The following letters were published in the New York Times science section on May 14, 2002 in response to Randi Hutter Epstein's article, When Giving Birth, Opting to Go It Alone. To read an unpublished letter by Jack Travis, MD click here.

Choosing Unassisted Birth

To the Editor:

I am a mother of two, my second child born unassisted ("When Giving Birth, Opting to Go It Alone," May 7).

Her father and I planned it that way because we were extremely dissatisfied with the way the obstetrician treated us: making us wait four hours every visit, and sometimes even failing to remember our history.

I stopped seeing him in my sixth month, and my daughter was born in her 42nd week, very healthy. I am now six months pregnant and looking forward to another unassisted birth. Now I realize I don't need a doctor, as I am not ill.

As for prenatal care, I most certainly do receive it. Does it not count because it comes from me? I take prenatal vitamins, eat healthy foods and loosely watch my weight gain.

I know my baby is healthy. I can feel him or her moving inside me, and my belly is growing right on schedule. I wouldn't give birth any other way, unless I truly felt there was a medical reason to do so.

RAIN ACKLEY
St. John, Mo.

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To the Editor:
As a newly pregnant woman researching birth options, I'm petrified of turning myself and my baby over to the obstetrics system available in the United States ("Opting to Go It Alone").

Especially unnerving are the interventions like Caesarean section, induction, episiotomy and other "routine" procedures that increase the odds of more interventions and deprive the mother of her central role.

Though I will deliver my first child with a certified nurse midwife, I support and encourage any woman who seeks to take responsibility for her body and birth.

No one denies that birth can sometimes be unpredictable and complicated, and such situations greatly benefit from medical intervention. But we've been manipulated to accept the ridiculous premise that women are incapable of giving birth without medical intervention.

VICTORIA P. KRIMM
Chicago