2017 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 1-12
In this study, I interviewed 30 women who experienced “private births” (a birth for which an environment without a medical practitioner is intentionally chosen in a planned fashion) and illuminated their points of contact with medical care until their births (such as antenatal check-ups) as well as how their births progressed. These women underwent antenatal check-ups while choosing the necessary medical care they would receive. The reactions of medical practitioners to those who conveyed their intention to have a private childbirth influenced their subsequent examination situations. Of the interviewees’ 55 “private births”, there were 50 normal births, no stillbirths, no maternal deaths, and 5 birth abnormalities. A woman who experienced one of these abnormalities had obtained enough information regarding emergency response during “the private birth” from a doctor at the time of her antenatal check-up, and was able to receive the appropriate medical treatment with confidence when the situation arose, resulting in a safe birth. This study makes clear the importance of mutual understanding through communication between the birthing side and medical practitioners in order to guarantee the right of women to choose how to give birth as well as ensure safe delivery.
