Stivenson!

We are still waiting. Manuela had her weekly check on Friday and she is 4 centimeters dilated and fully effaced. The midwife, without any consultation with us, scheduled an inducement at the local hospital at 8:00am this morning simply because Manuela was a week overdue. This suggestion by the midwife did not come as a surprise given our societal desire to technologically control absolutely everything - including the natural ordering of the human body. This procedure is of course completely unnecessary. It would not have been an aid to Manuela or the baby, rather it would have caused Manuela to have a harder more difficult labour demanding a costly epidural and thus a substantial financial gain for the hospital. After pressing the midwife, she consented that the reason for such a recommendation was to safeguard her own personal good (the probability of complications are less if the labouring woman is at the hospital under observation and is thus less likely to be a target of a lawsuit). It is sad to consider that those responsible for our health and well being are more concerned with their own financial gain.
Safe to say, we have decided to wait and allow Manuela's body to run its natural course.