In doing research for a friend I rediscovered this wonderful article written in Midwifery Today by Amy Haas. She addresses the whole VBAC issue, (uterine rupture risk, repeat cesarean risks, transfer rates, success rates in home and birthing centers vs. hospital), and summarizes the safety statistics for homebirth, VBAC, and cesarean section. She also mentions how to identify early warning signs for uterine rupture. She does an excellent job of exposing the flaws of the Washington Study that was the primary study used by ACOG in scaring women half to death with the risk of uterine rupture.
There was one statistic about electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) that I hadn't heard before and it is mind-boggling: EFM has a rate of 99.8% false positives for non-reassuring fetal heart rates. She concludes "EFM does not improve maternal or infant outcomes, but leads to more c-sections." Considering that nearly every hospital in the US relies heavily on EFM, it sheds some light on our current s-section rate, doesn't it?
