I've gotta say I'm in favour of having someone around. Not necessarily a midwife, but then you'd want to know the credentials of the person attending. So this, technically, makes it not a freebirth. Just that I really like the idea of the village 'midwife' (doula) who attends births, like in my grandma's village in Central America, who birthed all 9 of my aunts, uncles and my mum. I love middies, too, don't get me wrong, but with the current situation, and me birthing in the country next time (though I hear of a IM in the next big town), I've been considering my non-MW options. It's a way off, but toying with it anyway. After DS's birth I started to get involved in the HB community early on, after using a birth centre, so that by the time the next one was cooking I was well-versed and very confident with my journey. There are forums that have lots of members who freebirth, and these kinds of forums can be a bit full on in their opinions of IM's at births, even!! However, the people I know personally who have freebirthed are lovely and DON'T eat their placentas