A newborn baby is in a critical condition following a freebirth in regional Victoria. 

The practice of freebirth, involving a mother choosing not to involve medical services in her pregnancy or birth, is widely discouraged by medical professionals. 

It is distinct from a homebirth, which is a planned birth at home with the help of registered midwives.

The ABC understands the baby’s mother in Ocean Grove, near Geelong, was not signed up with any medical service throughout her pregnancy but came into hospital on the day of the baby’s birth because of complications.

Ambulance Victoria has confirmed paramedics were called to an incident in Ocean Grove on Tuesday morning, January 2. 

“A female in her 20s was transported by road to University Hospital Geelong in a stable condition for observation,” a spokesperson said.

“An infant with a medical condition was transported by road to University Hospital Geelong in a critical condition.”

The baby was later transferred to the Royal Childrens’ Hospital, which confirmed on Saturday the infant remained in a critical condition. 

Barwon Health, which manages University Hospital Geelong, did not make specific comment about the freebirth. 

“Whilst Barwon Health respects individuals’ autonomy, freebirthing is strongly discouraged as it is not supported by evidence in medical literature and creates a significant risk to the mother and baby,” chief medical officer Dr Ajai Verma said.

“Barwon Health provides a comprehensive service to support women giving birth that is respectful of individual choices and includes the option for some women to give birth at home.”

The Australian government’s pregnancybirthbaby.org.au website advises women considering a freebirth that “any complications may go undetected”, even if the pregnancy is low risk. 

Risks to the birthing woman include excessive bleeding, high blood pressure, retained placenta and infection, it reads. Risks to the baby include abnormal presentation such as a breech position, prematurity or low birth weight, umbilical cord prolapse or cord compression and abnormal changes to the baby’s heart rate. 

Melbourne-based professional midwife and lactation consultant Joanne Terry, who works at a private hospital, said one of the main reasons women chose freebirth was to avoid unnecessary medical intervention or because they had experienced birth trauma. 

She said homebirth might not be accessible to some, so they go it alone.

“Homebirth, while statistically we know that it’s incredibly safe, we also know it’s expensive especially due to the insurance for the midwives. And a homebirth is not necessarily accessible to everyone,” Ms Terry said.

Ms Terry added unintentional freebirths were relatively common — whenever a woman couldn’t get to a hospital on time or a midwife arrived late for a homebirth.  

She said medical expertise during birth was important in case complications arise.

“As a midwife…we’re trained to promote normal birth, and a woman to feel safe and empowered, but we’re also trained for when things are deviating from normal.”