Extrapolating: A "SMH" Moment for Childbirth Education!

I recently came across this photo on my Facebook newsfeed.

www.theperfectbirth.com 

I sat there a few minutes and, in a mindset that my high school Algebra teacher would have loved, tried to reverse the statistics.  If 2/3 of the guidelines for medical practice that OB/Gyns use is not based on evidence- based science, that means that only 1/3 of the guidelines for medical practice that OB/Gyns use IS based on evidence- based science.

Then I went on to apply this to a human relationship:  if your partner in a relationship was only honest with you 1/3 of the time, would you stay in that relationship?

Wow, I thought, that really changes the perspective!  And if a person WOULD stay in a relationship like that, WHY?

Extrapolating, why would you want to stay in a relationship where someone lied 66% of the time?  And why would they lie 66% of the time anyway?  To make themselves look better?  To lure you? To protect themselves from....? To hide what they are doing?  Are they too afraid to admit they don't know the truth?

Now, return from that tangent and refocus on maternity care.  Here are the facts:

1. 23% of discharges from US hospitals are childbearing women/newborns.
2. The preterm birth rate has only enjoyed modest decline - .1% over the last year.
3. Low birthweight births continue to rise.
4. The US maternity morbidity/mortality stats are not improving.
5. The US infant morbidity/mortality stats are not improving.
6. The US cesarean rate is still climbing.
7. The state of non-nurse midwifery is out of control (I am not implying legislative control, here).
8. The number of "drive through" childbirth education classes are increasing.

Since "we" are not practicing evidence-based maternity care and since "our" statistics are worse than 40+ other nations in the world...

WHAT IS KEEPING "US" FROM PRACTICING EVIDENCE-BASED CARE?

WHY DON'T "WE" CARE MORE ABOUT OUR FELLOW MAN AND FUTURE SOCIETIES?

AND WHEN WILL "WE" STOP BICKERING AMONGST OURSELVES AND DO SOMETHING?

Extrapolating again, why would you want to stay in a practice where someone lied 66% of the time?  And why would they lie 66% of the time anyway?  To make themselves look better?  To lure you? To protect themselves from....? To hide what they are doing?  Are they too afraid to admit they don't know the truth?

References:
*http://transform.childbirthconnection.org/resources/datacenter/factsandfigures/