Two days ago I posted this on Facebook:
“Really, Dr. Shah?
I’m shocked that Neel Shah is a part of a for profit birth website that features advocates of pseudoscience and poor practice, including Ina May Gaskin, Michel Odent, Brad Bootstaylor, Barbara Harper and a chiropractor, among others…
[pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Who suddenly got skittish?[/pullquote]
https://birthpedia.net/meet-the-contributors/
http://startupcompete.co/startup-…/internet/birthpedia/67399
Today’s Featured Questions include: “How could chiropractic care help you get pregnant?” I’ll answer it for free: It can’t!”
The image comes from their beta site that was up and running.
Dr. Shah wasn’t merely one of the contributors; he featured prominently in their promotional materials:
“Imagine having a Harvard OBGYN answer your specific question/concern for only $8 a month. We are changing how providers and patients intake information about birth where any pregnant woman can get answers by qualified professionals” – Co-Founder Justine Tullier
Expectant Parents want quick answers from a trusted source. Our qualified birth professionals are experts in their field and have insight that is backed up by research, evidence and experience. These experts are: PhDs, OBGYNs, Midwives, Lactation Consultants, Doulas, Lawyers, Chiropractors, Fitness Instructors and much more. Their 1 to 2 minutes answers per specific question reflects the trend in decreased attention span of upcoming generations as opposed to long form DVDs.
I also learned that Justine and Gabe Tullier, the founders of Birthpedia, have just taken over Midwifery Today from Jan Tritten. On a now deleted page, the Tulliers boasted:
Midwifery Today will become a vital catalyst for market penetration and thus an extension of Birthpedia.
Midwifery Today has been for years the leading purveyor of homebirth quackery. You may remember Jan, who helped a homebirth midwife canvass a life or death decision on Facebook that resulted in a the death of baby Gavin Michael.
This morning I find that Birthpedia has almost entirely disappeared from the internet. The homepage is still there but has been scrubbed of its experts or indeed any information beyond the fact that it is purportedly launching soon.
The page of contributors is now a 404:
Its business plan on StartupCompete.co was even hidden from the public:
The Facebook page still exists as of this morning and includes such gems about chiropractic as this:
Dr Gena Bofshever has an infectous personality to go along with her thorough chiropractic skills to help women who want to get pregnant by making the organs in their body easier to talk with their brain.
WTF??!!
So what happened to Birthpedia? Are they no longer planning to promote quackery? Who suddenly got skittish?
I’ll be searching for answers.
