I don't know if you all have heard about this, but Dr. Phil is planning a show on Home Birth vs. Hospital Birth.  Very timely indeed.  Here is the link to share your opinions:  http://www.drphil.com/plugger/respond/?plugID=12471.  Henci, I would LOVE to see you as a guest on such a show!  I think your knowledge of the research is a necessary contribution to this "debate."  Below is a copy of the text from Dr. Phil's page:

"Strong Opinions on Hospital or Home Birthing?  Are you a mom with a strong opinion on hospital birthing?  Do you feel it's the safest, most responsible way to birth a baby? Do you think home birthing is a bad idea in our age of medicine and technological advances? Does it make you angry to see moms having babies at home? Do you feel they are putting themselves and their babies at risk, and you have lots of good reasons to support your stance?

"Or, are you on the oppostite end of the spectrum, and feel that home birth is the most natural, beautiful way to bring a child into the world? Do you think that birth has become something that society treats as a medical condition rather than a natural part of life that a woman's body is built to handle? Do you feel that many people out there have wrong information about what a home birth is, and you'd like to share the truth about it?

"The Doctors are working on a show where we will explore birthing options, and are looking for those that are passionate about their opinions and can offer good, solid information, and why they their method is the best possible choice.  Please share your opinions with us, and you could be a guest on our show!"

I wouldn't hold my breath for a balanced discussion if I were you.  He really has mainstream tendancies and uses the show to promote his own agenda.  The home schooling show he taped never ran because one of the mothers outed him on the internet about how he slanted the show against homeschoolers...in ways like bringing in school buses full of high school students to fill the audience, and only "inviting" about a dozen homeschooling parents (while specifically telling them not to bring any kids).  The show got so much negative feedback from homeschoolers before it even aired that they yanked it from the line-up.

Given that his wife got the epidural as soon as she hit the door, I doubt it'll be a very fair "debate."

I hear you.  Any publicity is good publicity, though.  Even though that homeschooling show never aired, people are obviously hearing about it.  And, as "Amy Tuteur" shows us, the extremists often get people talking who otherwise wouldn't.  The AMA/ACOG anti-homebirth stance has several of my normally uninterested family members talking.

Perhaps there is a difference, though, with birth.  Homeschooling seems like more of an ideological issue, whereas homebirth has some good statistics (pro-homebirth and anti-hospital) to back it up.  What psychologist's ears doesn't perk up to research?  They're inundated with it in their training.

Just out of curiosity, where did his wife talk about her epidural?  Or is this just common knowledge?!

Cindy

They did a show on people with stories about how Dr. Phil affected their lives.  A woman was on who complained to him that he "made her" miss her epidural.  She was apparently watching his show while in early labor, and didn't want to miss the end so she stayed home until it was over.  By the time she got to the hospital, they told her it was too late to get the epi.  Her baby was born two or three hours later.  What I found interesting was that she was obviously handling her labor fine until she found out she couldn't get her epi, but when they told her "no-go" she (and moreso her husband) freaked out and suddenly her labor was so terrible...they had no NCB preparation at all...but I digress.

Dr. Phil felt so bad for her that he gave her a huge flatscreen TV and a year of Tivo.  Robin talked about her epis during that segment.

I just found this.  Looking to recruit for the argument I guess.

Do You Regret Having a Home Birth?

http://www.drphil.com/plugger/respond/?plugID=12524

Did you have a child at your home?
Did you want to have a soothing experience where you were in control and could bond with your child?
Did it not go the way you planned?
Do you regret having a home birth?
Do you regret using a midwife instead of going to a hospital?
Did you have your second child the traditional way in a hospital?
If you or someone you know regrets having a home birth please tell us your story below.
Be sure to be specific and include details!

Well, that says it all. 

Sounds like they're having a hard time finding folks to tell the story the show wants to promote.

I'm sure Dr Amy would be delighted to help them out. :-)

-- Henci

Then we would actually get to *see* who this person is...!

There were some posts that duplicated earlier ones. I deleted them for simplicity's sake. FYI: The show has already happened.

-- Henci