Speaking of the rising cesarean rate...

Rixa shared this article from right here in AZ. Joy, a mother of three, pregnant with her fourth, has only one hospital in her vicinity, and they will court order a cesarean delivery if they must... even though Joy delivered her third child via VBAC at the very same hospital two years ago. The hospital says they are no longer equipped to handle VBACs because of reduced staffing. Joy says their logic doesn't hold up:

"They don’t want to allow VBACs because she said they aren’t equipped for emergency c-sections, but if they can’t do emergency c-sections, they shouldn’t be having labor and delivery at all. That’s why women go to the hospital to have their babies – in case there is an emergency."

Can you really argue with that? If there's one place in our culture where women are told they should feel "safe" giving birth, it's the hospital. The hospital is supposed to be the place you can count on in an emergency. Have they informed the women of Page that they're no longer that equipped safety-net women think they are? I somehow doubt it.

Joy has her feelings painted in protest on the back of her minivan: "Page Hospital enter my body without my permission... sounds like rape to me." (Read the article here.)