Yesterday afternoon I did my usual check of the headlines and nearly dropped my laptop when I saw three (yes, three!) headlines in the MSNBC Health section about normally taboo topics for the mainstream media: “C-section rates around the globe at ‘epidemic’ levels” . . . . “Longer nursing may aid kids’ mental health” . . . . “Circumcise or not? Parents, you’re on your own“. Although the articles disappointed me somewhat because of incomplete and sometimes confusing information, I think it’s a huge step forward that the topics even came up, and I hope it marks a shift in the way we view parenting and our world.
Before I make the picture sound too rosy, though, let me do some critiquing of the articles. The C-section article discussed the global problem as analyzed by the World Health Organization — the high C-section rates (between 30% and 50%)in Asia and Latin America. It mentioned that the U.S. C-section rate was high also, at 30%, but didn’t do much analysis about why it was so in this country. The analysis of other countries was pretty standard: the women there were sold on technology and under the mistaken belief that C-sections have better outcomes and are safer than vaginal births; women wanted to have their children delivered on a particular day, and doctors were willing to go along; and most alarmingly, hospitals were motivated to encourage C-sections because of financial incentives. The thing that bothered me was that the way the article was written, it made it sound like those poor, backwards women in those poor backwards countries who don’t know any better. It hardly correlated the finding back to the U.S., where unfortunately the reasonings are almost identical, as are the poorer outcomes.
It’s hard for me to be too critical of the long-term breastfeeding article, because articles that support long-term breastfeeding and encourage women to try it, for whatever reason, are a good thing. I have a couple of issues with this article though, and the first is that it’s only based on one study. This is a general problem with the speed of information in the this age, but one study, on a relatively small group of people, really doesn’t prove much. The other thing I don’t like idea of making notes of all the studies that support breastfeeding, and using them as tick-marks about why it’s superior to formula. This is a philosophical quirk on my part, but I feel that breastfeeding is the natural design to feed our children is enough. It’s like comparing the consumption of essential vitamin and mineral supplements with eating a balanced meal made up of fresh ingredients. Only one is really food.
The philosophy of needing a study to justify a parenting decision is my critique of the circumcision article, which I discussed in yesterday’s post. I won’t rehash it again. I’ve taken apart these articles and perhaps I’ve been a bit harsh. After all, I do think it’s a good thing they’re in the mainstream. Even if they’re not perfect, they open the door to discuss issues that were simply part of our accepted culture before. I hope now more people become aware of the issues and feel more comfortable voicing their desire for simple, natural, and low-tech because of it.
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