Woman gives birth to healthy baby in rainforest stream to avoid unnatural hospital setting

Tuesday, July 19, 2016 by: Isabelle Z.
Tags: outdoor birth, postpartum depression, Simone Thurber

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(NaturalNews) A woman living in Australia was so determined to avoid spending time in the hospital, that she actually gave birth in a rainforest stream.

When she was pregnant with her fourth child at age 39, doctors told Simone Thurber that her pregnancy would be high-risk. She says she decided to follow her gut and shun the unwelcoming hospital environment in favor of giving birth the way women have for thousands of years – outside in nature.

Thurber says she is not "a hippy drippy mum," but she did not want her child to be born surrounded by beeping machines and the overall cold atmosphere found in a hospital. She points out that women have been giving birth out in the wild for many thousands of years. A birth in nature had long been her dream, and her partner Nick supported the idea. Thurber is a trained doula and birthing therapist, making her better prepared than most to deal with any issues that might have cropped up in the process.

The couple lived in Melbourne at the time, but they headed for a friend's house in the Daintree Rainforest area for the big day. The beach was her first choice, but a jellyfish infestation made that a poor option, so instead she found a stream nearby.

Her labor ended up taking longer than expected, but she eventually gave birth to a very healthy girl on a foam mat near the stream. Two hours later, she had birthed the placenta. She used part of it to make a smoothie and buried the rest by the stream in keeping with an aboriginal tradition of "giving back to the land."

Hoping to avoid postpartum depression

Thurber suffered from postpartum depression after all of her previous three births, and this method really made a difference, leaving her feeling not only awake and energized, but empowered by the fact that she had successfully given birth to a healthy child. She said the process was draining but freeing.

Growing interest in natural births in the wild

The birth was captured on video, and it has now been viewed 52 million times on YouTube. Thurber is quick to warn people to discuss this option with their doctor or doula first; she was highly trained and had a lot of experience with giving birth. Now aged 43 and living in Park City, Utah, Thurber's experience was the inspiration for the TV series Born in the Wild. Although she has not had any involvement with the show personally, its popularity indicates a growing interest in the ultimate in natural births.

Hospitals breeding grounds for infections

Although giving birth in the wild does carry some risks and might seem an incomprehensible choice to some, it is easy to see why she was so determined to avoid hospitals. According to the CDC, 648,000 people acquire infections in hospitals every year, and 75,000 of them die. That's actually double the number of people who die in car crashes every year. Newborns are particularly susceptible; a study released in 2009 showed that superbug infections had increased by more than 300 percent during the previous ten years in hospital neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).

A big part of the appeal of an outdoor birth for Thurber was being in nature. Spending time outdoors can provide incomparable relaxation, but for those of us who do not have access to a house in the rainforest, an ultrasonic essential oil diffuser can help freshen the air naturally with essential oils that can boost your breathing or help you to relax. This is a great way to enjoy some of the benefits of nature when spending time outside simply isn't feasible.

(Photo credit: Earth Birth Method/Simone Thurber)

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

Science.NaturalNews.com