HW#39: Insights from Book part 2

1.) Wagner, Marsden. Born in the USA: How a Broken Maternity System must be Fixed to put Women and Children first. California: University of California Press, 2006. Print.

In general, the book and the film exspress a strong opinion for home birth over hospital birth. The book had a few things that was not mentioned in the film that I found important or interesting though.

-Having midwives was like common sense in 1452 in Germany.
-The start of the 19th century, marked the turning point of negative attitudes toward midwives. They were accused of witchcraft.
-There were cases in California where midwives were harassed and had random searches.
-Males in general are afraid of child birth and having no control (That's why they dissaprove midwives/home births)
-Despite research, ABC's (Alternative Birth Centers) are outlawed in Illinois.
-"Obstetricians are sued more than physicians in any other specialty." (Page 152)

2.) In the second hundred pages, the author goes more into depth about the difference between Obstetricians and midwives. Though research supports that midwives are safe, obstetricians make an effort to make themselves seem like the best choice. Obstetricians want control and are afraid of the process of birth.

Response: My attitudes toward OBGYN's completely changed. I was hoping that all doctors prioritize what is best for the patient/client over themselves. They're selfish that they put themselves before the mother/child. The system is corrupt and puts midwives in a disadvantage when doctors should be learning from them.

3a.) The public should know that, "Obstericians are sued more then physicians in any other specialty." (Page 152)
3b.) The public should know that there are legal protections for pregnant and birthing mothers that most women and health care professionals know very little of. (Page 173)
3c.) The public should know that ACOG allow obstetricians to use litigation to maintain monopoly. (Page 169)
3d.)The public should know that Obstetricians are afraid of litigation, causing them to turn to C-sections. (Page 154)
3e.)The public should know that midwives have been harassed before. There was a case in California where a midwife was randomly searched at her home because she was a midwife.
4.)I wanted to confirm about the liability issue with Obstetricians. I found a survey by ACOG that confirmed what the book said about sues and litigations.
"90.5% of respondents indicated they experienced at least one professional liability claim filed against
them during their professional careers, an average of 2.69 claims per ob‐gyn."
I also found that for claims on Obstetricians, "impaired infant claims" were the most common, with death of the baby as the second claim.
(http://www.acog.org/departments/professionalLiability/2009PLSurveyNational.pdf)