I am a human, a woman, and a PhD working full time in maternal-child heath research (pregnancy, birth, fetal and infant health, lactation, women’s health care). Every year I teach sociology of health courses at a major university. I am married to the love of my life, and we have three fabulous teenagers.
human with uterus 
This is Paul Burcher. You reference me in your blog, and I think you have made some incorrect pre-judgments about who I am. I am a practicing Ob/Gyn (true) and a PhD ethicist (also true) but I am no fan of Frank Chervenak’s position on home birth (if you google me you will see that I have collaborated extensively with, and defended midwives and home birth. I quoted Chervenak on a completely separate topic where I am with him–that talking with woman before labor, about labor, can reduce or eliminate misunderstandings and conflict. The “maybe” category that I wrote about is not a bait and switch as you suggest. As I wrote about in the Journal of Medical Ethics, how would you respond to a birth plan where the woman insists that no matter what happens in labor, and even if she requests it, that I must refuse her an epidural? As you know labor (and life) are fluid, and sometimes we don’t know “till we get there.” So maybe is maybe, and it means just that. The “non-starter” category is for me both real and small. I value patient autonomy, but it isn’t the only value in the room, and physicians also have values that must be respected by patients. If I say I can’t participate in what a patient requests, that is also my right. I rarely just say no, and I bend a lot even pushing beyond comfort zones at times.But physicians must be also be able to make rational and value laden choices–they must also be autonomous. These words don’t really express how it has played out in my practice, but I have 18 years in practice with almost no conflict with my patients, because I am respectful (and because I worked with midwives I have had strong-willed, conscientious women with alternative values as patients for much of this time).
Hi again. Look at the March 2014 issue of Birth for an article I wrote with Melissa Cheyney PhD and Saras Vedam PhD responding to the Chervenak articles against home birth published in AJOB and several other journals. I am currently writing a piece challenging Chervenak’s claim that if hospitals were just a little more patient centered there would be no reason for women to choose home birth. I have cited your blog in the paper (okay, I’m a lurker), but you are anonymous. That’s fine, but if you wish to share your name, I would be happy to credit you.
Could you contact me personally about HR issues in LA?