On the header of my blog are a few of my favorite historical quotes. I think my favorite has become Albert Camus’, “The Welfare of humanity is always the alibi of tyrants!” Fear is the easiest way to manipulate. And claiming safety is a perfect way to shut down any discussion. It’s good for you. It’s safer for the children. You don’t want to put your baby in danger, do you? We live in a world where ACOG admits that 2/3’s of its guidelines are not based on good scientific evidence. Yet they put them out anyway. In my world, on a daily basis, I am told directly or from print media about manipulation of women through skewed or even overtly false information. When it comes to pregnancy the bowing to the false god of safety has become the standard. Your baby is too big. Your baby is too small. Your pelvis is inadequate. The head is smaller than the shoulders which might get stuck. The fluid is decreasing. The cord is around the neck. You are 3 days overdue and your placenta is getting weak. VBAC is too dangerous. Your breech baby’s head might get stuck. Hospitals are safer. Induction is easy. Cesarean sections are routine.
Read MoreIn the October 2013 issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (AJOG, also known as the Gray Journal) there are two “research” articles discussing outcomes related to birth setting. In today’s blog I take a critical look at both of them so if asked about them by a prospective client you can give a salient response. Since science has been corrupted by money and ideology it is difficult to know what to believe these days making reliance on common sense and clarity of intent that much more important.
The first article begins on page 323 and is titled, “Apgar Score of 0 at 5 minutes and neonatal seizures or serious neurologic dysfunction in relation to birth setting”. This ominously titled article is authored by Amos Grunebaum, MD out of Cornell University with multiple co-authors including Frank Chervenak, MD who we all know to be fervently biased against home birthing. In a previous blog I have been critical of the authors of this article for their deviation from scientific norms by promoting their paper through an uncontested press release more than a month prior to its publication. Thus, headlines received prior to any critical review. Let’s take a look at the data and methodology of this study and then analyze their conclusions.
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