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Both criteria place women in the high risk category. The low risk midwife maternity unit(it's called that for a reason) is right not to admit them and require that they use a facility set up to deal with the complications that are common with childbirth among obese women or women who have gained excessive weight while pregnant.
It has nothing to do with making them second class citizens.

I recall an insurance company decided to backpedal on refusing to cover a "fat" baby because it was a "pre-existing condition" after too much adverse publicity.

Since it looks like I have one of the first posts on this thread I'm also announcing the departure of "Lao" due to consistent name-highjacking.

I adopted "anonymous" previously for the same reason, then Yardale decided to use my IP address to determine which "anonymous" I was and to change "anonymous" to "Lao".

So I have played along and signed "Lao" to my posts. I have no problem standing behind what I actually write. Unfortunately, someone else is very frightened that I might openly express my opinions here so they have decided to try to discredit me.

The name highjacking has continued and is confusing other posters who respond to "Lao" with their usual vitriol, not realizing they are being played by someone on their side.

Yardale, so far as I can tell, has not shown any inclination to stop name highjacking of "Lao" or other posters from the left.

So Yardale, I guess you will just have to check IP addresses on all those "anonymous" posts again. Sorry to give you the extra work.

If you have another idea, I'm all ears.

lao here's a suggestion for you. Grow up,grow a set and quit crying. Otherwise piss off.

I'm with Single Stack on this one. It's a low-risk maternity unit. If you are at a higher risk, whether it's because of placenta previa, obesity, or any other factor, you make plans to deliver at a fully-facilitated unit. And this should hardly be a last minute or "seconds count" situation - any woman with prenatal care should be aware of the risk level of her pregnancy.

I'd be willing to bet that the underweight crack-whore and binge-drinking mothers are welcomed with open arms at Weston General Hospital.

Low-risk unit or not, there is a reason this was a news story in the UK, and a reason it is here, why Rush mentioned it on his show today. It sounds just plain rotten that a hospital would have a birthing center that was unable to handle more situations.

That said, it seems BMI of 34 is not insignificant, at least according to WebMD:

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, and for most women that means carrying at least 30 extra pounds. A BMI of 18.5-24.9 is considered normal weight, and 25-29.9 is considered overweight. A 5-foot, 7-inch woman would be considered normal weight up to 160 pounds (BMI = 25) and obese at 195 (BMI = 30).

But this still isn't clear if the BMI is pre-pregnancy or during pregnancy - I presume during? What exactly does a BMI really mean if you're pregnant, anyway? Seems a rather arbitrary thing to use, I guess that's the point isn't it.

That said...

Posted by: Nunya at November 13, 2009 3:13 PM

Nunya brings up an excellent point. One can be unsafely UNDER-weight during pregnancy as well as over. Does this center have a policy for that? All they mention are the overweight.

All else equal, this partial service birthing center doesn't seem particularly useful to its community, especially if there is an obesity epidemic in the UK.

The bigger issue is; The UK has been using obesity as an excuse to nanny-state control more and more aspects of British life for years, ex:

http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2007/10/british_nanny_s_1.html

this new post is just one more example.

If this had happened in America, and you had universal healthcare, you would be complaining about how the government was wasting your taxes on helping fat mothers.

Nonono, Anon, there IS no helping of 'fat mothers' here. It would be the elitist, nanny-state controllers who would be levying some fat-tax or other penalty on the overweight, as in UK.

Don't you see, with Socialized Medicine, the folks on the extremes (old-aged, developmentally disabled, comatose, obese) are the ones who will suffer, since they're a drag on society, dontcha see. Very National Socialist.

Now I realise why Americans reject socialised healthcare -
You weren't having to rebuild your battered country at the end of the war, you didn't feel the need to learn the importance of pulling together and helping others, you didn't have any overseas colonies that you had to give up, severely damaging your economy, so you've spent the last 64 years being self-righteous and greedy, just like you were before the war, only because you thought you had a God-given right to tell the rest of the world how to govern itself most other countries have now turned on you, and your stubbornness won't allow you to help each other in your time of need.

I realise this has little to do with the news item, but at least when this woman gave birth, she wasn't expected to pay.

Lao, quit being such an inveterate pu$$y and as Farmer Ted suggests GROW A PAIR.

Liberals/trolls here have hijacked my handle and posted out of character stuff under my name.

People who post here know me from my regular posts; they knew it wasn't me. Why do they know me? Because I am not a hateful, pompous jerk to and have cultivated some mutual respect over the months and took the time to get to know some of them by sharing some personal details of my life.

You think you should be able to waltz into a blog, be a complete jackass and insult posters left and right (no pun intended) and everyone here shower you with instant respect.

You grew up watching too much Barney and Teletubbies. That's not how the real world works; not even the online world.

