Danish woman chooses unassisted home birth after traumatic first delivery
Saturday 30th May 2026 on 12:30 in
Denmark
A Danish woman who described her first childbirth as “severely traumatizing” chose to give birth to her second child at home without a midwife, instead hiring an unlicensed doula, Danish broadcaster DR reports.
Katja Jensen told DR she could not face another delivery with a public health system midwife after her first birth left her with lasting distress. “For me, it would have been like returning to an abuser,” she said.
Her first child was born at home with a midwife present, but Jensen said her explicit wishes—including no internal examinations—were ignored. The birth ended with her losing so much blood she was rushed to hospital, separated from her newborn to prevent fatal hemorrhage. “I didn’t dare invite a public midwife back into my home,” she said.
When a pregnancy test showed positive in early 2025, Jensen said her immediate thought was: “How can I give birth to this child without being traumatized again?” She ultimately opted for a frifødsel—an unassisted birth with only her partner and a doula present—describing it as “the best possible choice,” though she stressed she would have preferred a midwife.
The decision comes amid growing debate in Denmark over doulas, some of whom reportedly advise against medically recommended practices. Public health officials warn that such guidance can be dangerous, even as some women seek alternatives to the country’s hospital-centered birth system, which boasts some of the world’s lowest maternal and infant mortality rates.
Jensen’s second birth, in her living room last September, was “calm, powerful, wild, and good,” she told DR. But she acknowledged the choice may sound extreme to outsiders. “I know how it looks—a woman in an eco-village, giving birth at home without the system. People might call me an alternative mega-hippie,” she said. “But this wasn’t about ideology. It was about survival.”
No official statistics exist for unassisted births in Denmark, as they go unrecorded when no health professional is present.