Sasa - that was another aspect that got to me, about the state of Oz maternity services...there is absolutely NO evidence that says Australia is even in the top 5 countries for giving birth in safety! It's not just Pesce, it's a lot of Labor pollies spinning out this blatant mistruth. It is simply NOT true. I'm not saying it's a terrible place to give birth, but it's not the best by a long shot. The c-section rate, for one, belies this all by itself. Not to mention other measures of good outcomes (breastfeeding initiation and retention rates, PND outcomes, infant wellbeing beyond the post-partum period etc) that indicate a country with a good maternity service. It's either deluded self-belief or a bald-faced lie. Sadly, though, so many people just accept it as truth and Pesce knows this. He knows it because his profession is based on paying the OB and trusting what that person says - in many cases, disengaging from instinct and paying someone else to use theirs instead.
Why not interview someone like Dr Peter Lucas, who must be the last remaining GP obs who attends homebirths in Melbourne? As a medico, wouldn't he provide more 'balance'? I guess they just needed to have people 'for' and 'against' and not get anyone who transcended perceived boundaries...maybe they think viewers can't handle true balance.