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Mary Birch does not deny that its C-section rate is high
This is a blatant puff piece for the doulas. The author parades a handful of dissatisfied mothers (who, far as I can tell, all delivered healthy viable infants)and cites the expertise of a doula with a whopping 134 births in 8 years, a little over 1 per month, then interviews how many physicians or satisfied moms? None. She cites the WHO recommended c-section rate of 10-15%, and tries to apply it to a high-risk tertiary care hospital in a major US city. Can one rate be equally applicable to all patient poulations everywhere on the globe? One subject of the story is upset that she consented to a c-section even though she had been in labor for 40 hours, but refused suction-assisted delivery, but wanted "anything besides totally hands-off." What!? Now she wants a VBAC at home with a doula and midwife at her side. I wish her luck, because that is what she will need. Nowhere in this article does the author mention the very real complications that can and do occur during deliveries: hemorrhage, seizures, infection, fetal injury, and death. Is it conceivable that physicians are not just concerned about getting sued, making money, or dropping the kids off at school, but perhaps the well being and safety of their patients? I am all for advancing patient care and improving the informed consent process, but biased, pseudo-journalistic articles like this do a disservice to the thousands of dedicated nurses and physicians who help mothers bring children into the world safely every day.— December 28, 2011 1:03 a.m.