The American Medical Association wants to outlaw home births. Not discourage, not warn against, not politely ask moms to reconsider - OUTLAW. They also want to increase MD control over midwives.

Apparently they are upset over Ricki Lake's documentary The Business of Being Born, which I finally watched my copy of yesterday. Yes, the doc is very critical of the medicalization of birth and the prevalence of unnecessary C-sections. Yes, the consensus seems to be that a healthy mom with no complications should be able to birth at home. But it certainly does not present a blanket condemnation of hospital births. In fact, it quite powerfully demonstrates that in an emergency, a hospital is the place to be - the director of the film, who found out she was pregnant shortly after filming began, went into premature labor (I can't remember exactly how far along she was, but I think it was only 6 or 7 months) that progressed very rapidly (her water broke during the taxi ride to the hospital), and she had to have an emergency C-section. The baby weighed slightly over 3 pounds, was breech and had the cord wrapped around his neck; I think he spent 3 weeks in the hospital recovering. I'm wondering, were the AMA asleep during that part of the film, maybe?

The simple fact of the matter is this - pregnancy is not an illness, and giving birth is not a medical event. Should complications arise, then yes, of course, the mother should give birth at a hospital or birth center. But for a normal, uncomplicated pregnancy, the mother should be able to give birth at home if she so desires. Midwives may not be medical doctors (although more and more midwives are becoming MDs), but they are highly trained medical professionals who know what they're doing. No mother should be afraid of consulting a midwife or to consider a home birth.

In other words - AMA? I understand your concern (and of course money has nothing to do with it!), but back off on this one, kthnxbye.