i decided to have an unassisted birth with my third because i trusted my ability to give birth alone, didn't want anyone distracting me, and because i thought i'd be most orgasmic alone or with my husband and kids. i've been advocating freebirth for a long time. then i attended a couple births with this phenomenal midwife and WANTED rather than felt i needed her to be with me at my birth. still, my only interview question for her was "will you support me in doing this alone and only assist me if i request it?" she said yes!

my water was broken 4 days with no active labor, and other than checking on me for signs of infection and to give me emotional support, she didn't bother me. i ended up going into active labor at one of these check-up visits. she left me alone until i said i was feeling "A LOT" of pressure and climbed into the birth tub. (2 hours later) then she asked me if i wanted her to catch the baby or go away and let me do it alone. i asked her to please stay. she was awesome. i always felt like I had the power. prenatal visits were a joy because she trusted me rather than nagged at me as had previous midwives with my other births. that gave us the opportunity to delve much much deeper into the profound inner issues of childbearing.

otherwise, i unschool/homeschool my children, we do not go to the doctor unless absolutely necessary, i make our own herbal medicines, homemade healthy food, etc. we do as much ourselves as we can.