The Skeptical OB

MyMilk Labs launches Mylee, a small sensor that analyzes breast milk at home is the title of a recent piece on TechCrunch: Parents often worry about if their babies are getting enough nutrition or if they are producing enough milk. MyMilk Labs wants to give nursing mothers more information with Mylee, a sensor that scans […]

Honestly, are there any bigger hypocrites than natural mothering advocates? Their philosophy is based on the belief that childbirth and breastfeeding evolved to be perfect. They tell themselves and each other that women are perfectly “designed” (or evolved, if you prefer) to give birth vaginally without pain medication and therefore that must be best. Women […]

It’s the central obsession at the heart of contemporary breastfeeding promotion, and it serves as a justification for the shaming tactics so beloved of lactivists. It’s the fantasy that the formula industry is waging war on breastfeeding. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=””]Formula was not created as a substitute for breastfeeding; it was created to replace the […]

The Fed Is Best movement has completely changed the conversation around breastfeeding. True, they haven’t yet gotten lactation and health organizations to acknowledge outright that the benefits of breastfeeding term babies in industrialized countries are so trivial that they literally cannot be measured. But we (I consider myself part of the movement though I’m not […]

Lactation professionals are losing ground to the Fed Is Best movement. In their frustration they are preparing to lash out, taking a page out of the Donald Trump playbook. How is the lactation leadership like Trump? Let me count the ways! [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]They are thin-skinned, lack self-reflection, are monumentally aggrieved, […]

They give their members a meaningful account of why the world is the way it is. They provide them with a sense of purpose and the possibility of sainthood. They offer a sense of community. And they establish clear roles and rituals that allow adherents to feel and act as part of a whole. These […]

Climate change is the greatest existential threat we face. Lactivists are meeting it in the same way they meet every other situation. They recommend putting breastmilk on it. That’s the premise behind the ludicrous editorial in the BMJ Support for breastfeeding is an environmental imperative by Prof. Natalie Shenker. Shenker declares: [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” […]

“We’re still here!” It’s a favorite declaration of those attempting to justify natural parenting practices: Childbirth without interventions must be optimal because we’re still here. Homebirth must be safe because we’re still here. Exclusive breastfeeding must be best because we’re still here. But “we’re still here” doesn’t merely fail to justify natural parenting practices, it […]

This week the mommy blogosphere was roiled by yet another claim that something “unnatural” causes autism. Exploring a Possible Link Between C-Sections and Autism was the irresponsible title chosen by The New York Times for its coverage. To date there is NO EVIDENCE that C-sections cause autism. No matter; it is fear mongering that sells […]

I feel sorry for Bauhauswife, Yolande Norris-Clark. Apparently she can’t bond to her own children without the exchange of bodily fluids. I, on the other hand, had no such trouble. I’ve always loved this quote from Maureen Hawkins: Before you were conceived, I wanted you. Before you were born, I loved you. Before you were […]