Thank you so much, Lynn for this comment. I agree that this type of birth plan is just that--a defense against a system the mother cannot trust. Funny, that the institution only sees is as refelcting a flaw in the mother and not in itself. Mothers at home do not have to ask for the long list of "don't wants"--they would never be subjected to them there. And, these moms are not seen as rigid at home. Why is it considered rigid to expect that our bodies work and birth works? Again, as soon as mothers come from the paradigm that they are in charge and that the deicisons are theirs to be made, they are labelled as rigid and a system invested in being necessary proves it so just about every time. In the end, only the mother is ever flawed. So, the mother shouold be accountable and be informed and ask for what she wants, but if she steps outside off the narrow path of what is acceptable, she is the problem. This reminds me of the way we are taught to give control and power to toddlers. Ask if they want to wear the white socks or the blue socks, not if they want to wear socks. This way, they think they are making choices, while we remain in control of the outcome. I have to wonder how a mother with so little autonomy ever gains any confidence as a mother. Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA "I have often heard it said that the longer the birth plan is, the more likely the mom is to have a cesarean. That really bugged me. The someone reframed it for me: The longer the birth plan, the more likely the mom is just plain incompatible with the doctor/setting, and she needs to find one that suits her better. They "need" intervention because they are instinctively defending themselves." *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html