Two More Publicized ACOG Letters

We all knew it would happen, but it's still exciting. More doctors and members of ACOG are beginning to come forward publicly voicing opposition to ACOG and AMAs statement that all hospital births are safer. I provided a link to ACOG's and AMA's statement and first opposing OB's statement HERE, and the next two are available at the links below.

Full letter from Lauren Plante, MD, MPH, FACOG can be found HERE. Quotes to note:

Many of us would not agree that choosing to labor and deliver at home subordinates the goal of a healthy baby to the process. As you know, home birth remains a viable option in several developed nations where birth outcomes for both mother and baby are excellent.

Many ACOG members have backed up home birth providers in the past, and a few have attended a home birth. I personally know of several ACOG members who themselves have chosen to deliver at home.

Full letter from Dr. Andrew Kotaska (noted researcher & Clinical Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanton Territorial Hospital) can be found HERE. Quotes to note:

I would invite ACOG to join the rest of us in the 21st century.
Modern ethics does not equivocate: maternal autonomy takes precedence over medical recommendations based on beneficience, whether such recommendations are founded on sound scientific evidence or the pre-historic musings of dinosaurs. In the modern age, the locus of control has, appropriately, shifted to the patient/client in all areas of medicine, it seems, except obstetrics.

Science supports homebirth as a reasonably safe option. Even if it didn't, it still would be a woman's choice. ACOG and the AMA are, by nature, conservative organizations; and they are entitled to their opinion about the safety of birth at home.

If ACOG and the AMA are passive-aggressively trying to coerce women into having hospital births by trying to legally prevent the option of homebirth, then their actions are a frontal assault on women's autonomy and patient-centered care. Hopefully the public and lawmakers realize the primacy of informed choice enough to justify Deborah Simone's words: "We don't need to be angry or even react to these overtly hostile actions from the medical community. We just need to keep doing what we do best; the proof is always in the pudding."

I'm amazed at the honesty and courage of these amazing obstetricians to disagree with their own organization AND to allow their letters to be posted publicly. This really is amazing! The blogging world is going crazy about this HERE. If anyone has more useful search terms, please comment below.

It'll be interesting, to say the least, to witness things unfold.