling you what position you may or may not get into, no one turning on lights that you don’t want, no one in your birth space that you don’t truly want there with you. And much more!
Undisturbed can look different depending on the mother. For one mother, birthing undisturbed can look like a midwife respecting her wishes to not be monitored. For another mother, this can mean being completely alone, with only a partner there for emotional support.
But why is it safest you might ask?
Undisturbed birth is safe because your physiology was perfectly curated for you to bring your baby safely into the world, the same way it created it. Your body was intelligently designed to conceive, nourish, grow and birth your baby earthside.
In an undisturbed birth, your intelligent hormonal matrix is given the chance to guide you and your baby through the experience of labor and birth. The hormonal mix of oxytocin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, beta- endorphins, and prolactin, allow you to birth your baby without unnecessary assistance or intervention. It allows your cervix to dilate, for contractions to sustain, for your baby to rotate and descend down the vaginal canal, and much more!
In an undisturbed birth you not only feel safe, but also have privacy and trust from others. You have the space to go inward, into the altered states of consciousness, to intuitively move your body the way you need to, to transform pain into sensation, and to allow your oxytocin levels to rise.
When the birth space is disturbed, risks increase for both mother and baby, simply because oxytocin can’t flow, and the levels of adrenaline rise. In fact, many of the things feared in birth are most often the result of a disturbed birth. Hemorrhage, “failure to progress”, “stuck” baby, and tearing are just a few examples.
At the end of the day, birth (and life itself) is inherently “risky”. Safety is an illusion. Death and Life are beautifully interwoven. One simply cannot exist without the other. That being said, the one way to dramatically reduce said “risks” is to birth undisturbed.
If you would like to know more about my birthkeeping services and how I support mother’s through undisturbed birth please contact me.
