Freewheeling, freebasing -- these are terms I've heard of. Freebirthing? Not so much, until I came across this article warning women against freebirthing, a.k.a. birthing without the supervision of a doctor, midwife or doula.

I had no idea modern Western women were doing this. I mean you hear of the odd, "she gave birth in a cab" story and I imagine this happens often in the developing world. But for the most part, having an unassisted birth seems like something that happened back in Laura Ingalls Wilder's day. Apparently some women are choosing to go it alone.

I remember meeting a new mum during my first pregnancy, in yoga class. My yoga class wasn't really prone to freaks, but this one woman happened to be a little too... well I used to refer to her as Hippy Dippy Mom. She was explaining her home birth and I inquired about her midwife. "Oh no," she replied, "We fired our midwife."

"Whaddya mean fired your midwife? Did you find another one? What was wrong with her?"

"She didn't share the same vision for our birth and we basically felt she was incompetent, so I gave birth at home. Just me and my husband. It was the most beautiful thing."

When she told my yoga buddy, Blondie, about burying her placenta in the yard, well... no offence, but I think I threw up a little bit in my mouth.

I know birth is natural and all that, but so is B.O. and I'll risk Alzheimer's to wear deoderant. Having experience complications during labour and delivery myself, ones that put my child's life in jeopardy, I have to side with the doctors on this one. Complications can happen without a moment's notice.

Have any of you had unassisted births? Would you do it again? Is anyone reading considering an unassisted birth? I'd like to hear your reasons why.

What are you up to today? I've already balanced my check book, gone to SuperTarget to return some patio furniture, and assembled two rubber band airplanes for my kids. I'm ready for a nap.

Or I was, until I heard this: ParentDish reader and regular commenter Mamaloo is in labor. This is Mamaloo's second baby, and as with her first, she's planning a home birth. But even better, she's going to blog the early stages!

I had both my babies in the hospital, and yes I had the epidural both times. I was happy with my experience, but I'm always curious about other women's birth stories. Mammaloo had what she describes as "a little bit of drama" about giving birth at home (even though she's done it before, with the same midwife even) but she's confident that everything will go smoothly.

This morning she wrote, "I'm a little bit excited, a little bit freaked out and a little bit been-there-done-that. I made Kieran and I some bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast and I'm then going to call the midwife." I admire her calm.

Keep checking in through the day, and keep your fingers crossed for Mammaloo! We're wishing her a safe and speedy delivery.

A dear friend of mine had her first baby last week. As I slowly started to get the details of the birth from her husband in hurried conversations while they were in the hospital, I started to realize that this was an enormously difficult birth experience all the way around.

Everything that happened was punctuated by the fact that they had originally hoped for a home birth. My friend was raised Sikh, and she wanted as pure, as non-invasive a pregnancy and birth experience as possible. And she knew that this might not be possible. She was realistic about that. But what ultimately happened was a brutal way to bring a child into the world. And I know this because almost the same experiences happened to me with my first child--only hers was just a little bit worse.

When I tell people about her experience, because our friends have moved now and told me I can fill people in here, they have been remarkably unsympathetic. "Well, they're okay, right? That's the most important thing." "Well, things don't always go as planned." Yes, it is. And we all know that. But that doesn't change the fact that a joyous outcome is paired with exhaustion and disppointment, and yes, violation. It makes the recovery that much more difficult. It makes your first days with your baby tremulous and more fearful and more painful.

Here is the story: The baby was breech. The mama blood pressure was high. The mucous plug came out. Contractions were five minutes apart for 24 hours. An epidural was given, and doctors tried to turn the baby. It was immensely painful. The mama was rushed into surgery, whilst telling the doctors, "I can still feel things. I can still feel pain." Fortunately, she didn't feel the incision-- just every stitch when they were stitching her up...

