I’ve been shouting about better maternity care for decades. However, my desire to have kids is not a bargaining chip. What I did do — and what my daughter did — was make careful choices about our health care teams, our birth places and what we did and did not want to have happen during the births. A lot of women hand over control of their bodies, and that’s a mistake. One example: So many women decide to be induced for non-medical reasons, and that leads to a lot of unnecessary surgical deliveries, which are far more dangerous. Birth is unpredictable but careful choices reduce risks.