it is fine to eschew contact and want a more isolated existence, but it really pays to be informed about what goes on in the rest of the world and to be somewhat savvy. there are not black helicopters in EVERY sky. i think someone in the thread pointed out that if there is no pediatrician on staff at the hospital, they are covering their behinds by requiring that you have one for them to refer the baby to in case of a post-birth emergency. now where i live, there is no hospital that does not have a pediatrician on staff, but i would prefer that a pediatrician of my choosing be contacted in an emergency, so i had no problem giving them the name.
I haven’t seen any black helicopters, but on a jobsite in the middle of nowhere the day after 9-11, it was eerily quiet with no planes, when all of a sudden, we heard a chopper-I glanced up, and jokingly said uh oh-is that helicopter black, and three of the 4 guys on the crew rolled into the brush or ran for their truck-I forgot that 2 of them were Viet Nam vets, and MrT5-who hated choppers, too-told me to never, ever do that again.
I almost forgot about the litigation factor-that is likely 80% of the reason the hospital/birthing center needs to cover its ass-John Edwards and his colleagues are always waiting just outside, like vultures...
The fact is after the birth the baby is a patient of the hospital and will need his/her own doctor. Some people are just jerks. Would he rather the hospital put a joeschmo incompetent boob pediatrician on his case without getting a say so?