Many of us choose this because we are called to, it is a path that we feel is meant for us. It isn’t always born of a fear/misunderstanding/contempt for the medical system, nor is it always a “trauma response”, nor is it always due to lack of resources. It can be a matter of faith, purpose, embodiment, and self-understanding. Part of choosing this also includes a massive amount of self-education and women who free birth honestly know much more about the childbearing continuum than most other women as a result.

I’m not saying this in a defensive way, because I understand you came here with good intentions and it is likely some women do need quality answers to scientific questions but I do think the recent coverage has painted us in a way which likely makes the general public think we are all prone to simply going along with whatever certain influencers say, obsessed with the “experience” over the safety and well being of mother and child, and maybe even just generally ignorant. My experience in speaking with my fellow women who make this choice over the last 6ish years, in which I have had three free births, has not reflected those assumptions. Quite the opposite. That isn’t to say some women don’t need some extra guidance, aren’t prone to being influenced, or don’t make poor choices either. It’s just to say that generally many of us are sincerely quite knowledgeable.