Marsden Wagner Rocks!

I just read some of his new book, Born in the USA, and it is wonderful. It is organized well, a good mix of research and personal experience, as well as real-life stories. Too bad I didn't get to finish it. I ran out of time before it was due back at the library and since it is a new release, I couldn't renew it! Arghhh. I'll have to buy it I guess. He shows how broken the US maternity system is. It is so much more dangerous to deliver a baby in the hospital in the US. Did you know that we have the highest infant mortality rate in the industrialized world? We also allow drs to get around reporting maternal death as maternal death. So there is no accurate count of how many mothers are killed by their own sOB/GYNs. We are also one of the few industrialized countries that assume women will automatically be seen by a surgeon for a routine pregnancy. Would you go to a surgeon for a sore throat? Heck NO! Every other medical field is trying to find alternatives to surgery. ACOG even released a policy statement to guarantee the rise in the surgeries they perform--c-sections. They said it is too dangerous to have a vaginal birth after a cesarean (VBAC). No research other than stating that uterine rupture has incresed lately. Well, duh, they were using cytotec to induce contractions. Click on cytotec and tell me what you think.
Reaffirms my resolve to not deliver in a hospital if humanly possible (if the situation ever arises.) Wish I had had all this info 8 years ago. Please share this life-saving information with the women you love. Hospitals are wonderful, life saving places. For people who are sick and need their life saved. Birth is a natural, healthy process. There is nothing wrong with a pregnant woman or her babe. The hospital is likely the most dangerous place for her and that is sad.