In this episode Laura Shanley shares the deeply personal journey that led her to write Unassisted Childbirth -originally titled The Joy of Childbirth- a book published in 1994 that has since found its way into over 1,000 libraries worldwide.

Long before “free birth” was a movement or an identity, Laura was navigating the path of unassisted childbirth largely alone—choosing unassisted birth for her five children in the 1970s and 80s without ever knowingly having met another woman who had done the same.

Inspired by Grantly Dick-Read’s Childbirth Without Fear -the book her future husband was reading the very night they met - Laura’s philosophy was shaped by her intuition, pursuit of spirituality and a higher consciousness, and a refusal to accept fear-based narratives around birth.

Laura discusses how her work gained attention: including the pressure to turn her book into a “how-to manual,” and to write about who should and shouldn’t birth unassisted…lines she felt were never her place to draw. Many of the unassisted births she documents in her book and website weren’t even intentional, but instead the natural result of fast, pleasurable labors. 

While Laura found allies like HypnoBirthing founder Marie Mongan, she also faced fierce criticism from midwives and the medical community, especially after experiencing a stillbirth, an event her detractors seized on as proof that unassisted birth leads to tragedy.

The episode closes with Laura’s reflections on free birth subculture, infant loss, and what is lost when complex human experiences are flattened into dogma.

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⁠⁠⁠p.s. The things I want to say but don't say live on my Substack. Subscribe for $6/month and unlock all premium content →⁠⁠⁠

Unassisted Childbirth Website

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