Haven't read the NICE report, but in the BBC reporting of it (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7012295.stm) there seems to be an awful lot about the mother's choice, and next to nothing about the safety of mother or baby. Now, I can see that all else being equal, 'what the mother wants' is an important factor (and taking it to extreme, refusal of treatment is the patient's - legally the mother's - right in this country). But surely NICE should be spending its time thinking about the (highly emotive) argument about outcomes for home/midwife-led/consultant-led births for a wide range of different risk profiles? Otherwise, the mother can't make an informed choice! Or do we no longer care about rigourous analysis - as long as we have choice based on news reporting, scare stories from both sides and anecdote, standards will surely improve...!? Scientist