Expat women resort to Unassisted Birth
July 20, 2008
Expats opt for freebirth
Pregnant foreigners living in Thailand face a lack of options for giving birth. There are no midwifes in Thailand, there are no birth centers. Giving birth in a hospital is natural for people in Thailand.
Expat women, a bit more critical, with more options to educate themselves using online resources are less likely to just go with what everyone else is doing, just because everyone else is doing it and without questioning it.
The alternative that is available is to give birth at home, but without having the assistance and reassurance of a midwife or another professional birth attendant and more foreign women chose this alternative to avoid the routine hospital procedures that hinder the natural birth process and that so often lead to c-sections via the known cascade of interventions.
Not accepting to submit to major abdominal surgery and the stressful environment of a hospital was a mother in Bangkok who expected twins. She gave birth at home to both babies without any assistance.
A Phuket expat recently invited an aspiring lay midwife from Australia to attend her birth at home, despite the logistics involved of having someone from overseas stay in Thailand for at least 4 weeks. When giving birth naturally you do not induce labor and can therefore not predict an exact birth date.
Foreign couples in other areas of Thailand have posted in online forums used by expats, searching for midwifes, without success. The reports of c-sections accumulate.
A Krabi woman, originally from Australia where natural births and homebirths are still considered an option, was left traumatized after receiving an unexpected and unplanned c-section at Bangkok Phuket Hospital, one of the common excuses ‘failure to progress’ was given by the doctor but the doubts will remain with this women for the rest of her life. Was it more convenient for the doctor to get the birth over and done with instead of waiting many more hours? Do the doctor and the hospital too quickly suggest that a c-section is needed and could there be financial motivations?
Very interesting! Thanks for posting this. I’m glad to see that women in other countries are aware of this option. Thank you for linking to my site and message board!
I’m the mom of twins that did the freebirth in Bangkok. The birthing situation here is horrible. The C-section rates at the main international hospitals are not published, but by asking the L&D nurses “how many births last month? how many by C-section?” puts the top two hospitals at around 90% C/S rates!!!!
I will have my first baby at Phuket Bangkok Hospital in May. I am aware of the high C-section rates. But my doctor is very supportive and positive in my wish to have a natural birth. I will let you all know how it turns out.