Her brand new baby girl was taken immediately to a NICU with low blood sugar. When the 23-year-old mama finally got to see her baby, hours later, when her hospital bed was wheeled up, the NICU nurse told her not to try to breastfeed, and after ten minutes, told the mama to leave because she was overstimulating her baby. She was basically told that every instinct she had as a new mother was bad for her baby.

Maybe this doesn't sound very traumatic in quiet black and white. But I've been there, and it is very traumatic. It's frightening and painful and invasive and horrible. It will take some time to recover. Time, and their beautiful baby girl. You can read the father's firsthand account of the experience here. How did you recover from your awful birth experience?

As you may recall, several weeks ago I posted my concerns about getting to the hospital once I went into labor. I line in Brooklyn, New York and the hospital where I was scheduled to deliver is in Manhattan. Like many New Yorkers, I don't have a car. As you may imagine, I was a little nervous about getting to the hospital on time or at all, fearing I'd end up having the baby on the sidewalk trying to get a cab to take me to NYU Medical Center.

Of course, that is not what happened. I managed to get myself, ginormous as only a ready-to-pop mama can be, and my husband to NYU all in one piece and in good time. But it wasn't easy. Actually, it was, but the factors surrounding it, perhaps, in hindsight, I could've handled better. Especially the one about listening to what my own body was telling me.

See, I've never been through labor before. I've only read about it, heard about it from my friends and seen it on TV. And, while "they say" most pregnancies and deliveries are essentially the same, each woman, and therefore each experience, is different. I just didn't know what was going to happen to me. I knew that one way or another I'd have a baby, but that was all. Would it be textbook or totally different? Would labor last hours or go super quick? Would the pain be manageable enough for me to play cards with my husband while we waiting for a birthing room or would I sing at the top of my lungs with pain as we raced to the hospital at nearly the last minute? That last one turned out to be the latter.

A woman in Las Vegas is suing the hospital where she gave birth to her child because the hospital is refusing to release her placenta to her, and she had been planning to ingest it for its nutrients. Anne Swanson, 30, is an earthy mama who google searches reveal is an advocate for natural hypnobirth, and before the April birth of her second child by emergency C-section, she had planned to have her placenta dried, ground into powder and placed into capsules for the treatment of post-partum depression. The theory behind this non-traditional practice is that excess hormones build up in the placenta during pregnancy, and new mothers can take the pills and replenish depleted hormones and control PPD.

Swanson says the hospital has told her the organ was contaminated. "Like any other body part, placentas contain a lot of blood, which can carry infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis,'' said Twinkle Chisholm, a spokeswoman for the hospital. "We take great measures to prevent disease transmission.'' Swanson thinks that is ridiculous, because she does not have HIV or hepatitis, and believes she is really just a victim of intolerance for non-traditional beliefs. "I can keep my baby, but I can't have the link that connected us,'' Swanson said. "This was my last pregnancy. I am not going to have another placenta. To me, it was a big deal to have it, whether I was using it for medicinal reasons or planting it.''

Swanson is planning to sue the hospital, though concerns over legal fees have her considering the ACLU and Planned Parenthood for support. The placenta is scheduled to be destroyed tomorrow. There are no state or federal laws regulating whether hospitals should or should not return placentas to mothers. The hospital has not explained why Swanson's placenta is contaminated more than any other placenta, and it sounds to me like they are treating the matter this way because they think it's weird. It is a little weird, but I don't see how it's any of the hospital's concern what she wants to do with it. It came out of her body, wrapped around her daughter after sustaining her for so many months. If she wants to eat it, or bury it her garden, or wear it draped over her breasts during a naked solstice moon dance, I don't see why she shouldn't be able to do whatever she would have been able to do had she given birth at home according to her wishes.

When Monica Walters-Wolfe went in to labor, she followed the plan set out by her midwife, Coleen Goodwin. She phoned her and the two agreed to meet at The Baby Place birthing center in Meridian, Idaho. When Wolfe arrived just after midnight, nobody was there.

