The Skeptical OB

Midwives are so busy congratulating themselves and each other that they’ve failed to notice that their philosophy of birth is being rejected. The latest example comes from a Stanford study. Despite decades of midwifery demonization of pain relief in labor, the US epidural rate has … risen. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Midwifery philosophy […]

It is an article of faith within the breastfeeding industry that lactation consultants are good at what they do and are caring and considerate in how they do it. Many women beg to differ. [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Lactation consultants are failing not merely at their chosen metric, exclusive breastfeeding rates, but at […]

In the ongoing effort to demonize C-sections, the association between C-sections and childhood obesity has received a lot of press. There have been numerous efforts to show that C-sections cause future obesity and a complex mechanism involving the gut microbiome has been proposed. But there’s always been a serious problem with such research; the failure […]

Remember The Incredibles, the Pixar film about a family of superheroes? Each member of the super family has a special skill: Dad Bob has super strength; Mom Helen is Elastagirl; daughter Violet can become invisible; son Dash has super speed; and baby Jack-Jack can burst into flame at will. Joining together while employing their individual […]

Medical ethicist Susanne Brauer has written: Obstetrics and midwifery are value-laden, value-producing and value-reproducing practices, values that constitute the social perception of what it means to be a ‘‘good’’ pregnant woman and to be a ‘‘good’’ (future) mother. Similarly, professional lactation support is also value-laden, value-producing and value-reproducing. There’s no better example of this behavior […]

Last week the Royal College of Midwives took the extraordinary step of reminding its members that every women has the right to bottle feed and that the choice should be suppported and respected. It was an implicit acknowledgement of just how harmful promotion efforts like the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative have become. Babies’ physical health […]

Lactivist Prof. Amy Brown has a new piece on The Conversation this morning. It’s entitled Breastfeeding is not ‘easy’ – stop telling new mothers that it is and it’s a clumsy effort to deny that lactation professionals have spent the last decade pressuring, shaming and blaming women who can’t or don’t breastfeed. It’s difficult to […]

What’s the ethical response when a provider learns that a course of action she recommended has caused unintended harm? Lactation consultants believe (because they teach and tell each other) that breastfeeding is best for every baby. As a result, they have harmed tens of thousands of babies and mothers for whom breastfeeding will never and […]

Lactivists are spluttering on Twitter. They’ve been apprised over and over again about the harm that they’ve caused: The epidemic of neonatal hospital readmissions (tens of thousands per year) for dehydration, hypoglycemia and jaundice. The permanent brain injuries and deaths that result. The heartless closing of well baby nurseries to force women to undertake full […]

The lactivist whining continues! This week the Royal College of Midwives reminded its members that women have an absolute right to choose bottle feeding and are entitled to respect for that choice. Why did they do that? I’d like to think it’s because they recognized that the benefits of breastfeeding in industrialized countries are trivial, […]