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A mother who attempted to deliver her own child at her remote California home has been slammed after the baby died during labour.

She says she had been attempting ‘free birthing’, which means delivering her own child with no medical assistance for days.

Lisa later told The Daily Beast via email the contractions had become so severe she could “hardly breathe”.

“Been in labour for days,” the 29-year-old posted on the ‘The Free Birth Society’ Facebook page that day. “Thought I was in transition at 11.30pm but now it’s 3am and it’s intensely painful… like I just wanted to lie down and for the pain to stop for just a second.”

Three days after this post, Lisa reported her waters had finally broken, although her stomach was aching and she wasn’t able to urinate.

It’s then she abandoned her ‘free birthing plan’ and decided to seek medical attention, presenting at an emergency ward.

Lisa says she was told the baby no longer had a heartbeat. The next thing she remembers is pushing, but after three hours and little progress the situation became more serious.

“When I woke up I was covered in blood and so was everyone else,” she tells the publication. “And it was so quiet in there.”

Lisa later informed the Facebook group her baby had been stillborn.

“Journey Moon was born a sleeping angel on October 7 at 8lbs 13oz (4kg),” she wrote.

“She passed due to a massive urinary tract infection I had… I’m laying in the hospital writing this and get to go home tomorrow. We will be having Journey cremated.”

Defending her choice

Since sharing the sad news online, Lisa has been slammed for her decision to attempt a free birth. Now, instead of being given time to mourn the loss of her child, Lisa says she’s having to defend herself instead.

“What should have been a time of grieving and mourning alone with my family was now a time of defending myself from evil people and their horrible words,” Lisa tells The Daily Beast.

“I could spend hours defending myself and family, but I feel like these are people who will never admit to being wrong. They will always fight you even dirtier than before.”

In an email, she wrote that despite Journey Moon’s death, she still believes it is a woman’s right to choose the best birthing option for her and that she isn’t turning her back on the movement.

“My body is fully capable of birth. I was created to birth,” she writes. “I can and will birth again. I will conceive again and birth again and the outcome will be different. I believe that.”

We recently shared a video of a home waterbirth without a midwife or doctor present that sparked major concerns for doctors. Read more here.

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  • She has probably paid the biggest price for her choice. Nothing anyone else says will be more severe than the loss of her baby.

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  • The idea of an unassisted home birth sounds good and some people have no worries but you can never tell when something unfortunate may occur. I could never take that risk personally and wanted anything and anyone I might require on hand..

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  • How devastating to loose her baby.

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  • Sorry Journey Moon lost her life in this a high price !
    I agree with the mum that it’s the woman’s right to choose the best birthing option for her. Just hope and pray women can ask for help when they need it. Yes, we as women are capable of birth indeed, but no we aren’t medical professionals who can determine if dangerous complications occur.

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  • Really sad ending

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  • Surely the Mother should have known that the baby should be born within 24 hours. How could she not know that there was definitely not issues. I reckon the Mother is fortunate that she survived too. The baby would also have gone in to foetal distress after all that time too. If her bladder was damaged she may have ruined her chances of having another baby.

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  • How devastating. Not something I would do, but at least she isn’t afraid to try for another. Hopefully next time she seeks help sooner rather than wait 3 days

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  • Yes, by all means women need choice. But having an untreated UTI? Should not be a choice. Labouring for days without progress? Should not be a choice. She should have at the very least called the hospital or her doctor after a day of active labour.
    It’s sad she has to defend herself when mourning and I feel sorry for the loss that her and the father must feel.

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  • What a very sad outcome. I am of the opinion she could have still ‘free birthed’ with medical monitoring (not intervention ie no epidural, episiotomy, induction, clean and sweep, etc). Her babies’ condition would have been closely monitored. You never know what might go wrong in child birth, women and babies still die and it doesn’t need to be this way.

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  • Obviously more education is needed about what is safe and what is dangerous and people shouldn’t be able to post what amounts to medical advice if they don’t have medical training. A really sad situation and I hope some of the people telling her to keep going consider more carefully what they say in future.

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  • It was her choice though it would not be mine personally.

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  • What an awful thing to experience!

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  • Oh my. She decided indeed too late to look for medical assistance. She had so much pain and she didn’t do anything for days. So sorry for that little baby who lost his life. :-(

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  • Yes the parents and mother should have a choice but with a choice like this comes some forms of danger and there are some more at risk than others. It’s important to do what’s best for mum and Bub and unfortunately not both pulled through this time.

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  • It’s not something that should be taken lightly and she should have gone to a hospital sooner. Maybe then the baby would have made it. Poor little soul :(

    Reply

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