What a knee jerk (read JERK!) response to a movement toward consumer-driven care that threatens them.  First they said no to video cameras at births - we might film them making mistakes.  NExt, mothers separated from their husbands in labor to be asked if they are being abused (do they really think she is going to rat him out right now, IN LABOR?  They couldn't have asked during all those pre-natals?) ...now this.

"If you want a good birth, go some where else.  We will call you a cab."

Thank heaven for homebirth.

~Laine (doula and mama - 1 c-sec, 3 HBACs, 4 misscarriages at home)

I am a strong supporter and myself used the Bradley Method I was kinda left scratching my head at the mention of forbidding Bradley.  Yes I understand that when you choose Bradley you choose natural births, but Bradley is all about preparing the body for birth, like you mentioned.  Seven months of endless Kegals and squats worked well in the delivery room for me.

Sadly with misspelling of Doula and not getting what Bradley is really about shows how misinformed the Doctor is- and there is nothing that should make women go running in the other direction then a uneducated Doctor.

~Susan

The Somethyme Writer

P.S I have been a lucky girl, I had two different Doctors with both my children and they were both fully supportive.  My daughter's doctor, and our doctor now, was excited at the prospect of delivering the Bradley Way and questioned in a positive way my journey. When I was contemplating a home birth his reaction was "If it was allowed I would be there, I think home births are a great way for a baby to come in the world"  Wow! Right?  I know, I ain't letting that Doctor go for the life of me.   Having that support from my Doctor truly made my births wonderful and natural! 

angelawd: the writer gets the last word

For heaven's sake, don't you think you're reading a lot into that sign? First it was the idea that the clinic didn't care about the health of the women or children, and then the idea that the sign equals no women's rights?

Couldn't it be that the doctors meant what they said - that if an emergency came up, they would do whatever was necessary?

I don't understand how people can get all worked up by a sign. If they don't like the policy, can't they go elsewhere for their care? Unless this is a government-funded clinic, aren't they legally allowed to make the policies that seem best for them?

I totally agree with everything you said and I am so glad that the sign is in place so that mothers can go elsewhere and get prenatal care for themselves and their babies. I am just saddened that there are women who will take this kind of treatment and not think twice about it. Our society is trying to make this typre of care the norm and it has got to be stopped! This just makes me even more glad that there are midwives and doulas and birth centers and homebirths. I personally don't see how forcing a woman to labor while in bed on her back with no food or drink, pumping her full of IV fluids and pitocin and epidurals is beneficial to a mother or an "unborn child". Obviously those doctors are more concerned with getting the babies out as fast and easily as possible than with the welfare of the mothers who are giving birth.

I had two c-sections. The first was after 38 hours of labor put the baby in serious distress. The second was because after months of bed rest, the last couple in the hospital, the baby failed what is called a biophysical prophile ultrasound (meaning she wasn't moving, practicing breathing movements, and her heart rate was quite slow) and needed to be born immediately - six weeks early - in order to survive. Still, if things would have been completely normal with my second pregnancy I would still have elected to have a c-section because that is my CHOICE.

If women want to make a different choice, they do not have to go to this clinic. I have absolutely no problem with this sign. The doctors too, in this private practice, have the CHOICE to create policy, policy that is based on years of schooling, experience, and extensive research. 

What does it take to be a "doula"?  Two weeks at adult ed?  If that's your choice, knock yourself out.  It's none of my business how you choose to give birth.  I would never in a million years risk giving birth anywhere but in a hospital with doctors present, but I'm not going to tell you what to do.  I just wish I had the same courtesy. 

I don't understand the militancy.  I don't understand why the "natural birth" movement is so virulent in their disgust for women who choose, or those who don't have a choice to go a different route.  My health and the health of my children, actually our very lives, depended on immediate medical intervention.  In my case, it was the only responsible thing to do.  Still, I have been told that I was "duped" that I'm "ignorant of my 'real' choices" and all sorts of other vile, mean spirited things.

What about truly embracing choice instead of pretending to advocate for it but then ridiculing others who don't make the same choice you did?  What about supporting one another as women and as mothers instead of making this yet another polarizing parenting issue?

I support the sign, I support the doctors, and I support the women who choose to give birth in the manner they see fit, whatever that happens to be.  I support women boycotting this clinic if they feel that strongly. I wish more of you felt the same.

I think what everyone needs to remember here is that being a mother is not about the one day your baby is born.  To get so wrapped up in the actual birth, to put so much stock in it and to become so horribly critical of women who make choices you yourself wouldn't make is, quite frankly, ludicrous.  Being a mother begins with birth, obviously, but that is such a small fraction of the picture.  At the end of the day, "natural", home birth, VBAC, c-section, water birth, or any variation thereof all result in a precious little baby.  And that is the only thing that truly matters.

@stephaniedelger and @angelawd

I think the reason that it upsets people is because it is the doctor making the choice.  The doctor basically is saying, "I will not allow a mother to make these choices in my practice."  Why is that the doctor's choice?  If a mom wants a c-section that is the mother's choice.  If a mother wants to labor, that is the mother's choice.  If a mom wants to walk around that is the mother's choice.  Barring medical reasons, I don't understand how a doctor thinks it is her right to limit a mother's choice based on preferences.  That is my problem.  I don't care if you went to the hospital when you were 1 cm dilated, got an epidural, got knocked out, slept through the c-section, and sent your baby to the nursery for the duration of the stay if it was YOUR choice.  If a doctor told you you had to, I would be upset about that.

I gave birth to two babies while living in Provo. While it is true that there are many, MANY other maternity providers in the area, and conscientious women can just go somewhere else, it is sad that attitudes like this are acceptable at all, because it just serves to reinforce the belief that doctors always know best AND always have your best interests in mind, when really, neither of these two is always the case. (Especially in my experience with OB's in the Provo area.)

