Here's a bit of irony for everyone to enjoy: I found this forum through her blog. How funny is that? She mentioned this forum in a recent post whining about how Henci won't debate her. So at least some good has come from her site- I now have the privilege of communicating with THE Henci Goer! I must say, I was quite geek-happy to find this forum.
The comment that I left on Amy's blog was something to the effect that Henci doesn't need to debate, because she isn't so desperate to have people believe her like Amy. Henci simply writes from her perspective, and shares her wisdom with those of us who want to learn from her. (Something for which I am eternally grateful) Amy's behavior, on the other hand, reeks of desperation and defensiveness. Henci's sage righteousness (not to be confused with Amy's SELF-righteousness) is afforded only to those who speak the truth.
While I know that talking to Amy is definitely a lost cause, I must say that some of the regular contributors are actually quite reasonable people. I have engaged in respectful, productive debate on that site. I do so because I see the politics of birth becoming very polarized. While it certainly can be frustrating at times, I feel as though it's important for me to reach across the chasm rather than just 'preaching to the choir'. My debates tend to be more philosophical than scientific. My take is that we need to look at WHY women want homebirths in the first place, and support measures like the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative (www.motherfriendly.org) We need to make hospitals more, um, HOSPITABLE!
Oh but something very suspicious about that site- "Dr. Amy" always responds to posts almost instantaneously, EVERY single time. I have visited the site at different times on different days and "she" is always there. Amy Tutuer may be a real person, but the "Dr. Amy" persona is, in my opinon, clearly more than one person. No one can be online 24/7. That, coupled with the fact that the domain backer is concealed, definitely tells me that something's rotten in the state of homebirth debate.
Keep up the good work, Henci.