The Skeptical OB

Melissa Bartick, MD has a forthcoming paper in the journal Pediatrics entitled Trends in Breastfeeding Interventions, Skin-to-Skin Care, and Sudden Infant Death in the First 6 Days after Birth. She claims her data show that the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative cannot possibly be blamed for sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUID) due to smothering during skin-to-skin […]

Women tell inconvenient truths. That leaves us with two choices: we could believe them and deal with the resulting cognitive dissonance or we could ease our discomfort by insisting, without evidence, that they are wrong. Guess which is easier. For years women have been telling inconvenient truths about sexual aggression, harassment and assault. I doubt […]

No doubt it is very difficult to learn that the organization that you lead, Baby Friendly USA — the organization that pays you — is completely ineffective at its central task. But that doesn’t make it acceptable to respond with fake news. Fact vs. FIB: The Impact of Baby-Friendly on Breastfeeding Initiation Rates Is a […]

The central conceit of contemporary natural mothering is that mothering in nature (including childbirth and breastfeeding) was perfectly designed and therefore we should emulate it. The “proof” is that we are still here. But there’s a big difference between the survival of the species and survival of individuals within the species. The reality is that […]

The Australian Maternity Consumer Network is mad at me! Well, we know we’re really getting somewhere when the birth world equivalent of Woman’s Day jumps on our viral media on Birth Trauma!! Yeah, nah thanks. The credibility of an American OB that fails to raise serious concerns about their own maternity system, is limited- American […]

A new paper in Sociological Forum, Making Milk and Money: Contemporary Mothers’ Orientations to Breastfeeding and Work, is helping me clarify my thoughts about breastfeeding. Although typically presented as a medical issue, breastfeeding mandates are actually a philosophical issue. The author explores the different philosophies through the medium of women’s paid employment. She starts by […]

Below are the characteristics of two types of pain relief in labor. Guess which one is favored by midwives. If you guessed “B,” you’d be wrong. True, it is easily adjustable, non sedating, has no impact on memory or oxygen levels and crosses the placenta in miniscule amounts if at all. But it’s the dreaded […]

A new paper from Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care, What are women stressed about after birth? provides insights that could be valuable in stemming an epidemic of postpartum depression. Pregnancy, birth, and becoming a parent is a time of physical, psychological, and social changes which require ongoing adjustment. Many stressors can arise during this time […]

It is deeply unfortunate that many lactation professionals care more about the process of breastfeeding than the health of babies and mothers. That’s why they come up with punitive schemes like infant formula by prescription and justify it with the belief that it is necessary to force poor women to pay for their “irresponsibility” in […]

Midwives like Hannah Dahlen spend a lot of time discussing birth trauma, but remarkably never mention the elephant in the room: PAIN. Pain is a known trigger for PTSD. Indeed, uncontrolled pain can be a core trauma. Research shows that the prevalence of PTSD among injured survivors of stressful events is higher than that of survivors […]