Recent items - Skeptical OB
Just what we need, another old white male “mansplaining” childbirth to us women
18/06/2013 19:20
A new article about Dr. Michel Odent has me pondering an interesting phenomenon. Have you ever noticed that it is old white men who feel they must “mansplain” birth to us womenfolk? What is “mansplaining”? According [...]
18/06/2013 19:20
A new article about Dr. Michel Odent has me pondering an interesting phenomenon. Have you ever noticed that it is old white men who feel they must “mansplain” birth to us womenfolk? What is “mansplaining”? According [...]
Are Hannah Dahlen and Australian midwives trying to trick people, or just ignorant?
17/06/2013 19:37
I am disappointed and very, very frustrated. Scientific journals continue to publish more and more junk. Do the editors read what they publish? Do they think about whether it is true? Or do they simply print it, send out a press release and [...]
17/06/2013 19:37
I am disappointed and very, very frustrated. Scientific journals continue to publish more and more junk. Do the editors read what they publish? Do they think about whether it is true? Or do they simply print it, send out a press release and [...]
No, new Dutch study does NOT show that homebirth is safe
14/06/2013 20:20
Dutch midwife Ank de Jonge is at it again, slicing and dicing data in yet another unsuccessful attempt to show that homebirth is safe. She thought that she had succeeded in Perinatal mortality and morbidity in a nationwide cohort of 529 68 [...]
14/06/2013 20:20
Dutch midwife Ank de Jonge is at it again, slicing and dicing data in yet another unsuccessful attempt to show that homebirth is safe. She thought that she had succeeded in Perinatal mortality and morbidity in a nationwide cohort of 529 68 [...]
Ina May Gaskin leads her own cult
13/06/2013 20:42
For years I’ve puzzled over the appeal of Ina May Gaskin. She’s obviously a complete fraud. She babbles nonsense and makes up “statistics” that she refuses to publish in scientific journals. She has no education or t [...]
13/06/2013 20:42
For years I’ve puzzled over the appeal of Ina May Gaskin. She’s obviously a complete fraud. She babbles nonsense and makes up “statistics” that she refuses to publish in scientific journals. She has no education or t [...]
Would you hire this midwife?
13/06/2013 10:59
Would you hire this midwife? Don’t let the head suddenly explode from the mother’s puss. Coach the mother about how much and how hard to push. Support the mother’s taint with your hand during rushes. It helps the mother to [...]
13/06/2013 10:59
Would you hire this midwife? Don’t let the head suddenly explode from the mother’s puss. Coach the mother about how much and how hard to push. Support the mother’s taint with your hand during rushes. It helps the mother to [...]
Unnatural childbirth: 5 goofy things that natural parenting advocates do that never occur in nature
13/06/2013 10:59
Natural childbirth has nothing to do with childbirth in nature. Not only does it fail to replicate birth in nature, it adds on practices that have never been seen in nature and then pretends they are “natural.” Here are 5 of the [...]
13/06/2013 10:59
Natural childbirth has nothing to do with childbirth in nature. Not only does it fail to replicate birth in nature, it adds on practices that have never been seen in nature and then pretends they are “natural.” Here are 5 of the [...]
Two crappy new breastfeeding studies make irresponsible claims of benefits
13/06/2013 10:59
Why aren’t breastfeeding advocates satisfied with the real, albeit small, benefits of breastfeeding? Why do they repeatedly publish pathetically poorly done studies that make irresponsible claims about the benefits of breastfeeding? I [...]
13/06/2013 10:59
Why aren’t breastfeeding advocates satisfied with the real, albeit small, benefits of breastfeeding? Why do they repeatedly publish pathetically poorly done studies that make irresponsible claims about the benefits of breastfeeding? I [...]
This week in homebirth idiocy
13/06/2013 10:59
Is there any limit to the narcissism and stupidity of these women? 1. Planning an unassisted childbirth (UC): I believe that I can birth this baby unassisted, safely and happily. I have been trying to convince my DH, but he told me he will [...]
13/06/2013 10:59
Is there any limit to the narcissism and stupidity of these women? 1. Planning an unassisted childbirth (UC): I believe that I can birth this baby unassisted, safely and happily. I have been trying to convince my DH, but he told me he will [...]
Sam: a victim of homebirth
13/06/2013 10:59
Those of you who follow Hurt by Homebirth will be familiar with the story of Sam’s brain injury and his mother’s near death. Sam’s mother Tina experienced a life-threatening abruption at home and transferred to the hospita [...]
13/06/2013 10:59
Those of you who follow Hurt by Homebirth will be familiar with the story of Sam’s brain injury and his mother’s near death. Sam’s mother Tina experienced a life-threatening abruption at home and transferred to the hospita [...]
Say no to natural childbirth and take control of your birth
13/06/2013 10:59
One of the central conceits of natural childbirth advocacy is that it involves taking control of your birth. The reality is precisely the opposite; natural childbirth involves ceding total control to others who have devised an arbitrary sta [...]
13/06/2013 10:59
One of the central conceits of natural childbirth advocacy is that it involves taking control of your birth. The reality is precisely the opposite; natural childbirth involves ceding total control to others who have devised an arbitrary sta [...]
Mother eating her words; baby fighting for her life.
13/06/2013 10:59
Andrea on Baby Center, planning a twin homebirth, asked What would the world be like if we had no hospitals? and then proceeded to answer her own question with multiple comments claiming that hospitals are unnecessary. She was shocked, shoc [...]
13/06/2013 10:59
Andrea on Baby Center, planning a twin homebirth, asked What would the world be like if we had no hospitals? and then proceeded to answer her own question with multiple comments claiming that hospitals are unnecessary. She was shocked, shoc [...]
Increasing trust in obstetricians: Step 1, confront homebirth advocates working tirelessly to undermine it
13/06/2013 10:59
Periodically a homebirth advocate will parachute in to the blog to school the rest of us on the appeal of homebirth. In the case of homebirth deaths and injuries, the claim is often made that the best way to avoid such tragedies would be to [...]
13/06/2013 10:59
Periodically a homebirth advocate will parachute in to the blog to school the rest of us on the appeal of homebirth. In the case of homebirth deaths and injuries, the claim is often made that the best way to avoid such tragedies would be to [...]
Mine is bigger than yours
13/06/2013 10:59
Over time, to my surprise, I’ve begun to feel sorry for many natural childbirth advocates. Why? Because they clearly suffer from a pathetic lack of self-esteem, so pathetic that they cling desperately to any opportunity to feel superi [...]
13/06/2013 10:59
Over time, to my surprise, I’ve begun to feel sorry for many natural childbirth advocates. Why? Because they clearly suffer from a pathetic lack of self-esteem, so pathetic that they cling desperately to any opportunity to feel superi [...]
Another maternal death: How the quest for the idealized birth experience continues to kill
13/06/2013 10:59
There’s denial and then there is something so desperate, so illogical and so ridiculous that labeling it denial seems grossly inadequate. The story is simple and straightforward. A pregnant woman was facing a C-section because all the [...]
13/06/2013 10:59
There’s denial and then there is something so desperate, so illogical and so ridiculous that labeling it denial seems grossly inadequate. The story is simple and straightforward. A pregnant woman was facing a C-section because all the [...]