Stand and Deliver recently conducted an excellent interview with Dr. Stuart Fischbein, a Southern California VBAC and breech supportive OB.  It’s an excellent read and I’m including my favorite parts below.  You can read the entire article here: Stand and Deliver: Interview with Dr. Stuart J. Fischbein.
First, our definitions of the day from Wikipedia…
Evidence-based medicine [...]

Women of Southern California: We are at risk for losing one of the truly supportive OBs in our area.
If you are a woman who prefers hospital births, your options are about to shrink even more.
On Friday, August 21st, Dr. Stuart Fischbein wrote on his blog http://supportdrfischbein.blogspot.com/:
So, met with the chief of staff, current and future [...]

There are two things women generally believe about OBs:
1. Their OB would never do anything to put them or their baby in harm’s way,
2. If their OB gives them a drug, or recommends a procedure, that’s only because the benefits outweigh the risks.
Unfortunately, both of those things are not always true.
Women often say that they [...]

This article published June 19, 2009 demonstrates one hospital’s experience when they changed their oxytocin protocol.
Note that they refer to oxytocin, but oxytocin is produced in a woman’s body and causes uterine contractions during labor whereas Pitocin, which is what they are likely referring to, is “synthetic oxytocin sold as medication.”  There is a difference [...]

“Since 1980, the use of EFM has grown dramatically, from being used on 45% of pregnant women in labor to 85% in 2002,” says George A. Macones, MD, who headed the development of the ACOG document. “Although EFM is the most common obstetric procedure today, unfortunately it hasn’t reduced perinatal mortality or the risk of cerebral palsy. In fact, the rate of cerebral palsy has essentially remained the same since World War II despite fetal monitoring and all of our advancements in treatments and interventions.”

I read a public message board for medical professionals and the discussion of cesareans came up.  This is what one OB wrote:

The main reason for the rising primary C/S rate is:

Fear of litigation
Convenience
Reimbursement
Patient satisfaction
Inductions
Poor management of labor

Note that “health of the mother” or “health of the baby” are not listed. 
Note that any reference [...]

The more I read about women birthing in hospitals, the more stories I read of women who are lied to and threatened.  It is really eroding my confidence in doctors and hospitals.  You can read two examples here and here.  If we can’t trust what they say, how can we trust when they tell us [...]

On June 15, 2008, the American Medical Association published their 2008 legislative resolutions which you can view here.  Resolution 205, entitled “Home Deliveries,” expresses their desire to eliminate homebirth. 
Below is a response written by Stuart J. Fischbein, MD FACOG, Medical Director of the Birth Action Coalition.  OBs like this are few are far between.  [...]

This is a great birth story, published with permission, of a woman who had a cesarean for “small pelvis” and then VBACed a larger baby at home!  Since she is a neonatal nurse, it’s interesting to read why she chose HBAC and how she thinks her birth would have gone differently had she labored in [...]

International Cesarean Awareness Network of Connecticut is partnering up with Catch A Healthy Habit Cafe to bring you another showing of The Business of Being Born here in Connecticut!
Sunday June 8th, 2008 at 7:00pmThe movie viewing will be preceded by a Pot Luck at 5:30pm presented and hosted by Catch A Healthy Habit (Which [...]

As I’m sure you can imagine there was much discussion on the ICAN list of the two moms who died within days of each other after their cesareans at Underwood, a New Jersey hospital.
I’m sharing the following post, with permission.
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I am a registered nurse, and have no intention of ever working within a hospital setting [...]