The term birthrape didn’t work out so well for the natural childbirth industry. It was in vogue for several years, but generated not the outrage at obstetricians that midwives and ...
Spotlight
LCs Leah Drexler and Kimberly Seals Allers want to have lunch with me
It’s truly amazing the lengths to which lactation professionals will go to ...
A new device analyzes breastmilk to see if you are producing enough; should you buy it?
MyMilk Labs launches Mylee, a small sensor that analyzes breast milk at ...
Why are fertility control and delayed childbearing okay for “natural” mothers?
Honestly, are there any bigger hypocrites than natural mothering advocates? Their philosophy ...
Latest News
The dirty secret about obstetric violence: midwives are responsible for a lot of it.
The term birthrape didn’t work out so well for the natural childbirth industry. It was in vogue for several years, but generated not the outrage at obstetricians that midwives and doulas were hoping for, but rather revulsion at their appropriation of the suffering of rape victims to publicize their cause. The new term is obstetric […]
New paper confirms Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative does NOT increase breastfeeding rates
A new paper confirms what we have known for several years: the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative is a failure on its own terms. I’m not talking about the fact that it harms babies with its dubious “achievement” of making exclusive breastfeeding the leading risk factor for newborn re-hospitalization leading to tens of thousands of re-hospitalizations […]
What my brain tumor can teach us about contemporary midwifery and lactation care
In the summer of 2000 I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I had developed double vision because a benign tumor, a meningioma, was pressing on the nerve that controlled the movement of one of my eyes. The tumor was small, but located deep in my brain. That meant that surgery to remove it would […]
LCs Leah Drexler and Kimberly Seals Allers want to have lunch with me
It’s truly amazing the lengths to which lactation professionals will go to avoid having to address the elephant in the room. They’ll even invite me to lunch! What’s the elephant? Exclusive breastfeeding has become the LEADING risk factor for newborn re-hospitalization. As many as 1 in 71 exclusively breastfed babies will be re-hospitalized. That means […]
A new device analyzes breastmilk to see if you are producing enough; should you buy it?
MyMilk Labs launches Mylee, a small sensor that analyzes breast milk at home is the title of a recent piece on TechCrunch: Parents often worry about if their babies are getting enough nutrition or if they are producing enough milk. MyMilk Labs wants to give nursing mothers more information with Mylee, a sensor that scans […]
Why are fertility control and delayed childbearing okay for “natural” mothers?
Honestly, are there any bigger hypocrites than natural mothering advocates? Their philosophy is based on the belief that childbirth and breastfeeding evolved to be perfect. They tell themselves and each other that women are perfectly “designed” (or evolved, if you prefer) to give birth vaginally without pain medication and therefore that must be best. Women […]
Claiming the formula industry is anti-breastfeeding is like claiming the birth control industry is anti-children
It’s the central obsession at the heart of contemporary breastfeeding promotion, and it serves as a justification for the shaming tactics so beloved of lactivists. It’s the fantasy that the formula industry is waging war on breastfeeding. Don’t get me wrong; the formula industry is trying to make money. And, yes, decades ago they engaged […]
Insisting breastfeeding matters to everyone, Dr. Meghan Azad shows why it doesn’t
The Fed Is Best movement has completely changed the conversation around breastfeeding. True, they haven’t yet gotten lactation and health organizations to acknowledge outright that the benefits of breastfeeding term babies in industrialized countries are so trivial that they literally cannot be measured. But we (I consider myself part of the movement though I’m not […]
Lactation professionals take a page from the Trump playbook as they prepare to attack Fed Is Best
Lactation professionals are losing ground to the Fed Is Best movement. In their frustration they are preparing to lash out, taking a page out of the Donald Trump playbook. How is the lactation leadership like Trump? Let me count the ways! 1. They are incredibly thin-skinned. Ever notice how lactation professionals — the same folks […]
Breastfeeding and The Church of the Immaculate Colostrum
They give their members a meaningful account of why the world is the way it is. They provide them with a sense of purpose and the possibility of sainthood. They offer a sense of community. And they establish clear roles and rituals that allow adherents to feel and act as part of a whole. These […]
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
