Mum Livestreams Unassisted Home Birth

A US mum-of-four live streamed her labour as she gave birth to her fourth child unassisted in her home bathtub.

Kara Baker, 28, lives in Missouri with her husband Bryce, 38, and their children: Brylie, four, Barrett, three, and Ash, 15 months, but the newest addition to their family, Molly, is the first child she chose to have at home.

She became wary of delivering her children in a hospital after having a “terrible” and “traumatic” experience during the birth of her first child.

“Everything that took place was about money, not about what was best for my child,” she told Daily Mail UK.

“There was no doctor there to ‘deliver’ my baby only nurses, they did not practice delayed cord clamping or skin to skin, I was discouraged from breastfeeding, and the bill was $56,000.”

She added that she felt the hospital staff were ” unnecessarily running up the bill” because they knew she had insurance that could cover the costs.

So when she went into labour on March 23rd with her fourth child she simply hopped in the bathtub, turned on the camera and waited, and 35 minutes later she had their new daughter Molly in her arms.

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“By live-streaming the birth, I hope to change people’s perspective of birth. I want to help people lose the stigma associated with birth,” she said of her choice to share the event with her YouTube followers.

“I want people to see that labour and delivery does not have to be painful and feared. Giving birth is what we are designed to do. It truly is a gift.”

Her birth has been viewed over 53,000 times.

What the experts say

Many medical professionals warn that unassisted births can be incredibly dangerous, as not having a medical professional present can leave mother and baby in life-threatening situations if something goes wrong.

They suggest that women wanting to have a home birth confirm with their doctor that their pregnancy isn’t high-risk before making the decision, and ensure they have a certified midwife or physician on hand to assist during and after.

Share your comments below

48 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 13 Mar 2023
    12:49 pm
Im glad things went well for her.
My auntie had things work the oterh way for her. She was living in the UK and at that time if you had already had a child with no issues and the pregnancy was sailing along without issues you were told to have your baby at home. She did but there were problems and by the time help arrived it was too late and my cousin ended up with issues including brain damage, sigh and hearing issues.

- - serotonin said
  - 09 Jun 2019
    10:00 am
Wow that’s different. I can understand the not wanting to go through another traumatic hospital experience. I had the same problems so with my 3rd I did what I wanted not what the nurses/doctor told me to do, and it was the easiest, stress free birth.

- - Jujubear79 said
  - 29 Apr 2019
    10:30 pm
Thats playing with fire……

- - mom101628 said
  - 23 Apr 2019
    10:53 pm
To each his own, but I’d want someone with some knowledge with me if I were ever to attempt something like this.

- - ella12 said
  - 04 Apr 2019
    4:49 pm
All the best to her and her family.

- - rovermum said
  - 31 Mar 2019
    4:51 pm
I have no interest in viewing a live stream of anyone’s birth — it is very personal and private, I believe. Just glad all went well.

- - littlehandsofmine said
  - 31 Mar 2019
    11:29 am
Wow, this is a lot

- - jacqbeckett said
  - 30 Mar 2019
    9:37 pm
If I had a choice I would do it at home but with qualified midwife. But true there’s Never enough beds or support. In my case, it was more of midwives thinks they know what mum’s should be doing etc after birth. My experience in that was shit. But during birth 1st son was never going to come through as his head was too big. 2nd one dr checked and said Il never have a natural birth as my pulvis was too small so we organise plan cesear.
Thing is all mum’s should have support during and after birth.

- - ~Loui~ said
  - 30 Mar 2019
    9:09 pm
$56,000!!!!!!!!!!!! That’s crazy. I’m so glad that her birth was relatively straightforward.

- - BellaB said
  - 30 Mar 2019
    7:10 pm
The American health system really sucks. But even so, having no help is very risky.

- - mom215581 said
  - 30 Mar 2019
    11:08 am
In an ideal world there would be no pain and a sneeze would do the job but because everyone is different I think it could be reckless to not have any qualified assistance present.

- - taynik46 said
  - 29 Mar 2019
    10:31 pm
I think this is great – having a baby somewhere you feel comfortable is a much more beneficial thing for mum and bub. BUT!!! I do strongly believe if your going to do this that you have a midwife or medical person on hand for the birth to be ready to go into action and organise things if something doesn’t go according to plan. I think with all the great things doctors and midwives do it would be a shame to see homebirth babies (or mums) dying because there was no medical intervention available directly when needed.

I think homebirthing takes pressure of hospitals and nurses which can sometimes be over run with labouring mums and not enough beds, birthing suits, midwives etc
- mom19782016 replied
  
  30 Mar 2019 , 1:15 am
  Couldn’t agree more with your entire comment!
- - mumma said
  - 29 Mar 2019
    9:24 pm
Woman used to give birth in afield, barn, shed etc etc back in the day and a lot were fine. However a lot where not. today I am greatful for Hospitals as I needed help for both my births. Glad everything went well for her though.

- - musicmum said
  - 29 Mar 2019
    8:53 pm
Birthing is a natural thing and we need to get it out of hospitals and into birthing centers which are designed by women.

- - mom83217 said
  - 29 Mar 2019
    8:44 pm
I’m glad she had no complications with this birth. I’m sure she was confident delivering herself or she would not have done it.
I might add though, my neighbour also felt confident herself in a home unassisted delivery after having two previous hospital births with no comications. Her baby ended up getting stuck as her baby divered one hand first and she had to call a paramedic to help. She was lucky that they were not far away and she was still able to have her birth at home.

- - mom81879 said
  - 29 Mar 2019
    6:44 pm
I think she was extremely lucky thus birth all went smoothly and resulted in a healthough baby. I think she is being reckless suggesting other mums can do it too. There are just too many factors to weigh in when giving birth, even hospital deliveries can turn into emergencies.

- - roseuponatime said
  - 29 Mar 2019
    8:20 am
I’m so happy that everything went well unfortunately sometimes like in my case they did not and I needed medical intervention to deliver my act safely. If I was at home things would have taken a different path. It’s important to research fully and if you choose to birth at home do so with assistance. If she was covered by health insurance I don’t really see the problem.

- - Myrlie said
  - 29 Mar 2019
    8:04 am
I’m glad it went well for her this time but her traumatic birth experience didn’t need to be repeated, different doctor, different hospital and seriously nurses deserve more credit, they do more and are definitely better than having no one if something doesn’t go right.

- - Ellen said
  - 29 Mar 2019
    7:45 am
Beautiful !
I agree with the medical professionals that women wanting to have a home birth should confirm with their doctor that their pregnancy isn’t high-risk before making the decision, and ensure they have a certified midwife or physician on hand to assist during and after.

- - rnash02 said
  - 29 Mar 2019
    4:18 am
Way to go mumma, if a home birth is what she wanted then that’s what she got, I wouldn’t but each to their own.
- kjgarner replied
  
  29 Mar 2019 , 11:09 am
  Something I wouldn’t do either but I am happy for them they got what they wanted and a daughter in the end.