Fantastic article! I was *totally* with you and loving it...until the elective C-section bit. Although I'm all for a woman's right to choose to have her baby wherever (hospital, birthing center, home), however (au natural, epidural, "silently" a la Katie Holmes), and by whomever (midwife, family physician, OB-GYN) they want, elective C-sections can be really risky -- for both moms *and* babies.
For one, C-sections have been linked to pre-term births. That's because due dates can be way off. So when you schedule a C-section, you may end up giving birth several weeks or more before your baby is developmentally ready to come out. And that puts newborns at risk for delays in brain development, jaundice, and problems with feeding, breathing, and regulating their temperature.
And although C-sections are so often considered no big deal, they are a major surgery that comes with serious risks (like increased bleeding and blood clots, injuries to mom and baby, infection). And it takes much longer to recover from a C-section than a vaginal birth. Don't get me wrong, lots of women really *need* and should get C-sections, especially in emergency situations, but I don't think getting one should be considered a woman's right. To me, that's just putting their lives -- and their babies' -- on the line just so they can schedule a convenient birth day.
