New York Times movie critic Amanda Hess has written one of the best takedowns of contemporary patriarchal ideology I have ever read. She explains how women are pressured not merely to meet male needs and desires but duped into believing they are empowered by the very ideology that is designed to constrain them. But part […]
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Should doctors look to patients for validation of their ideals?
One of my proudest moments as a physician occurred years after I stopped practicing. At a holiday dinner table a cousin commented that had I faced infertility, I would have opted for adoption over complex medical treatment just as she had done. I was surprised since nothing could be further from the truth; I would […]
Why is Dr. Neel Shah giving legitimacy to midwives with blood on their hands?
The adulation must be truly head turning. I can’t otherwise explain why Neel Shah, MD, who ought to be completely cognizant of both the scientific literature and the history of people he supports, is giving legitimacy to midwives with blood on their hands and self-serving nonsense in their heads. Advocates of “normal” birth have been […]
How did we get paleo-suckered?
Are you a paleo-sucker? Paleo-suckers believe in the central conceit of modern alternative health that human beings reached the acme of our existence during the Paleolithic Era. According to advocates of “natural living,” our bodies were designed for the demands of life in the Paleolithic and technology, whether modern diets, modern medicine or modern parenting, […]
Would we tolerate a hospital that treated women based on Sharia Law?
Imagine that a woman in the midst of a miscarriage, bleeding heavily, arrived at her local emergency room for treatment. The pregnancy could not be saved. Indeed, while waiting for medical attention the mother passed the products of conception in their entirety and the bleeding stopped. The tissue would ordinarily be treated as medical waste, […]
Mothering monster: the narcissism and cruelty of letting your child get whooping cough
Who lets her toddler get whooping cough and then boasts about how she breastfed him though it? A self-absorbed, self aggrandizing narcissistic parent. Someone like Shayla Cherry. It’s difficult for me to describe the cruelty, stupidity and lack of self-awareness of a mother like Cherry so I’ll let her describe it herself. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” […]
Why are black mothers and babies dying? It’s unlikely to be weathering.
A piece that will appear in The New York Times Sunday Magazine attempts to answer the question Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis. Unfortunately, the answer it gives — that black women’s health is uniquely “weathered” by racism — while intuitively appealing, is probably wrong. The tl;dr answer can be summarized […]
Heterosexuality is best!
Lactivists are confused. We need to learn what nerve fed is best has touched and work out what that is. I’m not sure why they’re scratching their heads over three simple words that mean what they say: breastfeeding may be (slightly) better than formula, but fully fed is best. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” […]
When it comes to patronizing language, midwives have merely replaced the patriarchy with the matriarchy
Justine van der Leun’s recent piece in The Guardian has received a fair amount of attention in the childbirth community. It’s ‘I felt I was being punished for pushing back’: pregnancy and #MeToo and subtitled ‘Pregnant women are still being patronised, blamed for our bodies’ failings, and made to feel guilty about our choices.’ Van […]
Are lactivists addicted to self-righteousness?
According to scientist and author David Brin: [S]elf-righteousness can also be heady, seductive, and even … well … addictive. Any truly honest person will admit that the state feels good. The pleasure of knowing, with subjective certainty, that you are right and your opponents are deeply, despicably wrong. Or, that your method of helping others is […]
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
