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A video of a home waterbirth without a midwife or doctor present has sparked major concerns for doctors.

The video has been slammed by Australia’s leading obstetrician as “dangerous” and features the father delivering his own baby with the dogs watching on, while an Ed Sheeran song plays in the background.

It has been viewed more than 47,000 times after being shared by popular Instagrammer “australianbirthstories”.

*Original video appears to have since been removed*

This incredible birth was a first birth for this beautiful mother. She makes it look effortless with the aid of hypnobirthing techniques. . . Repost via @blissful.herbs When a young woman believes that yes she can give birth in peace and privacy and by her own power, without pain – that she IS worthy, that she IS capable. . Jessie told me she wishes all women had access to a doula to learn from and help make birth an experience to love and embrace rather than fear. . . Jessie says, “Wanting to be in control of my body and birth is the reason I decided to have Mahli at home. I knew that if I felt safe and supported in a loving environment, that the birth would be easy. And it was – easy and pain-free.” . . That’s the benefit of having no hindrances to the peak flow of birthing hormones. What strikes me about this gorgeous first time mother homebirth is the absolute confidence Jessie had, in her body and in birth, and the total trust and support of her husband. So many young women are told not to consider homebirth for their first baby, and are scared off looking into it with talk of “untried pelvises”. Not for your first, they’re told. Something might go wrong! Not for your first. I believe your very FIRST experience of birth is the most important one to plan to have at home (assuming you and your baby are healthy and well, and the absence of any actual pathology). This sets you up to have a positive obstetric history. Shelly Birthing Doula: https://www.facebook.com/BirthingDoulaShelly/ Hypnobabies: https://www.hypnobabies.com Blissful Herbs: https://www.blissfulherbs.com.au Video by: https://www.LiveLoveDream.biz . . @little_mahli_and_me . . Song: Perfect by Ed Sheeran www.edsheeran.com

A post shared by Australian Birth Stories (@australianbirthstories) on

Obstetrician Dr Michael Gannon, a former president of the Australian Medical Association, told The Daily Telegraph it “beggared belief” that someone would promote giving birth in the bathtub next to a family pet.

Doctors are becoming so concerned by mummy bloggers that they are now vetting the websites prospective parents view.

Our first Breastfeed. Mahli crawled her way up for her first feed about 15 minutes after being born. After such an easy pregnancy and birth little did I know the difficult journey we would be taken on. After 5 weeks of intense pain, pumping every two hours to feed and me being hospitalized after getting a blood infection via my terribly wounded nipple, and seeing many many specialists Mahli was finally diagnosed with tongue, lip and cheek ties. After the laser to release them and 6 weeks of 4 hourly stretches our breastfeeding journey finally began. Life became much simpler and I am 100% happy that I listened to my mama spidey senses and persisted in finding out why feeding was so unbearably painful. Thank goddess for my IBCLC @themilkmeg, Dr Kate at @chiropractic_works_cairns & Dr Lindsey at @absolutelydental #breastfeeding #normalizebreastfeeding #worldbreastfeedingweek #worldbreastfeedingweek2018 #freebirth #homebirth #doula #doggiedoulas @australianbreastfeedingproject A post shared by Jessie Goetze (@little_mahli_and_me) on

One “motherhood influencer”, Sydney-based Marcia Leone has promoted a naturopath who claimed gluten and dairy increase the risk of miscarriages.

NSW AMA councillor Dr Kathryn Austin said there were “ethical concerns” about bloggers being paid to promote supplements.

A new survey from Murdoch University found that less than 35 per cent of new mothers said their doctor was their primary source of health information.

Fears people are buying into the ridiculous health beliefs

OBSTETRICIAN Dr Alexander Polyakov told Daily Telegraph he was seeing patients who had adopted “ridiculous” health beliefs after reading misinformation online, posted by bloggers (not named in this report), multiple times a week.

