This week I was invited to a home business presentation of a product line. I didn't know what these ladies were selling but the lure of adults and mojitos proved strong. So I went. I arrived to find they were selling a "natural alternative" grocery line - makeup to household cleaners to vitamins. And the presentation started- "my child couldn't breathe......the pediatrician, well meaning but clueless, prescribed steroids- so I took him to a naturopath....."
What ever was being sold - I didn't care because I inherently know, that if the naturopath says so, it's bullshit! This is the snake oil of the 21st century. The Naturopath We're not nutrient depleted! Everything we eat is fortified up the wazoo! Could we use more calcium, Vitamin D and fiber, sure. But as for the others - highly unlikely! But what kills me is the naturopath prays on the truly desperate -parents of autistic kids. Not only have they convinced these folks that heavy metals are to blame for their child's condition, they convince them they need expensive and painful chelation. Now they are putting them in hyperbaric chambers at exorbitant costs to "cure" their autism. In fact, in my area there are now many free standing hyperbaric centers. While they may be effective for wound healing; this is not why most are plunking down cash for the natural healing by the power of oxygen. I'm in Pittsburgh, nobody here gets" the bends." Sounds like snake oil to me! The naturopaths are also proponents of my pet peeve (and you thought is was the breast feeding nazis!)- Anti-vaccinators. I guess modem medicine has come too far. We're so healthy that these diseases are such a distant memory that people don't recall how devastating measles, mumps, polio, haemophilus influenza, tetanus really were....they were horrible! Now, due to the anti-vax movement, I've gotten to expirience treating many of these first hand! A big Thanks! If you want to put your kids at risk, I suppose that's your right; but you put everyone's kids at risk by lowering herd immunity. You put my kids at risk! And for that, I am disgusted by you. The Chiropractor Which brings me to my next perveyor of snake oil - the chiropractor A chiropractor did not go to med school. In fact, he may have tried and didn't get in. They are not qualified to do a sports physical on your child- because tight hip flexors won't kill them, but that murmur they can't identify, because they've never used a stethoscope, potentially could. Might as well have that bagger at Walmart do your kids physical. They will also try to sell you "packages" for "adjustments" to cure ear infections and now "adjustments" on newborns. Unbelievable and potentially dangerous! The science isn't there. There's nothing they can provide you with that a good massage couldn't do. They also will tell you vaccines are poison and that puts them on my shit list for sure! The Doula Doulas (some, but not all, midwives). Anyone who suggests its a good idea to eat your placenta should be suspect. No studies support this. None. It may have its place in the third world where people are truly malnourished and starving. Not here. The claims range from increased milk production to increased energy to decreased baby blues. Until true scientific studies are done - I wouldn't buy any of it! I will refer you to the NYT article "I regret eating my placenta" Because some Hollywood starlet does it - is not good reasoning. (Other things you probably shouldn't do with your placenta - make a teddy bear, use it for decorative prints, or plant it under a tree--- not because it affects me in anyway, but just to know we're all snickering at you) So this week I've realized that peace of mind cleaning does not come from $20 tea tree oil infused cleaning products. Common sense tells me it comes from using diluted vinegar. But even more sense tells me those Clorox wipes are just fine too. Snake oil is everywhere. Keeps your eyes open! Why? Dr. Austin says so....
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This is it folks, I've started a blog!
You may ask yourself, "what has this bitch got to share with the world that the bazillion other blogs don't already say" And to that I say , "Plenty!" As a pediatrician and pediatric hospitalist I find I'm constantly talking well intentioned new mothers "off the ledge." Why are all these mommies so upset? Other peoples' parenting blogs.... I've read them. I'm appalled! They're not giving parenting advice, they're giving medical advice - and people are listening! Then I have to come along and pick up the pieces. I'm gonna start with my own experience with breast feeding. Nursing is awesome! Breast milk is the most economic and natural thing to feed a human baby. But not all babies can do this and not all woman produce adequate milk. If they did then, there would never have evolved the "wet nurse." And by the way," she" seems to becoming back in the form of donor milk. I digress. I am so pro nursing I even sang a song about it in med school "breast is best" (sung to the tune of "be our guest"). But the tables turned when I had my first. While I have to admit I have lovely knockers - they're so nice they look fake- I have flat nipples and big boobs - its like trying to latch on to a dinner plate. I tried every trick and device imaginable- nothing worked. I resolved to pump and bottle feed. I had the backpack pump and tube top with the nipple holes, you know the one, and tried my hardest to make that work. To no avail :( I blistered the skin off my nips which left them open to infection - 6 episodes if mastitis. And still not making enough to feed my baby adequately. She persistently lost weight and screamed bloody murder . Then I developed a mass in my right breast. I was advised to stop breastfeeding immediately so I could be worked up for peripartum breast cancer. Turned out it was only fat necrosis from trying to force every last bit of milk out to feed my kid. What a nightmare! But it was compounded by statements like from my boss at the time a very old, well regarded, and male pediatrician "I've never met a mother who truly wanted to breastfeed who could not make it work" Seriously! In the postpartem hormonal storm I thought he was telling me I had given up on my baby. And if I gave up on her I must not love her enough. I just wasn't as good as other moms. As a doctor, I dealt with the complications of dehydration in the newborn for years. I should have known better. You can see, hormones and sleep deprivation left me susceptible to this negative thought spiral! Ya know what, thank God for formula! My daughter is now 5 and a half. She is happy, healthy, smart, athletic and an all-around good egg. And without the advent of formula both she and her younger sister would be severely malnourished, if not dead. So the next time you see a mom giving a kid a bottle, instead of thinking "too lazy to nurse", think awesome job feeding and nourishing your beautiful baby. And now at work I hold a lot of hands of weeping moms who are in my boat. And I remind them that the amount of milk they produce is not proportional to the love of their baby. They may have big babies and they don't have adequate supply, giving a bit of formula initially won't "nipple confuse" - its a myth, it won't make breast feeding impossible in the future, and may keep them from getting hypoglyemic. BTW pacifiers aren't evil and they decrease the risk of SIDS. We expect that a baby should come out and nurse like a baby cow- immediately and vigorously. And human babies are just not cows. It's the minority that have any easy time. Some will struggle in the first couple of days and get there. Some will never get there. And it's all, ok! Now there's a push by some of my NICU collegues for use of donor milk. I gotta say personally this grosses me out. In the preemie to prevent the development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) it may have its place. But you are sharing bodily fluids which can pass all sorts of viruses, including HIV, to your recipient babe. While I know they are careful and do testing, what scares me is the virus they dont yet know about, which may or may not be out there. Is it worth the risk in a term baby who could be drinking formula? Personally, I don't think so. So bottom line, feed your baby- you're a great mother no matter if you give your singleton a bottle or you breast feed your Quads. Dr. Austin says so! |