I resent the implication that women who desire natural, drug- and technology-free births care about ANYTHING more than they care about the safety and health of their babies and themselves. I know a lot of natural-birthing mamas, and saftey and health are ALWAYS their number one concerns. (If they talk a lot about the soothing, low-key environment, it is only because they know these things lead are more likely to lead to a safer birth.)

I hope this clinic is forced to close down for lack of business. Who would support such a thing?

 and I wish other practices that feel the same would act accordingly.  It would be much easier to scratch them off the list without getting three months or more into the pregnancy to find out that they have this kind of attitude.

Anti-woman is anti-baby.  If the mother feels good about her pregnancy and her delivery it will be much easier for her to bond with her baby and start motherhood out on the right foot - why the PTB can't understand this simple concent is beyond me!

Elena,

"If you bungle raising your children, nothing else much matters." Jackie Kennedy

I like Annie's sign better. It's more honest.

I had the birth plan, the doula, the midwife, the Bradley Method. My kid should have been a c-section but was a vaginal delivery, had his cord around his neck in the birth canal, and was born hypoxic.

Now he has learning disabilities. Was that from the birth? I'll never know. I'd blame it on a natural birth, as much as I'd blame it on the anesthesia that he was exposed to during a c-section.

My point is, both sides need to be open-minded and not stick to one belief and one belief only about how this baby should be born. 

Amy Kehoe

www.amymusings.com

I wrote a Facebook note based on this posting to a OB nursing message board:  http://allnurses.com/ob-gyn-nursing/obs-birth-plan-375056.html.  In response, a friend I met in Colorado named Ginny Kooyman posted the sign you've featured in the story (I used to be a midwife in Colorado).  Ginny's friend's sister was greeted with that sign when she showed up at the only office on her insurance plan that also featured nurse-midwives in the practice.  It's crazy to see how far and wide the tiny sign has traveled!

I had a successful Bradley Birth in a hospital setting. Thanks to plenty of online research, Bradley Training, faith in God, and Mindset- I was able to run the "show" and all my midwife had to do was "catch" my son.

I trusted my body and was educated about all of the feelings I had during the labor process. The midwife on duty really didn't believe I would be able to go without medication but my husband and I proved her wrong!

Because of the great education we received in our Bradley classes, the hospital atmosphere didn't get the best of us. I even wrote a book about the psychology I used to achieve a natural birth!

The Koala Mom

I'm guessing that the doctor's office has had a bad experience or two with its patients, or possibly a lawsuit?  Malpractice suits are one of the main reasons that the c-section rate is so high in this country.  I'm sad to see that they have completely misjudged the rest of the natural birthing community.

@Stephanie - So sorry to hear that you've had some negative, mean-spirited remarks from other women about your birthing experience.  It's very similar in the breast feeding community too; some women feel so passionately about "breast is best" that any woman who decides to bottle feed (or has to, for biological reasons) has been misinformed at best.  What starts out as good intentioned usually is spoiled by a few haughty, "more-motherly-than-thou" attitudes.  Glad that you had your babies in a safe environment where YOU felt comfortable.

it would be interesting to see and compare (if possible?) this clinic's birth statistics (% of c-sections, # of interventions, patient satisfaction) with other, more woman-friendly clinics.

it would be interesting to see and compare (if possible?) this clinic's birth statistics (% of c-sections, # of interventions, patient satisfaction) with other, more woman-friendly clinics.

I think it's wonderful that this doctor's office put up a sign managing expectations for the patients. It gives the patient the power to make an informed decision.

Isn't that what it's all about? Empowering women to choose a childbirth provider they can trust - not because they are doing what is considered safest by some and dangerous by others - but because they're up-front and honest and you know how your care is going to be managed through your childbirth?

If all health care providers were this up-front and honest I'd feel a lot better about going to the doctor! It would make finding someone I can believe in so much easier.

Why anyone would want a doctor THAT honest to go out of business is beyond me.

Even if only one woman on the face of the earth wants an elective C-Section (I mean *really* elective, not the gray areas) - she deserves as much of a choice as a homebirthing mother. Of course, that's just my opinion...I know that for some women it's crazy to believe a woman could possibly feel safe with a highly medical OB in a hospital, but that's kind of the point of freedom of choice - you don't get to put your experiences on someone else's experiences. They get to decide for themselves. Freedom is so awesome like that.

Oh, one last thing...I really think we should call ALL births "Natural" - because the only way it's unnatural is if the fetus grows up in your belly and takes correspondence courses to graduate college. Anything that gets a baby from a uterus to a mother's arms is natural and is birth and is special and worthy of respect and a high-five. Calling vaginal birth natural automatically puts the connotation on the C-Section of unnatural and that's not right. I don't feel any woman should feel like LESS of a woman for not birthing vaginally.

Jen from Beyond Mom (two successful hospital births and one successful homebirth...and fine with women who make informed chioces no matter WHAT they decide!!)

Freedom of choice is a great thing. The problem is that not all women really DO have a choice. Granted in Provo, Utah, where this practice is, there are a lot of other providers, hospitals, birthing centers, etc. and women who don't want to go to this care provider have lots of options. However, in other areas women don't have other options or they do but they aren't at all convenient. If they want to have a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) in a hospital and the hospital near them doesn't do it, they may have to drive miles and miles to find a hospital that will. I've also heard stories of women having to go live in another state at the end of their pregnancies so that they can have a legal home birth there.

Choice is a great thing, but I think at this point, women still don't have access to the choices they deserve. This sign is a reminder of that.

Amy
Crunchy Domestic Goddess
BlogHers Act contributing editor