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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Glob. Womens Health
Sec. Quality of Life
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fgwh.2024.1495914
This article is part of the Research Topic Prioritizing Pleasure in Reproductive and Maternal Health to Address Obstetric Violence View all articles

Quest Narratives and Heroine Journeys: The Road to Freebirth and the Joy of Undisturbed Physiological Birth

Provisionally accepted
Gemma McKenzie Gemma McKenzie *
  • King's College London, London, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Freebirth (intentionally giving birth without doctors or midwives present) is a taboo and stigmatised birthing decision. Sixteen women who had freebirthed their babies in the UK were interviewed and the data was analysed using the Voice Centred Relational Method (VCRM). This methodology produces a range of outputs, including I-Poetry. Previous scholars have noted the difficulty in presenting results from VCRM research and have devised varied and creative ways of subverting these obstacles. Uniquely, this article relies on the theories of Joseph Campbell, Arthur Frank and Kim Hudson to present women’s freebirth accounts as both Quest Narratives and Heroine Journeys. The article outlines the theoretical underpinnings of the Heroine Journey and demonstrates its use with women’s freebirth accounts as they pertain to the joy of undisturbed physiological birth.

    Keywords: Freebirth, undisturbed physiological birth, Voice Centred Rela>onal Method, VCRM, narra>ve research, I-Poetry, Quest Narra>ves, Heroine Journey

    Received: 13 Sep 2024; Accepted: 30 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 McKenzie. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gemma McKenzie, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.