Born In The Wild: Controversial Reality Series Shows Women Give Birth In The Middle Of No Where – And With No Midwife

It’s no One Born Every Minute, that’s for sure. There aren’t doctors, there aren't medicial supplies and there definitely isn't any gas and air to hand.

So is Born in the Wild bordering on insanity – or is it taking us back to our primal, and primative, roots?

If its trailer’s anything to go by, Lifetime’s new US reality show isn’t for the faint hearted. It’s gritty, gory and, scariest of all, real.

Following a group of pregnant women who want to give birth without any doctors, midwifes or medical facilities nearby, Born in the Wild definitely has a USP.

And you probably thought the home births that the NHS is pushing for were rural enough.  

But is this wilderness birth safe for the mums featured and the babies set to start their life on TV? No, say medical experts.

The show’s already come under fire from critics who worry it will spur a “dangerous trend” of women giving birth solo.

But the stars of the show recommend their birthing style completely.

“The problem I had with my first birth is my choices weren’t respected,” said Audrey Bird to the New York Post.

Audrey, 25, gave birth to her now six-month-old daughter Piper on the programme. “I said ‘I don’t want IV lines, I want to be able to move, be able to walk, I don’t want to be strapped down to the bed or tied to a monitor.

“The nurses at that time… were very argumentative and as soon as I proved any resistance to what they wanted to do, they treated me disrespectfully and they introduced a lot of fear to me that wasn’t necessary.”

Before giving birth to Piper, Audrey, who’s a trained midwife, gave birth to her second child at home with no doctors or nurses. She opted to take part in the series and deliver her third child in the wild because she “trusted her body” and her husband, who was with her throughout.

And it really is all in the wild. Of course there are cameramen and producers running around, but not anyone with actual medical training that could step in and save the lives of the mums and the babies, should it come to that.  

The show’s organisers offered to have a medical expert on-hand, but Audrey refused and agreed only to have a medevac team 30 minutes away incase complications occurred. Talk about brave… or reckless, perhaps.

Despite the show’s producers not allowing any first-time mums to take part in the series and Lifetime’s senior VP Eli Lehrer saying they were taking “extreme precautions to make sure mothers and babies were safe” throughout the filming, we can’t help but wonder how safe a show like this could be - or whether it will inspire mums-to-be to trek into the New Forest to try this al fresco birthing style.

What do you think? Will you be tuning in? Let us know in the comments below.

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