A mother-of-three has live-stream her unassisted home water birth, giving birth just thirty-five minutes after beginning the astonishing video.
Kara Baker, 28, a carer from Missouri, who shares children Brylie, 4, Barrett, 3, and Ash, 15 months, with her I.T. specialist husband Bryce, 38, has told how she came to her decision to go for natural labour after suffering a traumatic birth with her firstborn.
Speaking exclusively to FEMAIL, the mother-of-three admitted she was left so terrified by the experience and perturbed at having to foot a $40,000 (£30,500) medical bill, she decided to forgo hospitals and birth centres to give birth with just her husband by her side.
Keen to be in control of the birth of her fourth child, Kara decided that armed with the experience of giving birth to her previous three children, along with watching a plethora of YouTube videos, she would live-stream the water birth of her fourth child on her own channel, to break the taboo around home births.
Kara welcomed a little girl, Molly Fay Baker, on March 23 2019, sharing the remarkably calm experience with hundreds of her followers.
Mother-of-three Kara Baker, seen at eight months pregnant, has revealed the reason behind her choice to live stream her unassisted home birth was to break the taboo around it
Explaining the backstory which led to her decision, she recalled the birth of her first child, Brylie, admitting: ‘My first child was born at a hospital and her birth was a terrible experience.
‘Everything that took place was about money, not about what was best for my child.
‘There was no doctor there to ‘deliver’ my baby only nurses, they did not practice delayed cord clamping or skin to skin, I was discouraged from breastfeeding, and the bill was $40,000 (£30,500).’
She added: ‘At the time, we were on medicaid. I believe they were unnecessarily running up the bill for this reason.’
Kara Baker, 28, a carer from Missouri, who shares three children Brylie, 4, Barrett, 3, and Ash, 15 months, with her I.T. specialist husband Bryce Baker, 38, pictured
Kara welcomed a little girl, Molly Fay Baker, on March 23 2019, sharing the experience with hundreds of her followers
After watching a plethora of YouTube videos, she decided she would live-stream the water birth of her fourth child (seen in a scan) due on March 14 2019, on her own channel
Speaking about her different approach during the birth of Barrett, she continued: ‘My second child was born at a birth centre, two and a half hours away in St Louis.
‘Because my first birth was traumatic and felt so wrong, I educated myself this time. I had an amazing natural water birth, but I was afraid as I didn’t know what to expect because I had an epidural with my first.’
Kara decided to prepare herself for the next birth online and try to eliminate the fear she felt, keen to pick up tips from other women.
‘During my third pregnancy, I became obsessed with watching YouTube videos of women giving birth,’ she said.
‘I watched them daily, and began to see patterns. You could see the moment women let go of their fear, and then they deliver their child.’
By the time her third child Ash came along, Kara felt so confident that she was even shopping up until an hour before she gave birth.
She said: ‘My third child was born at the same birth centre and I had another water birth, but this time I had no fear at all so I had no pain.
‘The midwife and nurse said it was the most graceful birth they had seen. I did most of my labouring while shopping at Goodwill with my husband about an hour before I gave birth.’
Kara was seen massaging her back calmly as she sat in her bathtub at home, assisted only by her husband
Kara gave birth just 35 minutes into starting the live stream with her husband on hand to help her and her children looking on
Kara was seen staying remarkably calm as she cradled her little girl straight after her water birth on Saturday
Speaking about the inspiration behind her own home birth, she said: ‘There was a few truly amazing videos that really stuck with me. One was a woman giving birth unassisted with her husband and children present, and while she was pushing her baby out she said that she couldn’t wait to see it.
‘Watching so many real births helped me override the stigma of birth and horror stories we are told.’
She added of Bryce: ‘My husband is supportive of my decision, he’s all for it. After my last birth, he kept saying how we should’ve had a home birth on our own mainly because we missed our kids while we were away for two days and the birth was so easy.’
And Kara feels that by joining the mothers who are breaking taboos on the internet, she will help others she thinks have been ‘conditioned’ to fear birth.
‘I want to change people’s perspective of birth. Birth is not a medical event, should not be feared, and does not have to be painful. We are told what to do and what to think by businesses instead of listening to our bodies and birthing the way people have for thousands of years,’ she said.
By the time her third child Ash came along, Kara, seen during her fourth pregnancy, felt so confident that she was even shopping up until an hour before she gave birth- and she will now try a home birth
Keen to be in control over the birth of her fourth child, Kara decided that armed with the experience of giving birth to her previous three children, along with watching a plethora of YouTube videos, she would live-stream the water birth of her fourth child due on March 14 2019,
Kara, seen during her fourth pregnancy, feels that by joining the mothers who are breaking taboos on the internet, she will help others she thinks have been ‘conditioned’ to fear birth
‘I believe if people see my birth live in real time, it will have a greater impact. It will stick with them on,’ she said.
Keen to be in control of clamping the umbilical chord after the delivery of the placenta- a practice said to give the baby more blood, stem cells and immune cells, she argued that she wanted to decide when to breastfeed her baby after labour and how much skin-to-skin contact she and Bryce have.
Speaking ahead of her live birth at the beginning of March, Kara told FEMAIL: ‘I’m not nervous at all. I’m educated and I trust my body and my baby. The way we’re born has an affect on us throughout our entire lives.’
‘I prepared by nourishing my body with a whole food organic diet, staying away from toxins, letting go of stress, and enjoying my pregnancy.
‘By live-streaming the birth, I hope to change people’s perspective of birth. I want to help people lose the stigma associated with birth. I want people to see that labour and delivery does not have to be painful and feared. Giving birth is what we are designed to do. It truly is a gift.’
Pictured left to right: Ash, 15 months, Brylie, 4, Barrett, 3, who Kara said suffered a traumatic birth and sparked her to try home births