Sue wrote:


And I would not want to birth in your country. I feel that the medical
society in other countries are not as well versed in the technology that we
seem to have here. And there seems to be a lot of outdated information in
other countries. If a woman wants intervention, she can get it and if she
wants a lower intervention, then she can get that too. The point is there is
a choice and the woman needs to be informed and make informed choices based
on what is needed.

I think you're overly optimistic regarding the amount of
choice there is. There are large areas of the US where you would
be extremely unlikely to find any legal attendant for a homebirth.
There are large areas where there is little choice in care providers,
period. There are very few inpdependent birth centers, such that
the majority of women in the US probably do not have access to one.
Byzantine insurance/provider interrelationships (not to mention the
lack of universal coverage) means that many people's hands are rather
tied in terms of choosing birth location or care provider. There
are many areas of the country where getting a VBAC is extremely
difficult (and may be practically impossible or require paying
out of pocket).
I would not be as sanguine on the technological issues either.
Quite a few other countries have better infant mortality rates than
we do. We pay a price for the overuse of interventions. And the
list of routine practices in the US that are NOT supported by any
reasonable review of the mainstream medical literature is
appallingly long.

Best wishes,
Ericka