I took this from Tami Conklin because it sums up everything I wanted to say:

I wholeheartedly support the idea that ALL birth care providers should present their clients or patients with research-based facts concerning the possible outcomes and effects of every procedure and health condition they encounter during pregnancy.  This should include actual data about the risks and possible outcomes of c-sections, repeat c-sections, inductions, artificial rupture of membranes, pitocin and other drugs, continuous electronic fetal monitoring, VBAC, breech, diabetes, gestational diabetes, "big" babies, high blood pressure, multiples, etc., and outcomes of those conditions in hospital and home settings.  Then allow women to make their own choices after being presented with all the information.  Please make sure this applies to obstetricians as well as midwives, because ALL women have the right to true informed consent when making choices about their own bodies and the lives of their babies.  Too many women have told me that their doctors have told them outright lies about the risks of certain procedures (or of not performing those procedures).  I as a consumer have opted for home births with midwives precisely BECAUSE I trust midwives to offer me true informed consent--to give me the facts (pros and cons) and then let me make my own decisions.  I have had births in 2 different Virginia hospitals and have received prenatal care from several obstetricians, and only when I rejected them and started seeing Certified Professional Midwives did I receive this kind of information.  Making it a legal requirement wouldn't change what the midwives do, but it would have a huge impact on maternity care if this were required for ALL birth care providers.