There weren’t any. That’s right. The 20th Century saw one of the greatest public health advances of all time, the steep drop in both perinatal and maternal mortality. Childbirth went from being an occasion for women to write their wills to a “birth experience.” Childbirth is not inherently safe; it is inherently dangerous. It only […]
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Breaking news! Dr. Bob Sears files for moral bankruptcy!
Dr. Bob Sears is a charter member of what I like to call The Quack Pack, a group of physicians who peddle pseudoscience in exchange for popularity and financial remuneration. I’ve written about his ethics, or lack thereof, on many occasions. In his book on an “alternative” vaccine schedule Sears wrote: I also warn [parents] […]
The human body according to natural parenting advocates
In the world of natural parenting, every day is opposite day. Whatever the doctor says is wrong and that leaves advocates in a paradoxical situation. On the one hand, nothing in the human body works right: it absorbs toxins, is sensitive to gluten, has a weak immune system, and must be treated on a regular […]
Contemporary motherhood’s big lie: if you aren’t suffering, you must be doing it wrong
Motherhood, Screened Off by Susan Dominus appeared in The New York Times several days ago. Ostensibly it is a piece about pushing aside technology to reconnect with our children. Dominus suggests that our use of technology has rendered previously transparent adult actions opaque to children and that is a problem. My mother’s address book is […]
The issue is not breast vs. bottle but process vs. outcome
Only baby haters don’t breastfeed? That’s the provocative title of piece in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph: Only baby-haters don’t breastfeed…or alternatively: Bottle is better and my boobs aren’t round my knees. No other topic divides women as instantly and viciously as breastfeeding Ask any woman who’s had a baby what her views on breastfeeding are, and […]
Homebirth midwives: incompetent and unaware of it
One of the biggest problems in American homebirth is that homebirth midwives don’t know what they don’t know. Their background in obstetrics, science and statistics is very limited; so limited, in fact, that they have no idea how little they know compared to those who have far more education and training in these subjects. The […]
Jill Duggar Dillard is not a real midwife; she’s a CPM, a counterfeit professional midwife
Cosmopolitan Magazine reports Jill Duggar Adds an Impressive New Job to Her Résumé. According to her husband, Derrick Dillard: It’s official; my wife is a midwife! Not exactly. Jill Duggar Dillard did not become a midwife. She became a counterfeit midwife. She was awarded an ersatz credential (CPM, certified professional midwife) designed to fool the […]
The cult of homebirth kills babies; 5 deaths in the last few weeks
In many respects, American homebirth is a cult. There is an extensive misinformation campaign promising spiritual benefits; the widespread deleting and banning in homebirth groups means that women are trapped in echo chambers; deaths and disasters are hidden; and women are encourage to ever more dangerous births by a chorus of “supporters” who disavow responsibity […]
Unassisted birth advocate Meg Heket has a revelation
Will wonders never cease? Homebirth advocates are scrambling to address the hideous death rate at homebirth. First Midwives’ Alliance of North America executive Melissa Cheyney, CPM acknowledged that MANA’s own data shows that home VBAC (HBAC) has an appalling death rate, far higher than she expected. Of course, she has known about this for 5 […]
Are the breastfeeding cheeseburger ads part of a stealth Nestle anti-breastfeeding campaign?
If you thought that these ads were powerful, disturbing and upsetting, wait until you hear this: the ads may be part of a stealth Nestle campaign to promote formula feeding. Ostensibly, Sociedade de Pediatria do Rio Grande do Sul has embarked upon a campaign to convince breastfeeding women that: Your child is what you eat. […]
Amy Tuteur, MD
Dr. Amy Tuteur is an obstetrician gynecologist. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1979 and her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine in 1984. Dr. Tuteur is a former clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. She left the practice of medicine to raise her four children. Her book, Push Back: Guilt in the Age of Natural Parenting (HarperCollins) was published in 2016. She can be reached at DrAmy5 at aol dot com... More
