Lactation professional Amy Brown has written a new book about breastfeeding grief and trauma. She has also inadvertently demonstrated a variant of it. Brown is not grieving the ability to breastfeed; she’s grieving the loss of status of the breastfeeding profession. Brown and her colleagues are steadily (and thankfully) losing ground to the Fed Is […]
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Human rights in breastfeeding and lactation violence
What would it look like if midwives and lactation consultants cared about human rights in breastfeeding as much as they care about human rights in childbirth? I consulted the paper Human rights in childbirth, narratives and restorative justice: a review to find out. The authors identify five critical rights encapsulated in the FREDA principle: … The […]
Think bed-sharing is safe? So did the mother whose twins died.
It is a truly horrific tragedy. Brisbane baby girl dies days after twin sister died at Sunnybank Hills home: A second baby girl who was found unresponsive in a Brisbane home has died in hospital overnight. Police were called to the Sunnybank Hills home on Wednesday morning. One of the six-week-old twins was declared dead […]
The Journal of Pediatrics highlights deadly outcomes of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative
The tide is turning! It’s been known for years that aggressive breastfeeding promotion in general and the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative in particular are dangerous for babies. Sadly, it’s taken time for medical professionals to respond to the dangers. The latest response is an editorial in the Journal of Pediatrics, Breastfeeding, Baby-Friendly, and Safety: Getting […]
Why have lactation professionals made breastfeeding so much harder than it ever was before?
I’ve been studying breastfeeding for more than 30 years. Yet it was only recently that I had something of an epiphany. I realized that lactation professionals have been making breastfeeding steadily harder, not easier, by hedging it around with unnecessary restrictions. It used to be that breastfeeding meant feeding a baby at your breast. Consider […]
Baby Friendly USA is backpedaling as fast as they can
I’ve always said it was only a matter of time. For years, the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) and its US outlet Baby Friendly USA have been exaggerating the benefits of breastfeeding, ignoring the risks of breastfeeding promotion and shutting women out of decisions on feeding and caring for their own babies. As a result, […]
Revisiting the 39 week rule
Over 3 years ago, I wrote about a study that showed that the “39 week rule” (banning elective deliveries before 39 weeks) increased the risk of stillbirth. A new study purports to show that is not the case. The new study is Association of Widespread Adoption of the 39-Week Rule With Overall Mortality Due to […]
Vaginal steaming and the seductive appeal of pseudoscience
Why, in the absence of any scientific evidence to support it, are ridiculous “treatments” like vaginal steaming embraced by purveyors of pseudoscience? Why, in the absence of any scientific evidence to support it, has anti-vaccine advocacy become so popular? Why, in the absence of any scientific evidence to support it, have homeopathic products that are […]
Journalist Jennifer Block’s evidence double standard
The Twitterverse has been roiled by Scientific American’s decision to publish a hatchet piece on gynecologist Dr. Jen Gunter. The piece, though written by a journalist, Jennifer Block, is hardly journalism. It is a blatantly ad hominem attack by an author whose most recent book is in direct competition with Dr. Gunter’s far more successful […]
Pseudoscience is not a feminist statement
One of the most depressing aspects of health pseudoscience is that it is dominated by women. Women are far more likely to believe in and use quack “treatments.” They believe in and spearhead deadly movements like anti-vaccination. And, of course, quack practitioners like herbalists, cranio-sacral therapists and lay midwives are often women. Perhaps even more […]
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