This included a couple who falsely believed IVF caused cancer and would-be parents who had self-diagnosed dairy and gluten intolerances.

Dr Polyakov said bloggers promoting at-home waterbirths were particularly disturbing given the risk of a child drowning.

He said Australia had a much lower rate of neonatal deaths than Third World countries where hospital births were rarer.

“Even in prehistoric times people knew not to give birth in water, there is no justification for it,” Dr Polyakov said.

Are we getting fooled by bloggers and their paid stories?

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  • Each to their own. Yes you can have bub at home without medical assistance and everything can be fine but the truth is when disaster strikes its often without warning. For me there is just no way that I would have ever wanted to run the risk so for me it was hospital everytime. You can drink wine while pregnant and your baby will be fine. I didnt want to take that risk either so there was zero alcohol intake for me and no smoking, etc. I never wanted to be in the position where I thought “what if I had only ….” … eliminate as much risk as possible because my kids were very much worth it.

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  • If I had of attempted to give birth at home both Bub and I would have died. Hospital all the way for me, we have them for a reason.

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  • People forget that giving birth used to be a high mortality rate process – before we had medical practices that helped us out. And the thing is there are still women and children who die during childbirth. I had an emergency c-section. I don’t know what would have happened to me if i had had a home birth. It can be a very dangerous thing. I personally wouldn’t want to risk the most important thing in my life.

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  • they do give ridiculous advice, I don’t get why people will happily take the advice of nobodies over the medical or specialist trained people. I belong to a group for premature babies and so many time people ask a medical question on there after seeking advice from their doctor, why do you think someone that has studied most of their lives would know less than joe bloggs that popped out a kid or two?

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  • I do read other bloggers and influencers stories but I have my own mind and I know whats right and wrong. I believe that if I am confident about myself I know my own decisions, I dont need to get influenced by people I never met or know well. It depends on how strong your personality is and how much influence you take from other person.

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  • Blogging . Blogs are opinions and should be treated in a way carefully, if the people are professionals and showing say… nutritional values as a nutritionist and meal ideas then it can appeal with the facts and a person makes a choice to follow. If it’s recommendations for pregnant women that is on a “blog” and not backed with facts then tread carefully. Blogs are for interest and entertainment I think more than medical advisement. As for parents posting births, it’s not for me, but some don’t mind it. The way I see it, if you don’t like it or it doesn’t appeal….scroll on by. Don’t become emersed in loathing something. Just give it zero energy. Follow what you love and find good for yourself, not that works you up. So easy to scroll by or not open.

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  • Oh but 1 more thing. I still love this haha with the dogs watching. What an experience!!!! I just think a midwife should be present just in case. How beautiful though. Glad nothing bad happened

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  • Personally .. i think your putting your babies life at risk. Dont get me wrong. A water birth sounds lovely. ( i just went to hospital and screamed for an epidural for my posterior baby ) but someone with medical training should be there. I mean with my birth i had an easy pregnancy but ended up having an episiotomy ( cant spell) because the cord was around her neck. My god. I can only imagine the guilt someone would feel if their baby died because they did it alone on purpose. I just couldn’t take that risk. The midwives who delivered my baby were amazing.

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  • love that photo with the dogs watching on

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  • Wow a home waterbirth by the dad, that’s a first

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  • I think the whole “mummy bloggers” thing is out of control. Who watches them anyhow and why would you take all their crap seriously.

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  • Nup, no way, not on my own! I’m looking at the water though……doesn’t it seem incredibly clean for a water birth?

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  • Had the Mother gone to hospital either before or immediately after the birth a lot of problems would have been spotted and treated a lot sooner, especially those of her baby.

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  • So if you want this to be your birthing experience, why the need to film it and share it online? Perhaps filming it for yourselves, but this sharing online is becoming out of hand I think.

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  • I have no concept of why people follow bloggers. They are paid to do rubbish that can be controversial and at times, just plain stupid.

    Reply

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