The baby wasn't waiting for anyone and Wolfe ended up delivering her son by herself, alone in the parking lot of the birthing center. After the baby was born, she used her coat to keep him warm and walked to a nearby house to call 911. "Oh my God, it was horrifying. It was the scariest thing I've ever done in my life," she said.

She did a great job on her own and she and the baby are just fine . But what about the missing midwife? Apparently, Goodwin mistook Wolfe for different expectant mother who lives far from the birthing center. She thought she had plenty of time to get there when in fact she only had minutes.

The new mom feels the miscommunication was just a tragic mistake and encourages others to research alternative care providers carefully. Wolfe's mom, however, isn't taking it so well and has vowed to put the midwife out of business. "I'm telling you I'm on a campaign to do it. That is my daughter and my grandson that almost died," said Kim Alberson.

Currently, Idaho doesn't regulate midwives and Alberson is hoping to change that by bringing her daughter's story to the attention of state legislators.

Oh, in case you are wondering, the new dad was reportedly home sleeping while his wife was giving birth in the parking lot.

This has been quite a weekend for us. Jared's new bed arrived and my father-in-law and I spent yesterday putting it together. Of course, that necessitated cleaning and rearranging the rest of the room. Thing still aren't completely settled down, but we're getting there. I decided to take a break and do some web surfing.

My kids love their grandparents. My mother-in-law watches them twice a week for us, but they don't get to see Pa John quite as often. So it was a special treat for them to have him over -- and I know he loves seeing them. Luckily, we all live in the same town, so they see him every couple of weeks. Luckyzmom, however, lives a fair distance from her kids and grandkids, so it was a special treat for her when they came to visit. "I opened the door and there they stood. It felt like Christmas morning and they were beautiful packages waiting to be unwrapped." What a great mom and grandma!

When Jared was born, we ended up heading for the hospital at something like six in the morning, after I'd been working until after 1am. For Sara, Jared and I were at the Free Folk Festival when I got the call to come home. Veronica Mitchell, however, had a lovely day out with her husband before heading to the hospital to give birth. While it didn't go exactly the way it is supposed to, it all worked out fine. Then, of course, came the issue of the name. I think she picked a beautiful one, and a great way to tell the world.

Meanwhile, Sally at Sally Goes 'Round the Moon has figured out and enumerated the seven essential steps to Baby Love. Step one seems pretty obvious, but I suspect a lot of people forget it: "Step One: Obtain a baby. You can get one by a variety of methods, but you cannot skip this step if you want to experience the Real Deal, the Big Kahuna, True Baby Love." Check out the other six as well.

Well, I'd better go dig the kids out of the storage space of Jared's new bed before one of them kills the other or, worse, breaks the bed.

In addition to the normal aches and pains of recovering from a vaginal birth, a new mother in Texas felt an unusual amount of pain in her uterus region long after she gave birth, and one morning woke to find feces in her vagina. An on-call doctor, Dr. Donald Long, had delivered her baby using forceps, a vacuum-assisted device, and a third-degree episiotomy. In her lawsuit against Long, Ms. Wallace alleged that after the delivery, Long stitched the episiotomy wound but neglected to check for a "rectovaginal fistula," a hole between the anus and vagina that is a common side effect of the cut. She alleged that he also neglected to inform her that such a wound could form after procedure. "Although Long indicated he examined the inside of the uterus, the operative report omitted any description of any post-delivery or post-episiotomy-repair," her court papers said.

After seven months of passing stool through her vagina Sara Wallace made an appointment with her treating physician, who was out of town during the birth of her child. The doctor discovered a two-centimeter defect into the rectovaginal, which was surgically repaired at a cost to the Wallaces of $14,000. Ms. Wallace alleged that she was still experiencing pain and that the circumstances had been a source of embarrassment and mental anguish for the Wallaces and has strained their intimate marital relations. It's not hard to imagine why.

The medical malpractice case went to trial, but the defense became so considered the gritty details of the case would horrify jurors, and settled on the second day of trial.

