I love pointing out to doulas that they come much closer to our biological norm than any modern obstetric facility, so the focus (which is always on the experimental group, not on the norm) needs to be on birth and breastfeeding outcomes when a doula is *not* provided.  (A doula is an experienced woman whom we chose in advance and have come to know and trust, so the stranger assigned to us in the hospital doesn't count.)  Doulas don't halve the c-section rate; the hospital without them *doubles* the rate.  And so on.

Same with a midwife-assisted home birth.  That's a lot closer to our biological norm than an OB-directed birth in a strange place.  So the comparisons need to be made that way.  Is home birth safer?  No, the question is whether hospital births are safe enough to risk all that tampering with normal.

Off-topic?  The more I think about it, the more I think no birth topic is off-topic on a breastfeeding list.

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com 

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