So, grow up or f@ck off. We got along without your liberal, trolling crap before and we'll get along well long after your a dim memory.

Just my opinion.

I realise this has little to do with the news item, but at least when this woman gave birth, she wasn't expected to pay.

Perhaps not but I am sure the many thousands of people who have died waiting for a surgery or to be seen in the ER because they were having an MI or an ischemic event and made to wait outside in an ambulance for two hour wouldn't have had to pay, either.

Paying or not makes little difference when its crunch time. Meaning if you can't even get medical assistance that can save your life, then whatever its cost may be is a moot point.

I srill can't believe that you still think the Nazi party were left-wing, just because they had ‘socialist’ in their name.
That was just a lie to get the working-class vote.
And you think that fascism is a branch of communism.

If they believed in equality (the fundamental tenet of Marxism), then why did they do all that eugenics research? Why did they segregate people? Why did they punish those with ties to communism?

You are so fucking stupid. Like that one really loud douchebag who thinks everyone must like techno because he does.

If their discriminating against fat people this should lead to a lawsuit aganist the hospital

Posted by: Aquatarkus at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM

We earned that right, Aq, since we saved your, and the world's, arse from the Nazis and the Imperial Japanese. And, the Soviets. At cost of much blood and treasure.

And we're so greedy and selfish that we're the worlds largest givers of money and manpower from public and private donations. Who is always there first when thre's an earthquake, a typhoon, a tsunami? George Bush the Devil increased the AIDS money to Africa many times over what Clinton put into that continent. THe list goes on and on.

Paying or not makes little difference when its crunch time. Meaning if you can't even get medical assistance that can save your life, then whatever its cost may be is a moot point.
Posted by: SK

Even though if you had no means to pay, doctors and paramedics will refuse to help you.

This has to do with socialized medicine? This seems like a spurious association. The idea is that heavier women aren't high-risk with "capitalist medicine?" All low-risk birthing centers would be prepared for high-risk births with "capitalist medicine?" I don't see the connection.

Even though if you had no means to pay, doctors and paramedics will refuse to help you.

That's not the way that it is here. You get help regardless of your ability to pay.

Gee, Britain is sooo much advanced in medical care than us here in the States. /sarc

And we're so greedy and selfish that we're the worlds largest givers of money and manpower from public and private donations.
Posted by: coo coo ca choob

That's only because you have the largest levels of disposable income.
Besides, a lot of western aid is given to warlords to fight civil wars that America is too busy trying to get a grip on an unconquerable landscape to intervene in.

That's not the way that it is here. You get help regardless of your ability to pay.
Posted by: SK

You say that now, but when it comes crunch time.....

Never has been a problem. I had friends whose families had medical emergencies, they got treated even though they weren't well off.

Our neighbor had a heart attack, he was rushed to the hospital, given a heart bypass and all he has to his name is a 15 year old car. The list goes on.

Keep denying it all you want, health care in this country surpasses yours. People from your cute little island wouldn't be flocking here to have medical work done if it were the other way around.

And yes, I have read all of the current news items here.

The Problems with
Socialized Health Care
(i.e., trusting politicians and bureaucrats with your health care)

Medical bankruptcies?

Non sequiturs?

Weston-Super-Mare? Isn't that John Cleese's birthplace? Small world, that...Or island, anyway...

Hey, I gave a name, and it wasn't anonymous! let's call it a nation to soothe poor aquatarkus' ruffled shell.

I posted this last night on another site, but I thought I'd share it here, too. I was responding to a labor and delivery nurse who thought that this decision by the British birthing center was justified.

"Why not judge these on a case by case basis? You, as a L&D RN, should know that obese women are not they only ones who are at greater risk of complications. This is just another way to expand the government’s nanny state agenda.
By the way, I’m pregnant with my 8th child, and my BMI usually fluctuates between 34-44%, I’ve struggled with weight all my life, but I’ve never had ANY of the complications you listed, with ANY of my pregnancies. All of my children were born normal and healthy, and still are to this day. (and all are slim, and very active!) All of my labors have been very fast, between 2-6 hours- why should I have go to somewhere else to deliver, when there are no reasons for it, and I CHOOSE not too?
My sister, who has always weighed 105-120 lbs in adulthood, has had numerous reproductive issues- miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, etc… but she’d be OK, right?"

As I stated in the original post, this will be used to push an agenda. Various groups will be singled out as unworthy of medical care, and denied coverage, or harassed/shamed into lesser treatment, for the greater good, of course.

That's only because you have the largest levels of disposable income.
Posted by: Aquatarkus at November 13, 2009 4:18 PM

And why do we have the largest levels of disposable income? Because we work our asses off at our jobs, anywhere from 40 to 120 hours per week depending on what our jobs are.

