page_title: Unassisted childbirth
section_title: Birth preparation and prenatal care
hierarchical_section_title: Unassisted childbirth / Birth preparation and prenatal care
caption_attribution_description: English: Prenatal medical exam. Español: Médico realizando un examen prenatal en El Salvador.
context_page_description: Unassisted childbirth refers to the process of intentionally giving birth without the assistance of a medical birth attendant. It may also be known as freebirth, DIY birth, unhindered birth, and unassisted home birth. Unassisted childbirth is by definition a planned process, and is thus distinct from unassisted birth due to reasons of emergency, lack of access to a skilled birth attendant, or other. It is also different from homebirth, although most UCs also happen within the home.
  Vital Statistics Canada defines an "unassisted/unattended" birth as one that takes place without a registered medical attendant, regardless of what other birth professionals may have been in attendance. Many "unassisted" births involve the attendance of a non-medical birth attendant, though the definition of unassisted birth sometimes means there is only family or peers in attendance and no professional support whatsoever. Approximately 0.25% of births in the United States are unassisted.
  Unassisted childbirth comes with risks. Numerous national medical societies, as well as midwives' associations, have cautioned against unassisted childbirth.
context_section_description: With respect to medical prenatal care, two broad categories are recognized by unassisted childbirth proponents:
  Assisted: Many women who are planning an unassisted birth choose to have professional prenatal care as part of their birth preparation. This may include regular prenatal visits with a doctor or monitoring by a midwife. Seeking the assistance of a doctor or midwife may allow for discovering risk factors that might make an unassisted birth inadvisable, such as placenta praevia. Professional prenatal care may also help identify risk factors that could be managed so that the unassisted birth can continue as planned. Rather than keep to a traditional prenatal care schedule, some women may also selectively choose prenatal care.
  Unassisted: Some women who choose UC also choose to have a medically unassisted pregnancy; i.e. they do not visit a doctor or other birth professional for prenatal care. There are potentially life-threatening consequences of having no medical follow-up in case there are complications.
caption: Doctor giving woman a prenatal exam
exif: {}