I sent that news story to the Executive Director of Seattle Midwifery School and here is her response (apparently the paper was presented as a poster at the ACOG conference and has not as yet been published):
From Jo Anne Myers-Cieko:
"It hasn't been published yet. It was presented at the ACOG conference -- I
believe as a poster. I have a copy of it because Benedetti distributed a
draft at a Medicaid advisory committee meeting. Sarah Huntington and I
drafted a critique of the study - it's got a lot of flaws - which was sent
to the primary author and Benedetti last week. Marijke's taking it to the
state perinatal advisory committee meeting this morning with a request that
the authors respond. We're still trying to figure out if we can/should
distribute what we've got even though it clearly says on it that it's
embargoed until publication. Given the media report, it seems like we
should so that everyone can see it and respond appropriately"
This is clearly some sort of political issue with ACOG and homebirth in Washington. Something is quite up. The women mentioned in the quote, Sarah Huntigton and Mariike are actively practising homebirth midwives in Washington and very active politically.
marilyn
