Every complex problem has a simple solution … and it is wrong. According to lactation professionals, the “problem” of low breastfeeding rates has a simple solution. Just end formula advertising and societal pressure to bottlefeed and all women would breastfeed successfully, exclusively and for extended periods. They’re wrong. But even worse, they’ve leveraged their “simple […]
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The medicalization of attachment and the surveillance of mothers
On Monday I wrote about the pseudoscience of bonding. It pseudoscience with a purpose. The purpose is to control mothers. When the contemporary medicalization of attachment was proposed in the late 1970’s, there was no evidence we were experiencing an epidemic of “detached” children. Today, in the late 2010’s, it’s clear that the extensive implementation […]
A moral duty to breastfeed implies a moral duty to vaccinate and reject co-sleeping and homebirth
Philosophy professor Fiona Woollard has written a fascinating paper on the issue of breastfeeding and maternal duties entitled Is It Okay to Let My Child Be Stung by a Wasp? New mothers report feeling shamed for not breastfeeding, and constantly having to defend their use of infant formula from strangers on social media or in […]
The pseudoscience of bonding and the effort to control women
Nearly everything you think you know about mother-infant bonding is untrue … and that’s not an accident. Where did the pseudoscientific beliefs about bonding come from and why did they appear when they did? It wasn’t because we were experiencing an epidemic of unbonded children. Why have pseudoscientific beliefs been maintained for the past generation? […]
ICAN of Huntsville crucifies a physician ally
It started with a sign. Please let us know if you hire a doula during your pregnancy as Dr. Aguayo has decided not to collaborate with doulas or other lay support people… Please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns at your appointment. It has escalated to a full fledged attack on a doctor […]
The decision to stop breastfeeding as an act of love
I’ve written repeatedly about the toll of illness, injury and death that the relentless promotion of breastfeeding takes on babies. That’s because it is easy to see the damage: tens of thousands of babies readmitted to the hospital each year, as well as babies who suffer permanent brain injuries or even die due to dehydration, […]
Is the American Academy of Pediatrics morally culpable for the harm they cause by promoting breastfeeding?
It is the LEADING risk factor for newborn hospital readmission. It is responsible for the hospitalization of TENS OF THOUSANDS of newborn babies each year, not to mention an untold number of brain injuries and deaths from dehydration, hyperbilirubinemia and hypoglycemia. And yet, the American Academy of Pediatrics continues to promote it. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” […]
Fuck the biological norm!
Breastfeeding is the biological norm. So right-handedness. So is heterosexuality. So is continuing unwanted pregnancy. Why do lactivists give moral authority to nature when it comes to breastfeeding but deny that same moral authority when handedness, sexuality and unwanted pregnancy are involved? [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Why do lactivists pathologize women who don’t […]
How to spot a breastsuffering apologist
I’d like to propose a new term: breastsuffering. Breastsuffering refers to the large and growing toll of aggressive breastfeeding promotion. Breastsuffering encompasses breastfeeding starvation, breastfeeding suffocation and breastfeeding skull fractures for babies and breastfeeding guilt, anxiety and depression for mothers. Sadly, lactation professionals and lactivists have become apologists for breastsuffering. More than three decades ago […]
Why do natural mothering advocates pretend that all babies are alike?
One of the best things about having four children is that you quickly learn that each is an individual from the moment of birth. One infant loves to be snuggled; another hates it. One baby is soothed by a pacifier; another refuses it altogether. One child is constantly striving for new experiences and milestones; another […]
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
