This post is speculative fiction. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Public Health May 2052 INTRODUCTION From the vantage point of May 2052, the American Breastfeeding Crisis of 2027 seems impossible to fathom. As early as 2020, elementary school teachers had been pointing to the rising […]
Latest News
The pro-gun lobby imagines guns as vaccines; in reality they’re the disease.
Today’s New York Times features an opinion piece by journalist Bethany Mandel entitled I Wanted to Be a Good Mom. So I Got a Gun. She tells the standard “good guy with a gun” story from her childhood: [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Guns don’t “immunize” against gun deaths; they make them MORE likely.[/pullquote] It […]
Natural childbirth industry shocked; pretending vaginal birth has no risks increases women’s suffering
Who knew? It turns out that vaginal birth has risks and the suffering doesn’t end when the baby is delivered. Among the typical symptoms women face in the first week after childbirth: heavy bleeding, abdominal cramping, constipation, hemorrhoids, chills, night sweats, difficulty going to the bathroom, engorged breasts, back pain, headaches. And it goes on: […]
The miracle of birth
A song about the miracle of birth that tells it like it is. Hilarious! “Tear, tear, tear goes your vagina.” From the CW show ‘Crazy Ex-Girlfriend’:
Life in nature was nasty, brutish and short; why would we want to emulate it?
I’ve heard that the latest fashion look is a return to the 1970’s. I lived through those years and I can assure you the fashion had little to recommend it. Polyester was the material of choice and bright colors were everywhere. Men and women alike were wearing very tight fitting pants and platform shoes. By […]
The blatant misogyny of “too posh to push”
Oxford University Hospitals, in violation of UK medical guidelines and a recent British legal case, has banned maternal request C-sections. A major hospital trust has banned women from having caesareans unless there is a medical reason. Oxford University Hospitals will not offer them to those who are frightened or have had previous traumatic births… The […]
Midwives use dubious math to promote themselves
Suppose you wanted to do a study that showed that a larger role for midwives could improve US healthcare outcomes. Imagine that you believed in your heart of hearts that midwifery care was better and you were sure that statistical analysis would prove your claims. Or, if you are cynical like me, imagine that you […]
How did the WHO determine what women consider a positive birth experience? They asked midwives.
In 2010 Thomas Balmes produced a delightful documentary entitled Babies following four babies through their first year, one each from San Francisco, Namibia, Japan and Mongolia. The film shows that Baby Hattie from San Francisco had to be hospitalized after her home birth. Baby Bayarjargal, in contrast, was born in a Mongolian hospital. Why? Because […]
What does the WHO have in common with Trump? Both confuse ideology and science.
Donald Trump has erased large swathes of data from government websites and replaced it with ideology for the worst of reasons; he seeks to reward the industries that give large amounts of money to Republican candidates. In issuing new recommendations, Intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience, the World Health Organization replaces science with ideology […]
Natural childbirth, breastfeeding and the narcissistic fallacy
Most people are aware that natural childbirth and lactivism are based on the naturalistic fallacy. I’d like to propose an new logical fallacy that also animates them, the narcissistic fallacy. The naturalistic fallacy, also known as the is/ought fallacy, assumes that because something is a certain way, it ought to be that way. If all […]
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
