title: Are women really asking for it?
abstract: Childbirth educators and doulas express frustration that the vast majority of women choose standard obstetric care for labor and birth, even though the evidence shows that this care increases the likelihood that they will experience unnecessary intervention and morbidity. Women are preparing for childbirth by reading and taking classes, but they are unprepared for this reality. What responsibility do doulas and childbirth educators have in alerting women of the risk?
authors.affiliation: JENNIFER BLOCK is the author of Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care (Da Capo Press, 2007) and the blog Pushedbirth.com .
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Block