The Skeptical OB

What if we created a special geographic area, a new state, for those who don’t want to vaccinate? We could carve out a piece of an existing state with low population like Wyoming or Idaho and call it Quackistan! I can see the real estate brochures now: [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]What happens […]

We get it, men. You think C-sections are “bad” and you think it is your responsibility to protect us silly women from — heaven forefend — actually choosing to have one. That’s paternalistic enough, but you really cross a line when you start mansplainin’ urinary incontinence and sexual dysfunction to the women who endure them. […]

If the last few days on my Facebook page are any indication, we have a big problem with reasoning in this country. The page has been swarmed by tens of thousands of lactivists, and to say that their knowledge base and reasoning skills are poor dramatically understates the case. They have trouble with basic reading […]

Is there anything more hypocritical than an individual dressed in clothes, sitting at a computer inside a climate controlled building, using the internet to insist that breastfeeding is best because it is natural? That was my thought when I read Breastfeeding No Option? Women Need Remedies, Not Bullying by Robert D. Martin PhD, Emeritus Curator […]

A new paper published yesterday in PLOS compares the long term risks of vaginal birth and C-section. The paper is Long-term risks and benefits associated with cesarean delivery for mother, baby, and subsequent pregnancies: Systematic review and meta-analysis. In addition to the comparison, it offers an object lesson in the way that researchers frame results […]

Readers often ask me why I breastfed my four children despite the fact that the benefits of breastfeeding are trivial. The simple answer is: because I could. Sure, I had problems with pain and mastitis, five bouts including two with a temperature of 104 and shaking chills. Sure it was often inconvenient; I was working […]

Imagine if hospitals invited a Baby Friendly Abortion Initiative organization (BFAI) to implement abortion policy. This might be the BFAI Mission Statement: Abortion stops a beating heart and therefore is not optimal for any baby; every mother should be informed about the risks of abortion and the benefits to the baby of continuing her pregnancy to term. […]

For lactivists, breastfeeding occupies roughly the same place as Earth occupied for medieval Catholics in the geocentric theory. The idea that Earth was the center of the universe was accepted an incontrovertible proof of the importance of man in God’s plan. Never mind that as scientific instruments improved it became increasingly clear that Earth and […]

President Trump is very concerned about my religious and moral objections to providing appropriate medical care to those who need it. According to the Washington Post: [pullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Show up at the pharmacy bearing Nazi tattoos? Sorry, can’t fill your prescription for antibiotics.[/pullquote] The Trump administration will create a new conscience […]

Another day, another bullshit breastfeeding study. This one is Lactation Duration and Progression to Diabetes in Women Across the Childbearing YearsThe 30-Year CARDIA Study: Among young white and black women in this observational 30-year study, increasing lactation duration was associated with a strong, graded 25% to 47% relative reduction in the incidence of diabetes even […]