"Dr." Amy to speak at September ACOG conference

I just heard it through the grapevine that the formidable "Dr. Amy" of homebirth hater fame is on the docket to speak at an ACOG conference in September. And not surprisingly, one of her topics is "Everything an obstetrician needs to know about homebirth."

Of course, I don't know personally, but I'm going to take a wild guess that she's never attended a homebirth before. Yet she is probably considered the "expert" source on them, most likely because she squawks the loudest. Never mind what actually comes out of her mouth.

Here are her "credentials," according to the ACOG PDF handout:

Um, no, not exactly. Although I realize that the title "Dr." is often a courtesy after a physician has left practice or retired, this is incredibly misleading. My father-in-law is a retired physician that most people address as "doctor," but he certainly doesn't go around representing himself as a licensed, practicing physician. I would hope those in attendance actually know better when listening to her blather on for an hour about how much she hates homebirth and the women who choose them.

A Google search of her name produced the obvious results referring to her blog and "advocacy." She shows up on a number of websites like Healthgrades, listing a physical address to what would seem an office, but no reviews from actual patients. And when you search her name on the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine database, you come up with this:

She spends countless hours trolling the internetz for every story ever published about homebirth and basically makes all natural birth advocates everywhere out to be liars. Yet she continues to represent herself as a licensed physician who is still practicing medicine. Hypocrisy much?

Since ACOG is trying to set guidelines that offer women the best care while treating them with dignity and respect, I'm not really sure how she fits into their lineup.

According to ACOG's website, they acknowledge that

"Most women have normal conception, fetal growth, labor and birth and require minimal-to-no intervention in the process. Women and their families have different views about childbearing based on their knowledge, experiences, belief systems, culture, and social and family backgrounds." (Really? They really believe that?! Who knew.)

It goes on to explain their idea of what "patient-centered care" means:

""Patient-centered" means that health care providers, and the system they practice within, accept that the values, culture, choices, and preferences of a woman and her family are relevant within the context of promoting optimal health outcomes." 

They also acknowledge that part of that patient-centered care includes having not only a skilled attendant (which can come in other forms besides an OBGYN), but also "supportive resources."

Based on their description, I don't think Dr. Amy fits into their scheme of things at all. Either that, or they're just very out of touch with the way a majority of births are carried out these days. Phrases like "support" and "education" are all relative, when you consider that many patients often get all their information from their physician and trust no one else in the process.

On the surface, healthcare initiatives and much of the jargon ACOG churns out sound great - but when you actually ask women about their experiences, it seems that there is a major disconnect. ACOG itself argues that they feel the hospital is the safest setting for giving birth, but admits that it "respects the right of a woman to make a medically informed decision about delivery." It's clear that Dr. Amy does not. I am really curious to hear how this one is going to play out.

From The SOb's website: What a caring, compassionate and professional
way to promote your "advocacy." Would you want someone this vulgar and
derisive in charge of your care? 

More reading:
The C in ACOG Stands for Castrated 

Some upset over ACOG's "April Fool's" Press Release on Elective Cesarean

In a recent April Fool's prank, someone, somewhere, issued a fake press release supposedly from ACOG that touted the headline, "ACOG announces plan to stop elective c-sections." Collective eyebrows, including mine, raised in a "What the (!&%(?" moment, before realizing the truth. (The smiley face in the ACOG logo was a dead giveaway.)

Some, including this blogger, thought it was in very poor taste. Perhaps, if it had really come from ACOG. Otherwise, I don't see a whole lot wrong with it.

(This author also said she tried looking for it, but couldn't find it on line and figured ACOG was taking measures to "remove" the falsified document from web pages everywhere. If you do a Google search, you'll still find a lot of hits - and ACOG would essentially have to ask web masters - including those from natural-birth supporting sites like mothering.com, to remove the offending link. Which I seriously doubt they would agree to do.)

At any rate, I agree with the author, who sums the elective cesarean debate up nicely: if you want to have one, and are truly informed of the risks and possible benefits of doing so, you should be supported in your decision. However, the same is not true, sadly, for those women do no not want a cesarean, or who decide to have a natural or normal birth.

In the comments section, it didn't take long before women were quick to be offended: "I had two cesareans and loved them! They were wonderful!" Thankfully, someone further down told this mom, "You are missing the point."

We can argue that these women need to be totally informed of their decision - but I grow suspect when I wonder where, exactly, they are getting their information from. The same OB who, in my last post, told his patient a cesarean was "100 percent safe?" To some, that's their idea of informed consent. To the rest of us, it's a complete joke, and a very misleading, potentially dangerous one at that.

I'd like to see this right to choose extended more to women who seek a VBAC, or perhaps those who refuse a cesarean and end up having an extremely healthy, normal birth and baby - yet some entity in the hospital decides to have children's services investigate. If you have the right to an abortion, as one doctor suggests, you should have the right to choose a cesarean - but what about the right to not choose one?

It's clear to me that when it comes to the birthing choices of women, ACOG doesn't really give a crap. Because they aren't willing to actually make sure that physicians are adhering to their guidelines, it tells me they are all about the doctors, instead of what's best for the patient. Sure, they want to extend even women who have had two prior cesareans the "right" to have a VBAC, but what physician is going to back them up on that? I find many physicians like to get all preachy about what ACOG suggests and doesn't suggest - when it comes to something they mutually agree on, like the safety of home births. ACOG has definitely spoken up about that, and many doctors are in agreement. But what about the stuff they don't agree on? Is ACOG going to investigate a doctor who is unaffectionately known as "Dr. Cut and Slice" by many of his staff? When a moniker like that is given to a doctor, I feel so sorry for the patient, who is usually the last to know.

More reading:
Is ACOG pulling an April Fool's Day prank?
ACOG Announces Plan to Stop Elective C-Sections
The "C" in ACOG stands for "Castrated"