A very small, but passionate, group of parents are advocates for a type of unassisted birth known as "free birth." Here's why ...

Dr. Heather Skanes opened Alabama’s first freestanding birth center in 2022 in her hometown of Birmingham. Skanes, an OB-GYN, ...

Letters: Olympia Bowman champions a middle way. Helen Style says the risks of giving birth without medical assistance are well known ...

Childbirth doesn’t have to look one way. Around the world, and increasingly in India, more parents are exploring birth ...

My daughter arrived on August 5, 2025, after a whirlwind and terrifying birth experience: 35 hours of labor, preeclampsia, ...

For some families, giving birth at home feels natural, intimate, and culturally aligned. Others are drawn to it because of high hospital costs, fear of unnecessary interventions, or a desire for ...

On Bulgaria marks the Day of Maternity Care, widely known as Babinden (Midwives' Day). According to the old calendar, the holiday falls on January 21, while under the new style it is observed on ...

Systemic change that offers a credible vision of the future is the only path to reversing the birth rate decline, experts ...

In today’s newsletter: A new Guardian podcast, The Birth Keepers, explores how a global network promoting unassisted childbirth has shaped women’s decisions around childbirth. One mother’s story ...

The burden is not shared equally. Black women in Texas are more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as ...

In Māori culture, returning the placenta to the earth is a ritual meant to honour birth and create a lasting connection ...