Hmmm, sounds very odd. I feel like an important part of the story is missing. It is tragic that her baby died, but babies also die or face debilitating birth injuries in hospitals too. It is always horrible but there is never a guarantee. They wouldn't necessarily had a healthy baby if they were in a hospital. I think it is ridiculous to say homebirth is like a spa trend.... did he use the word silly in there? I thought I heard it..... and they could easily do the research studies comparing the two, if they chose women of the same low risk demographic and compared them. But they don't want to do that because homebirth would look better! I guess I think it's insulting to me to think that people would think I chose homebirth because I follow fads. I chose it because I had a terrible induced labor that ended up with every intervention, and when I refused the csection in the end I ended up purple pushing on my back for 3 hours and getting a 4th degree tear. I was told to have no more vaginal births. With my second I was doing my hypnobabies in a tub in front of my fish tank, had pain for about an hour, pushed for 7 minutes. I had the same sized baby (almost 10 lbs) with no tearing or bruising, and ate a half a pizza before she was born and after! lol. THis baby is for sure gonna be a homebirth too! But if a fad is what it is, I'll line up with my legwarmers, Zubah pants, and fringe leather jacket to go to my midwife appointment!