It's a good thing I've maintained my sense of humor throughout my pregnancy. Pregnancy, since it's my first time through, has been an interesting and sometimes complicated situation, especially since I live in New York City. See, most of us don't have cars, and generally that's a good thing. Sitting in traffic is worse than labor from what I understand. There are times when a car would be sorta handy though.

Take the subways for example. Some people refuse to give me a seat even though it's more than obvious I am about to explode. Seriously, a few months ago when everyone was hidden in their coats you might've been confused by me--was I just bulky or with child? The last thing anyone wanted to do was make the mistake of offering me a seat only to offend me by finding out I wasn't pregnant. But I was. And now that the weather is warmer my clingy and somewhat (hopefully) stylish togs make it 100% clear that I am going to have a baby. Yet there I'll be riding the F train (yes, the F, not the blue line or the yellow line, where everyone is as nice as pie and ALWAYS offers seats) and no one is willing to stand for ten minutes so I could rest my weary bones.

On the other hand, living in New York has its advantages. My OBGYNs are some of the best, and they're a modern group practice using state of the art equipment to which I might not have access if I were somewhere else. And there's nothing like walking down the streets with hundreds of people smiling at me all because I am going to have a baby. It's as if the whole city is happy for me.

With my first child, I desperately wanted to experience vaginal birth. Well, perhaps desperately is the wrong adjective. I wanted a vaginal birth, but I was afraid of the pain and asked for the epidural early on. A strange reaction to the epidural temporarily paralyzed me below the waist and halted the progression of my contractions and dilation. Then the baby exhibited fetal distress and before I knew it I was on the operating table.

My husband and I have talked at great length and we both think that trying to have a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) would be therapeutic for me. Part of me feels like I failed as a woman by needing a cesarean section. And as strange as it sounds, I kind of want to know what a normal birth feels like.

I honestly don't get this trend of women choosing a c-section the first time around. The cesarean was major surgery. Recovery was long and arduous. Plus where's the element of surprise when you schedule your birth in between appointments?

My friends often object to the idea of the VBAC with hilarious comments like, "Trust me, I pushed enough for the both of us!" Or, "Why go all loosey-goosey down there if you don't have to?"

On the other hand, my son had seizures shortly after birth due to decreased oxygen to his brain at some point during labor and delivery. Do I want to go through the possibility of that again?

I know that it will ultimately depend on my risk factors and my OB's opinion, but assuming I have some input, what do you think I should do? What was your experience with labor and delivery the second time around?

If your previous children are the unlucky type, think of Stewie from "The Family Guy," Dennis the Menace or Timmy from "Lassie," you might want to break the cycle with a lucky kid this year.

According to the Chinese zodiac, this is the Year of the Pig, which means "wealth coming into the family." Do they hand out a lottery ticket with every birth?

For those of you that believe in these such things, those born in the Year of the Pig are honest, courageous, loyal and determined.

Some experts think that there will be a rush on maternity wards this year with people hoping to have a "lucky" baby. Or maybe people are just rushing the wards because, ahem, they already got lucky.

If you are curious, previous Years of the Pig were 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983 and 1995.

Most parents consider themselves incredibly lucky to have their children. If you think about all the things that could possibly go wrong, you know that they're totally correct. For Nyree Thompson, however, there's more too it. At eight months pregnant, she was playing penny slots on Saturday morning in a casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Then the labor pains started.

At first, she thought it might be gas, but then her water broke. She told a security guard who at first thought she was joking. "A guard came over and said, 'Don't push,'" Thompson said. "I said, 'Forget you, this baby is coming right now.'" With the help of four guards, she delivered her son, Qualeem. Guards wrapped the baby in a jacket until paramedics arrived and took mother and son to the hospital to be checked out. Despite being born prematurely (and in a casino no less!), little Qualeem is doing fine.

