When Autonomy Collides With Risk: What the Free Birth Movement Gets Wrong About Safety

Pregnant women deserve respect and agency, but they also deserve accurate information and competent care.

Pregnant women deserve respect and support, but they also deserve accurate information and competent care. The rising appeal of free birth and unqualified “midwives” in the U.S. shows what happens when autonomy is allowed to float unmoored from safety.

A good place to begin is with a plain definition: Free birth refers to intentionally giving birth witho…