Childbirth education · autonomy · informed choice
Freebirth & DIY Birth Education
Your birth is happening to your body. You deserve to understand it and participate in it.
Be an active participant in your birth
Modern pregnancy and birth can involve an enormous amount of care, expertise, testing, and decision-making around a woman. That support can be valuable—but it can also leave women feeling like spectators in an experience that belongs to them.
My childbirth philosophy starts in a different place: you are capable of learning your body, understanding your options, asking better questions, and making informed choices. Education gives you more tools for working with your care team, advocating for yourself, and taking an active role in your own birth.
That does not mean every birth should be unassisted, or that independence means refusing appropriate professional care. It means you should not have to surrender your voice simply because you are pregnant.
The original DIY Birth class
This course began as a customized ten-session class for mothers interested in freebirth or unassisted birth. Today, that same deep-learning approach can serve women planning many kinds of births. If you are specifically considering freebirth, we can spend more time exploring the questions, preparation, responsibilities, warning signs, contingency planning, and decision-making that matter to you.
The goal is not to make choices for you. The goal is to help you become better informed about your own body and birth so your decisions are truly yours.
What we can explore together
- How labor and birth work, including hormones and stages of labor
- Normal variations and what you may experience physically and emotionally
- Comfort, movement, relaxation, environment, and coping tools
- Birth setting, supplies, and practical preparation
- How a partner or support person can support your choices
- Questions to ask providers and ways to communicate your preferences
- Common interventions, options, benefits, risks, and alternatives
- Warning signs, contingency planning, and when professional or emergency care may be needed
- The third stage and the first hours after birth
- Preparing for postpartum before the baby arrives
The other half of the philosophy
I believe our culture often has the balance backwards. Women can be intensely managed through pregnancy and birth, then sent home to recover and care for a newborn with surprisingly little community support.
I want to help flip that: more knowledge, voice, participation, and autonomy in birth; more rest, help, nourishment, and community postpartum. Being capable does not require doing every season alone.
“I recommend this course to anyone who wants to be better educated about birth in general, no matter your plans.”
— Amy, past class participant
“She helped me to have the courage to demand the birthing experience I wanted.”
— Aubrey, past class participant
This is childbirth education, not medical advice or a substitute for prenatal care, diagnosis, treatment, or emergency care. Education about freebirth does not guarantee that an unassisted birth is appropriate or safe for any particular pregnancy.
Blooming Sparrow 