This Naked Woman Gave Birth in a Creek, and It Is Both Fascinating and Terrifying
What's the most strenuous form of exercise you partook in this week? Was it biking? Kickboxing? Doing yoga? Oh, that's cool, I guess, 'cause this lady GAVE BIRTH NAKED IN A CREEK AND YANKED HER BABY RIGHT OUT OF HER VAGINA. But good on you for using that SoulCycle gift certificate your friend gave you, though.
Here, I made GIFs! You're welcome.
The video, which was made in 2013, features 43-year-old therapist Simone Thurber. In the clip, Thurber can be seen getting in various positions and making noises that, frankly, no human being ever wants to hear another human make in their lives, as her children frolic around her. She eventually self-delivers and can be seen breastfeeding her newborn daughter Perouze at around the 17-minute mark.
Recently, Self caught up with Thurber to ask for the backstory behind the clip. Apparently, Thurber got the idea to give birth at a stream in the rainforest after seeing a documentary about Rusian women giving birth in the Black Sea. She eventually settled on a stream in the Daintree Rainforest in Australia as the perfect place to give birth. Her partner Nick recorded the whole 12-hour labor, which was eventually edited down into 22-minute footage and posted on YouTube.
"This wasn't some blissful orgasmic birth, it was just a normal birth in a different setting," Thurber told Self. "And I thought I want people to see birth, but if they see it in a different context, it's going to help them just realize what normal birth can be like."
That said, some medical experts believe that the rainforest birth was slightly less normal than Thurber thinks it is. As Idries Abdur Rahman told Self, there are risks associated with giving birth in a rainforest, mostly due to concerns about bacteria harming mother or baby.
"Fresh water and stream water have all types of organisms, viruses, bacteria and protozoa," he said. "My biggest concern wouldn't necessarily be having a water birth, but what's in the water."
Regardless of what you think about Thurber popping a squat by a body of water and pushing an infant out of her snizz, there is an extremely poignant ending to this story: Thurber's partner Nick died of cancer last year, and her daughter Perouze, now 4, regularly asks to watch the video as a way to commemorate her father's memory. "It takes a very courageous man to support his wife or partner in doing this," Thurber said.
You can watch the whole (NSFW) video below. Nature is v. cool. It is also v. gross.
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