In 2009, The National Center for Health Statistics reported that unassisted births in this country jumped from 7,607 unassisted births to 8,347 births between 2004 and 2006. That’s a DIY birth increase of 10%, however, not all DIY births are reported because families fear legal or personal persecution, so in reality many more DIY births may be occurring. An unassisted, or DIY birth is just like it sounds. A DIY birth is a birth where women and their partner plan to birth at home alone, without the help of a midwife or doctor. In some cases emergency unassisted births do occur, but for the purpose of this post, we mean planned DIY births.
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Photo © Flickr user eyeliam
Are DIY births even legal?
Unassisted childbirth is almost completely legal in the United States. According to Bornfree, laws surrounding DIY births vary from country to country and even from state to state. Bornfree goes on to point out that Nebraska is the one and only state where there is actual legislation in place – it’s illegal in Nebraska for a partner to catch a baby. That said, although some state health organizations, and Nebraska may say that DIY birth is not okay, it’s practically impossible to prove that a birth was intentionally unassisted and thus, very few DIY births are contested.
