The real story is somewhat different than the one in the article, and therefore leads to a different conclusion.

Carri was planning an unassisted birth, but recognized that something was wrong and sought the assistance of a certified professional midwife (CPM). A certified professional midwife is not a real midwife, a certified nurse midwife (CNM). The name was chosen in an effort to cause confusion and it has. A CPM is a second class of midwife, grossly undereducated and undertrained, who could not meet the midwifery qualifications in any industrialized country, including Holland or England where homebirths are commonplace.

Carri sought the "advice" of Brandi, a CPM, at Central Indiana Home Birth Midwives. Brandi diagnosed twins (without the aid of ultrasound), and noted elevated blood pressure. She advised the typical homebirth midwives quack "treatment," a high protein diet, which, not surprisingly, accomplished nothing. As the pregnancy advanced, first one week beyond the due date, then two weeks, then almost three, Brandi counseled waiting for nature to take its course.

And nature did take its course. Carri's baby is dead, and she ended up in the ICU fighting for her life.

There was only one baby, not two. That's at the top of the long and horrifying list of mistakes. An ultrasound done after Brandi diagnosed twins showed only one baby, but Brandi assured Carri that one baby was "hiding" behind the other.

Not surprisingly, someone deluded enough to believe that there were twins when only one baby could be seen was also deluded enough to believe that a clearly pathological pregnancy was normal. Carri measured much larger than expected even though there was only one baby. Almost certainly, there was a massive excess of amniotic fluid (polyhydramnios), both a sign of problems, and a risk factor for future complications (including amniotic fluid embolus, the complication that eventually occurred). Carri's abnormally elevated blood pressure was untreated by the quack remedy that was "prescribed." Pregnancies over 2 weeks past the due date have a dramatically increased risk of stillbirth, as well as life threatening birth complications. The midwife pretended that this was not so.

Women ultimately have the right to choose to give birth even in ways that are completely irresponsible. However, they deserve to have accurate information with which to make their decision. People need to understand American homebirth midwives are a second class of midwives with less education and training than other American and European midwives. The standards for direct entry midwives, in terms of educational requirements and clinical training, are far below those of any other midwives in the industrialized world. All the existing scientific evidence shows that homebirth increases the risk of neonatal death. This is yet another tragic example.

You really should do a little research before repeating mean spirited lies. I am a retired OB-GYN.

No doubt it's easier to repeat lies than to address the central point: homebirth increases the risk of neonatal death.

"We're not uneducated."

Of course you're uneducated. If you've never read a single scientific paper or a single medical textbook, then you don't really know very much at all. Claiming that reading a book for lay people or watching a movie qualifies you to deal with childbirth complications is like claiming that reading a book about houses makes you an architect or watching a nature show makes you a biologist.

It is difficult to be less knowledgeable on birth than the unassisted birthers are. They haven't a clue about the neonatal and maternal death rates that are inherent to childbirth. If you don't know that childbirth is and has always been a leading killer of infants and women in every time, place and culture, then you don't really know anything about childbirth.

A new study from Canada, one of the largest of its kind, has confirmed yet again that overweight people live longer. The study, published in the journal Obesity, followed over 11,000 Canadian adults for 12 years. The study found:

"Overweight (BMI 25 to <30) was associated with a significantly decreased risk of death. The RR was close to one for obesity class I. Our results are similar to those from other recent studies … showing that when compared to the acceptable BMI category, overweight appears to be protective against mortality…"

As the authors indicate, this study merely confirms what decades of scientific evidence have already demonstrated. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, overweight people live longer.

It's worth asking: if the scientific evidence shows that overweight is protective, why has it become conventional wisdom that being thin is healthiest? The answer, I believe, is prejudice.

Thin is in, because it is viewed as a sign of economic status, and an indication of personal rectitude, but it is not justified by the scientific data. Like any prejudice, it is not justified at all.

How ironic that the same people who claim to be guided by Jesus in making medical decisions ignore what Jesus would do in regard to healthcare reform.

Would Jesus tie health insurance to employment? I doubt it. He made manifest his concern for the poor and downtrodden, so it is doubtful that he would want their miseries magnified by denying them access to healthcare.

Would Jesus allow pre-existing conditions to be exempted? Not likely. He ministered to the sick without regard for how long they had been sick before he arrived. It is impossible to imagine him declaring: "I'm here to relieve your suffering, but only new illnesses, not those that existed before I came to your valley."

Would Jesus consider it a priority to preserve existing insurance companies? Would he reject a public option for health insurance because it threatened the profits of insurance giants? Once again, not likely. He would not put profits ahead of the life and health of innocent people.

Who would Jesus insure? The conclusion is inescapable. He would insure everyone.