Meanwhile, the Resorts Atlantic City's vice president of operations, Steve Callender, says this is a first for the casino. Having worked at the casino since it opened in 1978, he should know. "We've had people die here," he said, "but we've never had people born here." Well, now they have.

Parents in Nebraska are challenging a law that says newborns must have blood tests done within 48 hours of birth, saying it infringes on their religious beliefs. The couple, who practice both fundamental Christianity and Scientology, believes in having a silent birth.

Also, in addition to the silent birth, they believe that they need to reduce the baby's physical pain to help with both her physical and mental health. According to the couple, a newborn experiences pain for 3.5 days following birth. How they came up with 3.5 is beyond me.

While the Church of Scientology believes in the silent birth, they have no qualms with people having their children tested.

Nebraska is one of a handful of states that does not let parents opt out of the newborn blood tests, which help identify life-threatening disorders. Some of these disorders need to be treated at birth in order to avoid severe mental retardation. The couple were granted an eight-day waiting period from a judge and their daughter was not tested during the first 48 hours following her birth.

Another couple is suing because they believe that a child's blood is "precious" and not to be "tampered with lightly." According to this couple, the Bible prohibits deliberately drawing blood.

While I am all for a parent's right to choose what they believe is best for their child, they need to be aware of what they could be up against. It is easy to go against some of the testing until you meet a child who does have the genetic disease that could be identified with testing. As someone who has met some children who have these diseases, several who are dead now, early detection is key to save lives.

My best friend Carrie is pregnant. And while I am totally thrilled that one of my close girlfriends is going to be a Mom (so far, I am the only parent in my group of girlfriends), I have had to bite my tongue on more than one occasion.

At dinner the other night, Carrie was expressing her desire for a natural birth: no epidurals, minimal intervention, no c-section. And while I nodded and chewed my salad, I had to forcibly restrain myself from dispensing unwanted advice:

1. Oooh, Carrie, don't say you don't want an epidural just yet, you can't fathom what you might need in an experience you cannot possibly understand until you're there.
2. Don't shut out the possibility of a c-section, because it's always there, and you don't want to set yourself up for disappointment.

Instead, I nodded and said,"Good for you, you're strong and clear-minded and you can do it."

"You know, it's disconcerting,"she said,"how many women want to tell me how I shouldn't make those decisions because I don't know what I'm in for. It's so irritating when Moms purse their lips and look at me pityingly when I ell them about my intentions."

I was even more glad I'd kept my mouth shut. I don't know what it is about the experience of pregnancy and childbirth that makes me want to spew endlessly about what I went through, what it's like, what I think, because it's so entirely irrelevant to a pregnant woman. Each of us is different, each woman will have a different experience.

I can't help thinking of my friend Janet, who told me (when I was 8 months pregnant) that labour was the worst pain I could fathom times 200. While I was in the midst of ripping, rocketing labour, I remembered of her words silently and thought, sometimes truth doesn't help one's cause. And so I will continue to keep my lips locked and filled only with lettuce.

I'm not into football. In fact, I don't even really like it. This story, I'm afraid, doesn't improve my opinion of it either. It seems that Colleen and Mark Pavelka are big fans of the Chicago Bears, who, it seems, were involved in some big game yesterday. Although her second son was due to be born today, they both worried that he, like his older brother, would show up a day early, foiling Mark's plans to see the game in person.

So, when her doctors gave her the option of an early delivery, Colleen Pavelka jumped on it like a linebacker on a loose ball. After almost six hours of labor, she gave birth at 10:45pm, Friday night. "I thought, how could [Mark] miss this one opportunity that he might never have again in his life?" Colleen said. "When the doctor said I could be induced so he could go to the game, that's the train I got on."

Mark said he didn't talk his wife into giving birth early, but he's certainly glad she did. I guess, if it's medically okay, this was a pretty nice thing for her to do. Come to think of it, if I had known this was an option, I might have suggested it when Sara was born so as not to miss the Free Folk Festival (which Rachel made me leave just because she went into labor.)