I have written many times about freebirth (unassisted childbirth), the practice of giving birth without any birth attendant. The stories differ but they are united by a personal trait shared ...
Spotlight
Who’s responsible when a baby dies at freebirth?
The internet is buzzing with the latest story of a woman who ...
Why does The Lancet use an optimal C-section rate that has been debunked? Truthiness!
I’ve written many times about the obstetric lie that will not die: ...
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Trumpification of breastfeeding research
Politicians lie. That fact is as old as the oldest forms of ...
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The hallmark of women who choose freebirth: emotional immaturity
I have written many times about freebirth (unassisted childbirth), the practice of giving birth without any birth attendant. The stories differ but they are united by a personal trait shared by all freebirthers: emotional immaturity. What do I mean by emotional immaturity? Consider toddlers. Toddlers are the standard for emotional immaturity. They are supremely egocentric. […]
Homebirth advocate proudly publishes paper with convicted sexual predator
Homebirth has a #MeToo problem. Homebirth advocate Rixa Freeze has proudly announced her scientific paper published in conjunction with convicted sexual predator Stuart Fischbein, MD. The paper is Breech birth at home: outcomes of 60 breech and 109 cephalic planned home and birth center births. Freeze, an English professor with no medical training, is an […]
Safe spaces for mothers who subject their babies to medical abuse and neglect?
Unassisted brake repair. Supportive comments only. No scaremongering. Sounds stupid, right? What conclusions could we draw about an internet forum with that description? The people who created the forum have no interest is hearing anything other than what they already believe. The people who created and use the forum understand that the evidence against their […]
Who’s responsible when a baby dies at freebirth?
The internet is buzzing with the latest story of a woman who let her baby die at a freebirth. Freebirth is the bizarre practice of giving birth without a medical professional of any kind because “nature.” Women who choose freebirth seem to have no knowledge of childbirth; if they did, they’d know that the day […]
Why does The Lancet use an optimal C-section rate that has been debunked? Truthiness!
I’ve written many times about the obstetric lie that will not die: the unsubstantiated “optimal” C-section rate of less than 15%. It was fabricated from whole cloth in 1985, apparently to suit the prejudices of the man behind it. There was never any evidence to support it. It was officially debunked in 2015 when it […]
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Trumpification of breastfeeding research
Politicians lie. That fact is as old as the oldest forms of government, but recently there’s been a new innovation, Trumpification. It used to be then when caught in a lie, politicians either walked back the lie or apologized for it. Trumpification calls for those caught in lies to double down on them. The current […]
Breast is best … except when it’s not!
Kudos to the Journal of Human Lactation for publishing a paper that challenges a central lactivist assumption. The paper is Breast Is Best . . . Except When It’s Not by Lynne M. McIntyre, MSW, Adrienne Marks Griffen, MPP, Karlynn BrintzenhofeSzoc, PhD. Each woman suffered postpartum depression: We come to the intersection of PMADs [perinatal […]
Shared decision making is the only outcome that matters in evidence based medicine
Over the years I’ve made a variety of arguments about contemporary midwifery and lactivist philosophies: 1. They subvert science by exaggerating benefits of favored treatment options (unmedicated vaginal birth and breastfeeding). 2. They threaten safety by ignoring risks of favored treatment options. 3. They falsely declare favored treatments save money but neglect to include costs. […]
Who said it: anti-abortion activist or a breastfeeding advocate?
Imagine if an anti-abortion protester wrote: If you believed some you would think that for women choosing to terminate a pregnancy continuing it instead is bad for women’s mental health. But pregnancy does not damage maternal mental health. In fact, pregnancy can do marvellous things for women’s well-being. Alongside reducing risk of reproductive cancers like […]
5 reasons to ignore epigenetic claims about breastfeeding
Most contemporary breastfeeding research is deeply suspect because researchers start with the conclusions — breastfeeding must be best! — and work backward to support it. As one after another of claimed benefits of breastfeeding have melted away when studies are corrected for maternal education and socio-economic status, breastfeeding researchers have become ever more creative in […]
Amy Tuteur, MD
Dr. Amy Tuteur is an obstetrician gynecologist. She received her undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1979 and her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine in 1984. Dr. Tuteur is a former clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School. She left the practice of medicine to raise her four children. Her book, Push Back: Guilt in the Age of Natural Parenting (HarperCollins) was published in 2016. She can be reached at DrAmy5 at aol dot com... More
