Abstract
Background
Each year a small number of women decide to birth at home without midwifery and medical
assistance despite the availability of maternity services in the country. This phenomenon
is called freebirth and can be used as a lens to look into shortcomings of maternity
care services.
Aim
By exploring women’s pathways to freebirth, this article aims to examine the larger
context of maternity services in Poland and identify elements of care contributing
to women’s decision to birth without midwifery and medical assistance.
Methods
A qualitative methodology was used employing elements of ethnographic fieldwork, including
digital ethnography. Semi-structured interviews with twelve women who freebirth, analysis
of online support groups, secondary sources of information and elements of participant
observation were used.
Findings
Women’s decisions to freebirth were born out of their previous negative experiences
with maternity care. Persistent use of medical technology and lack of respect from
maternity care providers played a major role in pushing women away from available
Polish maternity services. While searching for a better environment for themselves
and their babies for the subsequent births, women experienced a rigidity of both mainstream
and homebirth services and patchy availability of the latter that contributed to their
decisions to freebirth.
Conclusions
Freebirth appears to be a consequence of inadequate maternity services both mainstream
and homebirth rather than a preference. Women’s freebirth experiences can be used
to improve maternity care in Poland and inform similar contexts globally.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 05, 2021
Accepted:
July 25,
2021
Received:
April 15,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
