Doula Huh?

So let me start this off by saying "I am not announcing anything!" However, last night we had the ward relief society activity, which was a local Doula coming to speak on birthing options and information that people may not know about. Very interesting and informative.
She started off by talking about some statistics, stating that the c-section rate in Washington is currently at almost 40% which is crazy high! The World Health Organization says if the rate gets to 15% it is too high and should be addressed. So there is a real problem with how childbirth is handled. I am already a proponent of natural childbirth with only necessary interventions, so this whole night just reminded me of all the reasons why I chose not to have an epidural ect.
I wanted to write about this though because it seems as though these days "natural childbirth" is a sort of hippie notion these days. That I think is the root of the issue. There is a local doctor here in town, and before he moved here he was practicing in a larger city and following the "regular or normal" medical procedures and his c-section rate was about 27%, he moved here and began changing his methods using less interventions so quickly and his rate dropped to 15%, and currently I think they said his rate was 11%. That seems like a much more reasonable rate, and I will be asking my next doctor what his c-section rate it that is for sure! The c-section rates of that local doctor just prove to me that the fewer interventions that are done the better, also that right now the current medical practices in the United States are needing to be changed, and in addition to that attitudes about childbirth in our country need to change a little.
I am not judging anyone here, I am not pointing fingers, I am simply passing along information that I feel needs to be passed along. So please don't read this thinking I am picking on anyone, or judging anyone for their choices or decisions that were made during their childbirth. I know that everyone does their best to make a good decision with the information and situation they have. I also know that my doctor fought be tooth and nail about the epidural, at appointments, and in the delivery room. He was very sure that I should have gotten one and I was very sure I didn't want one. If I was not so stubborn (shhh.. don't tell Chris I admitted that) I think I would have listened to him. However, if I had listened to the doctor about that I would have missed a great (somewhat painful) experience that did bring me to my core and prove my strength and ability. I still feel accomplished and stronger among many other things because I was able to stick to my plan. The point of this particular story is that doctors recommend the epidural often when it is not necessary, there was no medical reason for me to have the epidural, it simply would have made me more comfortable. It also would have increased chances for more complications since I did not need it, so the risks outweighed the benefits in my case, that is not how the doctor saw it though.
So why in the world is natural childbirth seen in such a way that it is not what "normal people" choose. You must be hippie or a naturalist? I definitely do not think so, it is the way we as women were designed. Our bodies were built for childbirth, why do we insist on taking all the natural out of a natural process? I have some more research to do, I am really interested in the research has been done, pertaining to birth rates in the United Stated vs the 33 other countries with better rates than us. Also pertaining to a possible connection between Pitocin and autism, and planned c-sections/or early inductions and Asthma. I have not edited this posting yet so I apologize if it is confusing, or if I state some information wrong or just plain sound rude. I am just trying to understand what the problem is and in turn what needs to change in order to fix it.