The NHS has directed pregnant women to the controversial Free Birth Society via the charity | NHS

The NHS has directed pregnant women to a website linking them to the Birth Free Society, an organization that has been linked to child deaths worldwide after promoting childbirth without medical support.

A number of NHS trusts are directing women considering a “free birth” to a charity website that until Monday pointed to the FBS podcast as a source of “empowerment stories” that could help British women “prepare for their birth”.

It contains a link to the FBS podcast, which medical experts warn can be used to radicalize women with misinformation.

FBS advocates an extreme version of free birth, also known as unassisted birth. She advises mothers not to seek help from doctors or midwives, and suggests that they avoid undergoing pregnancy tests.

The multi-million-dollar company, run by former doulas Emily Saldaya and Yolande Norris-Clark, has a successful podcast, an Instagram following, festivals and online schools for midwives.

The prevalence of free birth is low in the UK, but is thought to be rising, partly due to distrust of maternity services and fears of an overly medicalized approach to childbirth.

However, experts have warned that many of FBS’s claims go against evidence-based medical advice. Saldaya and Norris Clark have described medical attempts to resuscitate newborns as a form of “sabotage”, and claimed that doctors and midwives often sexually assaulted women in hospitals.

On Saturday, a Guardian investigation identified 48 cases of late stillbirths, neonatal deaths or other forms of serious harm involving mothers or midwives who appeared to be linked to FBS. In 18 of these cases, there is evidence that FBS played a significant role in the decision-making process of the mother or midwife, resulting in avoidable tragedies.

Now The Guardian can reveal how the NHS steered women towards FBS content recommended by the Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (Aims), a charity that campaigns for maternity care in the UK.

Until this summer, the NHS web page was titled “Place of birth: options“Women considering unassisted birth were directed to a fact sheet from Aims. When women clicked on the link, the fact sheet recommended the FBS podcast.

“The Freebirth Association is a US-based network for women who want to free-birth,” Fact sheet Countries. “They advocate a non-medical approach to birth which some people may find extreme and unpalatable. However, within their podcasts are empowering stories of unassisted births which many women in the UK have found helpful when preparing for their own birth.”

While the link to the Aims factsheet was quietly removed from the NHS webpage in August, patient information leaflets have been distributed online by several NHS trusts, including Cambridge, Gloucestershire Hospitals and East and North Hertfordshirecontinue to direct women to the FBS Recommended Goals Fact Sheet.

After being contacted by The Guardian on Monday for comment, Aims removed the FBS podcast references from its online fact sheet. A company spokesperson said: “We were not aware of the serious concerns now associated with FBS, and have now removed the reference and link from our website.”

They said Aims “never recommended or referred” women to FBS, saying the podcast was included in its fact sheet “as an example of material used by some free-birthing women, and not as advice or endorsement.”

An NHS spokesperson said: “The NHS does not endorse this community [FBS]Or its ideology that can harm women.

Some of the information it gives women is “dangerous and harmful…so for the NHS to point people towards this is quite shocking,” Kenga Sivaraja, a senior obstetrician at King’s College Hospital in London, and one of several experts who reviewed FBS materials for the Guardian, told the Guardian.

Amid growing concerns about the standard of care in UK maternity services, a small but growing number of British women are thought to be turning away from professional services to choose alternatives such as free birth.

A Study 2024 A study by Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen found that “the quest for safer birth” was a major factor influencing women’s decisions about free birth, as was also their “mistrust of institutional midwifery”.

In September 2025, the Nursing and Midwifery Council published a survey of women who chose free birth. It found that 142 free births were registered between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 by 47 NHS trusts. This is likely to be a significant underestimate because not all trusts collect data on free births, and many women do not report their intention to free birth to healthcare professionals.

While the sample was too small to draw broader conclusions, 65% of women surveyed said their births went smoothly, without the need for medical intervention. Only 3% of women surveyed reported experiencing trauma or mental health concerns after their free birth.

National Center of Meteorology data also found that there was one death and one neonatal death out of 142 free births reported, although no information was provided about the circumstances of those deaths.

Some women who choose free birth will have previously had substandard care in NHS hospitals. According to the Care Quality Commission, which regulates NHS trusts, safety levels in nearly two-thirds of maternity services in English hospitals are either… Insufficient (18%) or needs improvement (47%). In 2024, an investigation into birth trauma, led by then-Conservative MP Theo Clarke, Submissions received Of more than 1,300 women who experienced traumatic births on the NHS. Professor Sue Down, a leading British midwife at the University of Lancashire, said: “Although free birth is the first choice for a small number of people, for most it appears to be the least bad option.”

Researchers also point to the mass closure of home birth services in the UK during the pandemic as a factor pushing women towards free births. “Services have not recovered post-Covid,” said Dr Clare Feeley, senior lecturer in midwifery at King’s College London, explaining that women were sometimes choosing free birth as a “backup plan” because they did not want to give birth in hospital. “What my colleagues have told me is that in areas that work well with local birth teams, there are hardly any free births,” she added.

The NHS said in its statement that although it is a woman’s legal right to choose to give birth unassisted in England, “we strongly recommend access to trained healthcare professionals to ensure the safety and well-being of both mother and baby – and if you go this route, you can change your mind at any time during your pregnancy – including during labour.”

FBS did not respond to requests for comment on the Guardian investigation. After the article was published on Saturday, Sunday He posted a statement on Instagram Criticizing “propaganda in mainstream news.” “This is what it means to be a disruptor,” she added. “They will try to discredit you. They will lie about you. They will try to silence what they don’t understand.”

An FBS disclaimer published in May said its content was for “educational and informational” purposes and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. “For medical advice, consult your healthcare provider,” she added.