You said:

"Hit a nerve did I? LOL. I am not defying authority, because those like you who are supposed to take up that title have abandoned your responsibility, leaving people like me in the lurch and having to read and make ourselves our own authority—but who cares?"

Dr. Amy obviously does. Dangit, she cares! She spent all last week debating me over at the NHS Blog doctors uc birth post.

http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/2007/05/closing-maternity-units.html

Read the comment section http://www.haloscan.com/comments/drcrippen/2029178939062274389/ not only are we UC Moms not allowed to give birth alone...we are not even allowed to be in on the debate!!!

I've come up with an analogy to this birth debate she so passionately defends with her stats, charts, studies, and FACTS, likening it to marriage.

I MUST take issue with your cavalier and sarcastic attitude.

I am an authority on marriage and must set you straight.

Did you know that over 50% of marriages in America end in divorce?

I have compelling statistics that prove marriage is damaging to a womans financial stability, children are a pain in the butt, and home making is only for the stupid dolts in our society who have nothing better to do with their time.

And here you have the gall to think that you could be one of the women who can actually get married and endure it to the bitter end?

How dare you!!

Don't you know that marriage is a risky business, damaging to women, and I won't even go into the divorce that is sure to follow, complete and total devastation.

How dare you think that you, you proud woman, could ever have a successful marriage, especially without any professional marriage couseling and help?

The stats are against you having any sort of success, everyone knows that Americans are just too selfish to make it work properly, so just give it up....now, stay single."

Thus sayeth the all knowing master of statistics and facts, Amy MD"

I've been meaning to respond and thank you for your letters. The last one was a hoot.

Although I frequently lurk on Mothering.com, it didn't even occur to me until last night to look at the UC forum. I don't read up on UC very much, since my daughter is preschool age. I saw the whole thread about this Salon article, and some of your posts about it. I may pop in and say hi, but I won't reveal what name I use here.

It's amazing that after all these years since my UP and almost UC, the nay-sayers are still trotting out the usual arguments about how wonderful and safe hospital birth is. Meanwhile the c-section rate continues to climb, and very few doctors know how to deliver a footling breach.

An acquaintance of mine had a scheduled c-section for the birth of her second child. She sat there sending e-mails on her Blackberry, and marveled about how she didn't feel a thing except a slight chill (her soul protesting?).

I can imagine her telling her daughter about it when she's old enough. Kind of lacks the punch of most UC stories, doesn't it? But again, and I know you'll probably disagree, this is what most women WANT. I'm not saying they want the interFEARance, but they get it by default because they don't want to educate themselves. When they want different, then hospital births will be different.

It feels about time that I interjected a little humour, I hope not too tasteless. Please do remember that I am British and we are known for our sense of weird humour.

Some years ago at about the birth of the internet, I was on a anthropology newsgroup and an American collegue provided me with an excellent tag line to put at the end of my posts.

I was telling her about the birth of my eldest daughter and I happened to mention that the midwife had cooked up the placenta with onions, peppers and garlic. It smelt so good and I couldn't resist having a little. Just to be part of the crowd as it were.The midwife murmured something but I was as high as a kite that everything had gone so well that I didn't really hear what she said.

Well, was I ill, I spent at least an hour or two in the bathroom and when I phoned the midwife to tell her, she then told me that she had tried to warn me that husbands, or male partners often reacted. The placenta is very, very rich. All mammals eat the placenta which provides enough nutrients to enable the mother of whatever species to rest and not have to go hunting the first day.

Same with breast milk. Fonda my newly born daughter had just sucked a token amount of milk and was quietly resting, and my poor wife's breasts were pouring with excess milk, and quite painful. So on an errand of mercy I sucked away taking off the excess milk which then resulted in a whole ring of mouth ulcers which were very painful.

When I had posted this to my friend she was laughing so much she could hardly type, and she then bestowed on me the description which I then adopted as a tag line. 'You are a paedophilic cannibal'. I thought that was most apt.

Rayner

Thanks for being the voice of reason among these increasingly wackier comments!

To unassisted birth proponents that have posted here: you say you are not vilifying those who choose to birth in a hospital or choose to use medication, or God forbid a MIDWIFE. But everything you have written smacks of smugness and superiority.

I am not going to be any less proud of myself when I give birth vaginally to my twins in a hospital. I won't be any less proud of myself if I have to have a C-section, either. I'm a mom no matter what. I carried these babies despite many complications including chronic placental abruption and preterm premature rupture of membranes, and I'll be happy to see them no matter how they get here!