The tv interview featured an all too brief appearance by Marsden Wagner, a renowned expert on home birth . And thank you, Diane Sawyer, for managing to insert an accurate fact about one of the risks of cesarean surgery for the baby. Those who believe cesarean is equal to or better than vaginal birth have no good science to back their claims. Go deeper, as our nation's mothers and babies deserve.
Scientific evidence abounds that they, in fact, do.
I get discouraged when I see something handled so poorly as this segment. Dr Marsden Wagner and the head of ACOG were not able to give any real sense of their point of view. And the interview was hindered by being so rushed that I could literally feel Dr Wagner's inability to put a cogent argument into brief enough sentences. That debate was genuine and gave the public some real facts and issues to grapple with. And that interview was considered so strong that the network chose to continue it for 5 more minutes, after the break, and allow those stations that wanted to, to run the second segment in lieu of local news or weather.