LUCKY is the rare American worker who gets two weeks paid vacation per year; rather than ONE MONTH paid vacation like Europeans. I personally know LOTS of Americans who go YEARS between vacations.

You'd think that if your country were so great and noble you'd spend your time volunteering for a worthy charity instead of trolling online and trashing persons you have never met but feel free to insult at every turn.

Are all Brits as rude as you, or are you the exception?

Are all Brits as rude as you, or are you the exception?

Unfortunately, there are a lot of fools like that in Airstrip One. They're why the formerly great Britain is circling the bowl on their way to dhimmitude.

It's good to know the US doesn't have birth centers for low risk pregnancies and that maternity outcomes are sooo much better here.

The US spends more money on mothers' health than any other nation in the world, yet women in America are more likely to die during childbirth than they are in most other developed countries, according to the OECD and WHO.
...
So why are women in America more likely to die during childbirth than they are in most other developed nations?

The answers are complex. A healthcare system which leaves what Dr Lu estimates are 17 million women of child-bearing age without health insurance could be one factor.

Obesity, poverty and the high rate of C-sections in America all play a part.

Dr Lu says about half of American women are entering pregnancy overweight. "Obesity is a major risk factor for pregnancy-related complications.

"First we need to improve the health of women before they get pregnant, and second we need to improve the quality of maternal care in America."
...
The Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta is the US government agency that collects national statistics on the numbers of women dying during childbirth.

Dr Bill Callaghan of the CDC says the latest maternal mortality data suggests one in four to one in five women who die have heart disease, or diseased blood vessels.

Could that be due to women being overweight? I asked. "It could be," replies Dr Callaghan, "the obesity epidemic has not spared women of reproductive age."

Dr Bill McCool, at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing, points out that America is far above the World Health Organization's goal of a 15% C-section rate.

"Surgery of any kind has risk," he says, and a C-section is, "still the riskiest way to have a baby.

"In the US, almost one third of women have that procedure for delivery of their baby."

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "...You weren't having to rebuild your battered country at the end of the war"

Britain declared War. It entered into it freely. Quit blubbing like a little girl about it.

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "...you didn't feel the need to learn the importance of pulling together and helping others"

You are packaging socialism, and civics, as one and the same. They are not. Just because Britain suffered a greater infestation of communists, does not equal moral superiority.

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "...you didn't have any overseas colonies that you had to give up"

Britain didn't "have to", to give up any of it's Empire. The marxists wanted to dismantle it, so it was done. There was no "having to", about it.

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "...severely damaging your economy"

Which was the whole point.

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "...so you've spent the last 64 years being self-righteous and greedy, just like you were before the war"

Unbelievable. Help me out here, Aquatool. Which country was it, that sent Britain an army, navy and air force, plus raw materials, to pull it's arse out of a fire in Europe, that Britain lit, for itself?

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "only because you thought you had a God-given right to tell the rest of the world how to govern itself"

Kept the Communist bloc's front line, largely in check, did it not? Who else was going to manage it?

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "...most other countries have now turned on you"

Obviously, not enough rope and lead was applied, in dealing with communists.

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 4:07 PM- "I srill can't believe that you still think the Nazi party were left-wing, just because they had ‘socialist’ in their name."

There isn't a straight line, that the NSDAP sits on, in relation to politics. It was socialist- National socialist.

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "That was just a lie to get the working-class vote."

They didn't have to lie to the industrial and rural working base, to get their vote.

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "And you think that fascism is a branch of communism."

Your marxist ideology is showing, like a girl's dirty slip. Fascism was borne out of early marxist, euro schools of thought. Whether your communist pea brain likes it or not. It is very distinct from, and opposed to, communism itself, but, the lineage is undeniable.

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "If they believed in equality (the fundamental tenet of Marxism)..."

No, it is not.

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "...then why did they do all that eugenics research?"

Like the Soviets?

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "Why did they segregate people?"

Like the Soviets?

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "Why did they punish those with ties to communism?"

Firstly, and most importantly, because communists DESERVE to be punished. Secondly, because the NSDAP, and the Fascists were in opposition to communism. They were NATIONAL socialist, the communist were INTERNATIONAL socialists. If you cannot understand this difference(it is more likely you can, but refuse to), then you are a myopic, retarded, bolshevik pustule. Which you are, in any case.

Posted by: Aquatarkus, manwife of Iqbal at November 13, 2009 3:56 PM- "You are so fucking stupid."

Aquatool, nobody could possibly be more stupid, than you. You are Zeus, in the Pantheon of cretins.

fat women ARE second class citizens

chairman soetoro's oprichniki:

No-one respects overzealous snarks who post abusively long and pathetically ill-informed comments designed to rouse support in fellow retards.

I believe Arnold Schwarzenegger said it best:
Fuck you asshole.