Universal health insurance?…in Ohio?…the US health system is far too archaic to have any type of true universal health insurance. We still depend on profit oriented private concerns to insure our sick & injured…private concerns so overwhelmed with the lust for dividends & bloated CEO compensation that they now attempt to soothsay out anyone who may actually need insurance in their future. We’re the only country left that still allows this cruel travesty to continue.

Also, I can’t find any news report on this incident that states the mother demanded a “natural” birth…could someone have simply stuck this into the forum?…and others simply accepted it as given, thus perpetuating it?…if anyone can find an article that states this as fact, please link.

—[And that is your choice although a misinformed one. Homebirth has been shown in NUMEROUS studies to just as safe, if not safer, than hospital birth for healthy, low-risk women. You and your baby are no more likely to die during a homebirth but you both ARE far less likely to be injured or have a negative outcome during a homebirth. Some of the risks of c-sections are immediate and some are long-term. It is major abdominal surgery with risks to mom and baby and shouldn't be undertaken lightly or for frivolous reasons.

Like I said earlier, c-sections can and DO save lives but like any other intervention into a natural process, if used indiscriminately they increase risk.]—

Second, does any ever stop to think of how much more time it takes a provider to do a C-Section so therefore why do you think that a Dr would rather do a C-section as opposed to a vaginal delivery

—[Actually, it takes a LOT less time and is more convenient. The average labor length is about 14 hours. You can schedule and perform a c-section in under an hour. Not to mention the disparity in cost. An uncomplicated vaginal delivery averages about $5,000. A c-section averages about $10,000. I'm NOT saying that doctors push c-sections for the money but it certainly isn't a deterrent. A c-section, according to jurors and the average population is considered a life-saving surgery---whether it was necessary or not---they don't undertand that it CAN increase risk and they're seen as SAFER than vaginal birth which they are NOT. There's a saying among OB's that the only c-section they'll get sued for is the one they don't do. Meaning, to a jury, as long as a c-section was performed, no matter the reason, it will be viewed as "they did everything they could." Whereas if something goes wrong during a vaginal birth, even if continuing is, based on all available evidence, the SAFEST course of action, it's viewed as being someone's fault. That's one reason I hate that cases like this are left up to a jury of people who have no knowledge about birth and what is safe/normal and what isn't.]—

Sometimes ordinary people think they are as smart as Drs and Nurse Midwives who have dedicated their lives to their education and careers.

—[Well, unfortunately the field of obstetrics has done it to themselves. They continue (and I'm NOT talking about this case as I have tentatively sided with the OB in this one based on the limited information available) to ignore their own trade-union's guidelines and continue with outdated practices that have either been proven to NOT improve outcomes (external fetal monitoring, ultrasound fetal weight estimates, etc.) or that blatantly harm mothers and babies (episiotomy, cytotec inductions, induction for big baby, etc.). The standard procedures in a hospital birth actually make it nearly impossible to have a safe, healthy, intervention free vaginal birth. If obstetrics, as a whole, was making decisons that WERE in the best interest of mothers and babies they would not continue to ignore the masses of research out there that show the harm they're causing and would actually practice evidence-based medicine. Until that day comes, I'll continue to take full responsibility for my health and the health of my children because I KNOW that I have our best interests as my number 1 priority.]—

If you don’t like the system, don’t like the cost, don’t like the doctors then pick a different system.

In this case, the PATIENT chose to have a vaginal delivery. LABOR can easily go on for 13 hours. DOCTORS cannot force patients to have the procedure that is best for them.

If the doctor had forced the patient to have a c-section she would have been charged with a crime just like the doctor who held a construction accident trauma patient down to do a rectal exam for internal injuries.

Now if the doctor DID the C-section and the patient had a complication from that, she can sue saying she wanted a vaginal delivery and no one listened. If the trauma patient was allowed to refuse the rectal and had internal injuries, he could sue stating that he HAD A HEAD INJURY and why was anyone listening to him.

Which leads us to…it is so easy for LAWYERS to make money just playing the system. Whatever was done, if there is a complication, a death or an injury, it should obviously have been done a different way.

Tha saddest part is that I have worked with this wonderful doctor with great insincts about her job and now she will be second guessing herself and wondering if another uneducated and money hungry patient is going to sue!