Lactivist are waxing rhapsodic about a photo of military moms breastfeeding. The picture was conceived by photographer Tara Ruby, a former member of the Air Force who was on active duty between 1997 and 2001… In a Facebook post displaying the picture, Ruby said her aim for the photo was to normalize breastfeeding in the […]
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Melissa Cheyney and MANA lied for years about the death rate at home VBAC; how can they ever be trusted?
Last week the healthcare news was dominated by a new study investigating treatment of high blood pressure: The NIH was so eager to get the news out that it decided to stop the study early, evaluate the preliminary results and make recommendations to doctors… Preliminary results showed a third fewer cardiac events such as heart […]
Just what we need, Onision mansplainin’ breastfeeding to us womenfolk
Don’t you just love it when men “mansplain” breastfeeding to women? What is “mansplaining”? According to Urban Dictionary, it’s: … explanations delivered with rock solid confidence of rightness and that slimy certainty that of course he is right, because he is the man in this conversation. Consider these gems from YouTube “entertainer” Greg Jackson, also […]
Kelly Brogan, will you take responsibility if a baby dies because of your misinformation?
Kelly Brogan, “holistic psychiatrist,” and a charter member of the Quack Pack (along with Bob Sears, Aviva Romm, and other physicians who promote pseudoscience) recently shared a thoroughly misleading Facebook post about nuchal cords. Natural childbirth and homebirth advocates get very excited about nuchal (neck) cords, the medical term for an umbilical cord that gets […]
Do Gary Ruskin and Zen Honeycutt care about babies?
I care about babies. Gary Ruskin, co-director of U.S. Right to Know (USRTK), and Zen Honeycutt, founder of Moms Across America (MAA) claim they care about babies, too. They are both anti-GMO advocates, meaning they oppose oppose genetically modified organisms, typically agricultural plants. In particular, they oppose Monsanto seeds that have been genetically modified to […]
Babies, hostages in the mommy wars
The mommy wars are fights to the death. No, not the deaths of the participants, but the deaths of confidence in their ability to mother their children. Wait, what? You thought that the mommy wars were about children and their well being? [pullquote align=”right” color=”#555555″]There are MANY right ways to raise children.[/pullquote] How naive! Yes, […]
Mothers and babies communicate through breastmilk? At the moment that’s wishful thinking.
Lactivists are constantly making claims about breastfeeding that aren’t supported by the scientific evidence. I’ve written extensively about debunked claims that breastfeeding prevents obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and a host of other chronic conditions. Those erroneous claims can be traced to the confounding variables found in most breastfeeding studies. Women who breastfeed are wealthier, […]
What vision can teach us about natural childbirth and breastfeeding
Vision. It’s arguably the most important of our 5 senses. It allows us to see a grain of salt, a mountain in the distance and everything in between. It is the key to game hunting, to precision manufacturing, to hitting a home run. It is 100% natural. All human beings are “designed” to see. Curiously, […]
ImprovingBirth.org celebrates Labor Day by exploiting the tragedies of women of color
I get it. The folks at ImprovingBirth.org, primarily doulas, believe that the best way to promote themselves and expand their employment opportunities is to criticize modern obstetrics. As far as I’m concerned, there’s plenty to criticize. But they go a step too far when they attempt to promote doulas, natural childbirth and homebirth by exploiting […]
Large amounts of immune cells in breastmilk? We call that pus.
Breastmilk is amazing? Possibly, but not in the ways that lactivists imagine. Angela Garbes insists The More I Learn About Breast Milk, the More Amazed I Am. But Garbes doesn’t even get the basic facts about breastmilk right, let alone more dubious claims. It contains all the vitamins and nutrients a baby needs in the […]
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
