Here's one Q & A exchange — the last one, in fact — from an interview Tara Parker-Pope, who writes the "Well" blog for the New York Times, conducted last year with Randi Hutter Epstein, physician, mother of four and author of the 2010 book on childbirth, Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank.

Q (TPP)  Should the care of women during childbirth be reserved for other women?

A (RHE)  I look at it as a doctor-patient relationship history, more than a man-woman kind of thing. When you hear women say, “I’d much rather give birth with a midwife than a doctor,’’ I think, “Why?” I love my ob-gyn. It’s sad people think you’ll have a nicer person if you avoid the medical system. That’s the feeling you get when you talk to women. I think if women had better relationships with their doctors, I think that would help. They would be more informed. They would believe the information their doctors tell them.

I agree with some of what Dr. Epstein is saying. I loved both my ob-gyns, too. I believe, though, that to choose a midwife for a birth attendant instead of a doctor is to opt for, or at least to attempt to have, a qualitatively different experience.

It isn't just a hope to deal with a nice person. It's embarking on a whole different journey.

What do you think? I would love to hear from you.