▁Ob st etr icians ▁and ▁G yna ec olog ists ▁of ▁Canada ▁( SO GC ), ▁claim ▁that ▁un ass isted ▁child b irth ▁is ▁quite ▁unsafe , ▁and ▁that ▁those ▁who ▁eng age ▁in ▁it ▁are ▁" c our ting ▁danger ". ▁A ▁sp ok esp erson ▁for ▁the ▁American ▁College ▁of ▁Ob st etr icians ▁and ▁Gy ne colog ists ▁issued ▁a ▁one - word ▁assess ment ▁of ▁fre eb irth : ▁" d anger ous ". ▁The ▁SO GC ▁notes ▁that ▁more ▁than ▁ 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 ▁women ▁world wide ▁die ▁ann ually ▁from ▁comp lications ▁during ▁child b irth , ▁and ▁that ▁even ▁in ▁developed ▁countries , ▁in ▁which ▁expect ant ▁moth ers ▁generally ▁receive ▁complete ▁pr en atal ▁care , ▁as ▁many ▁as ▁ 1 5 % ▁of ▁all ▁birth s ▁involve ▁potentially ▁fatal ▁comp lications . ▁In ▁poor ▁countries ▁in ▁which ▁there ▁are ▁conditions ▁of ▁mal nut r ition ▁and ▁tab o os ▁surrounding ▁child b irth ▁or ▁there ▁is ▁a ▁lack ▁of ▁qualified ▁birth ▁attend ants , ▁rates ▁of ▁mat ernal ▁and ▁infant ▁mort ality ▁and ▁comp lications ▁such ▁as ▁f ist ula ▁are ▁much ▁higher , ▁with ▁dispar ities ▁in ▁death ▁rates ▁from ▁child b irth ▁between ▁developed ▁and ▁developing ▁countries ▁approaching ▁two ▁orders ▁of ▁magnitude . ▁Crit ics ▁also ▁point ▁out ▁the ▁high ▁rates ▁of ▁comp lication ▁and ▁death ▁ar ising ▁from ▁child b irth ▁that ▁existed ▁before ▁the ▁development ▁of ▁modern ▁medicine : ▁between ▁ 1 0 ▁and ▁