The Skeptical OB

It could be the motto of Andrew Wakefield and other anti-vax medical professionals: Chaos is a ladder. It’s one of the most memorable of the many memorable Game of Thrones quotes, first uttered by Littlefinger, Lord Petyr Baelish, in a conversation with Varys (season 3, episode 6). [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Anti-vaxxers continue to […]

As anyone who has been a victim or bystander to bullying can attest, bullies enjoy bullying as a solitary pursuit, but absolutely adore bullying as a group activity. Having an audience apparently makes bullying more enjoyable, having minions makes it easier, and having those who admire you more because you are a bully makes it […]

Since time out of mind human beings and microorganisms have been engaged in an accelerating arms race. Diseases have found novel ways to infect us and we have found novel ways to fight back. First we evolved genes that help us resist disease; much later we learned to use natural antibiotics produced by other living […]

Unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard that the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play was recently recalled. …A reclining baby sleeper that rocks, vibrates, and plays music, it developed a cult following among sleep-deprived parents and has been the subject of thousands of glowing reviews. But recently, the product has come under […]

Most lies are cruel, depriving people of information they need. Lies about breastfeeding are particularly cruel because they are used to shame women and often harm babies. But the cruelest lactivist lie has just been debunked: breastfeeding does NOT promote bonding! That’s not what the authors of Mother-infant bonding is not associated with feeding type: […]

In your life expect some trouble When you worry you make it double The lyrics come from the 1988 Bobby McFerrin hit Don’t Worry, Be Happy, but the phrase originated with Indian mystic Meyer Baba as a meditation on the power of positive thinking. According to Baba: Say to yourself ‘I am meant to be […]

Lactation consultant Wendy Wisner has written a piece for Scary Mommy criticizing the Fed Is Best movement. The piece is instructive, but not in the way she intended. Wisner demonstrates that lactation consultants continue to miss the forest for the trees. The forest is a set of deeply disturbing statistics about the harms of aggressive […]

How can we explain the unmerited veneration of breastfeeding in contemporary society? The predicted benefits of raising breastfeeding rates have failed to appear; tens of thousands of infants are harmed each year; and breastfeeding promotion hasn’t saved money, only wasted it. Nonetheless breastfeeding is still promoted aggressively. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Like the […]

Imagine a gynecologist who performed hysterectomies on every women done with childbearing — whether women wanted them or not. Regardless of the women’s complaint (be it vaginitis, sexually transmitted disease, fibroids, heavy menstrual bleeding or pelvic pain), he always recommended hysterectomy. If the woman involved opted for something else, a D&C for example, he would […]

Breastfeeding promotion has a death toll and it’s likely to be substantial. As breastfeeding promotion has become ever more aggressive, babies have been dying from dehydration, hypoglycemia, severe jaundice, failure to thrive and starvation. As lactation professionals have embraced mandated skin-to-skin care and mandated rooming in of babies and mothers, babies have been dying from […]