Declining care as self-protection: what freebirth can tell us about trauma-informed support in the first 1001 days.

In recent years, an apparent growing number of women are planning to birth alone without professional attendance, a practice commonly referred as freebirth. While this practice is not new, freebirth has gained recent media visibility and ignited a contentious debate about the boundaries of women's choices and the adequacy of current maternity care provision. This article provides an accessible overview of what freebirth entails, the factors driving families in the UK to consider this option, and how practitioners can support them in a trauma-informed manner to promote safety, wellbeing and a positive start to the first 1001 days of parenthood.