Josy Peukert, 37, gave birth to her son Bodhi on the shores of the Pacific Ocean to the rhythm of the waves and without medical assistance . The mother shared it in a video posted on her Instagram account in February, although it has gone viral in recent days.
“I wanted to give birth in the ocean and since the conditions were right on the day, that’s what I did,” says Josy, who is German, a mother of four, and lives in Nicaragua.
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The mother tells along with one of her publications that her first birth lasted six hours, the second four, and that of her third baby two hours. This has been his fourth child, who came into the world in an hour.
“I wanted to feel free,” said the mother. “ The waves had the same rhythm as the contractions , that smooth flow made me feel great,” he told the New York Post.
His publication created a great debate in networks around his “free birth”. On the one hand, those who congratulate her on her “empowerment” and on the other, those who criticize her for how dangerous her decision has been.
What are the risks of this type of delivery?
Water birth is becoming more widespread, but a water birth is safe as long as it is in a controlled environment and under professional assistance . In this case, by the sea, there is a clear risk of infection , in addition to the irresponsibility of the lack of medical assistance in childbirth.
A birth is unpredictable, and although most of the time everything goes well, giving birth without assistance means not having any professional to turn to if there is a setback, putting the mother and the baby at risk.
“You cannot give birth anywhere or in any way”
Dr. Ana Rosa Lucena Torres, (@ginecologa.anarosa) gynecologist and obstetrician at the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella and Lacibis Clinic, explains the risks of this type of delivery:
“In relation to childbirth, you have to be careful, you cannot give birth anywhere or in any way to feel “free”, there is a third person (the baby) that you have to watch over, so it is unacceptable to have a childbirth without medical assistance , either by a midwife or a gynecologist who controls the baby’s heart rate during childbirth to see that everything is correct.
The health of a baby cannot hang by a thread because the mother wants to “feel free”, if it is true that this girl gave birth without medical assistance, this is denounceable and a lack of consideration for the health of her child.
The mother is also in danger
The expert points out that the risk is not only for the baby, but there is also a serious risk for the mother , who requires medical assistance.
“You have to control the bleeding and that the uterus contracts, and you should not give birth more than 30 minutes from a hospital, because you can have a severe complication (such as postpartum hemorrhage, in which you bleed a lot in a short time) that require urgent medication and transfer to hospital, there are even deaths from this cause, with which I want to convey that it is a serious issue.
With which this news has left me quite overwhelmed by what could have happened, and if I can give my opinion: putting your child’s health at risk to feel free is for me the embarrassing spectacle of 21st century motherhood.
