Dean Cameron‘s wife (“The bride”) gave birth to their first baby (Duncan) six weeks ago. (Congrats!)
Along the way, though, the couple had to deal with all sorts of falsehoods about childbirth. Thankfully, it wasn’t anything this skeptical couple couldn’t handle:
The [Lamaze] instructor hinted, quite strongly, that it’s better for the baby if it’s “natural” but wouldn’t come out and say as much (because it’s not true). She made the claim that medical students today aren’t shown “natural” child births. When I questioned her about this; pressing her for a source for her claim, she said she learned the med student facts from “articles.” The larger subtext was that women who chose to receive epidurals were “less woman” than those who went without because they weren’t completely experiencing the delivery. Not only that; it is somehow better for the child if it’s “natural.”
Yep, after a full term of pregnancy what’s really going to have an affect on junior is that final few hours.
We were told “don’t let them give her any drugs!!!” a couple of times. One of the drugs that the bride was given was Pitocin, a drug that induces labor.
Dean’s wife used Pitocin. She had an epidural. The baby’s doing just fine. But what’s with the anti-science overload?
Just wait till it’s time for the baby to get vaccines…
As for the baby being born “naturally,” Dean writes:
[The wife] made the point that people now use bleeding edge science to get pregnant; in vitro pregnancies are so common now, and that is, rightfully, considered a beautiful and excellent thing. BUT, using science for the delivery cheapens the experience. If someone is of the mind that “nature knows best” then why take the shortcut around nature and go in vitro?
Have any of you who have had children had to deal with other false beliefs, superstitions, or mothers who claimed to be “experts” when in fact they only knew pseudoscience?
How did you handle it?
What other bad science is involved with childbirth?
What “rumors” actually have some truth to them?
(Thanks to Julie for the link!)
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