This is my second go-round with blogging. My first blog (boldly, if not very creatively, titled “Mark Sloan M.D.“) ran from 2011 to 2015. I started writing it following the publication of my book, Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth, intending it to be an ongoing discussion of childbirth-related issues and child health in general.

Alas, the childbirth world is as polarized as anything else these days. On one end of the spectrum are the natural birth advocates, who see birth as a natural event that should be allowed to progress as nature intended; on the other end are the hospital-based birth practitioners, who see birth as potentially dangerous, prone to often unpredictable complications, and the hospital as the safest place to have a baby. The natural birth side views hospital birth as a ticket to interventions (epidurals, c-sections, etc.); the hospital birthers see home birth as unnecessarily risky, and its practitioners as willfully oblivious to the dangers.

Yes, I realize that’s a simplistic view of the state of American birth. The reality is that it’s more of a continuum; I encountered many doctors, midwives and nurses who worked to bridge the gap between sides. In my blog (and in Birth Day) I strove for a reasonable middle ground, sticking to the facts and encouraging women to make educated choices that aligned with their personal beliefs and preferences. From reader feedback I’ve received over time, I’m proud that my blog helped individual women achieve a meaningful birth experience, and that it helped to move some of the discussions along to resolution.

So far, in my limited exposure to PwP World, I don’t see such polarization. Could be that’s the case, or maybe since I’m still a fairly new member, I’m naive to the controversies. I look forward to finding out.