"Dr. Tuteur has again and again pointed to the God-like power of modern obstetrics, and how many thousands of lives it saves each year. However, Sasha's rebuttal is a strong one: are obstetricians saving women and babies from BIRTH itself, and the small number (less than 10%) of organically-birth related complications, or are they simply "saving" moms and babies from the side effects of the meds, technologies and procedures they themselves created."
Birth itself .... obviously.
A 10% complication rate is HIGH, not low. That would mean that 400,000 and 400,000 babies would be affected each and every year.
Let's look at the facts:
The maternal death rate from medication, technologies and procedures in any given year is ZERO!
The neonatal death rate from medication, technologies and procedures in any given year is ZERO!
Medication, technologies and procedures have lowered the maternal death rate by 99% and the neonatal death rate by 90% in the last 100 years.
The ONLY places in the world where the maternal and neonatal death rates are low are places where modern obstetrics is practiced.
Modern obstetrics has been so spectacularly successful at making birth safe, that some people are confused about how it happened. It is only the routine use of medications, technologies and procedures that makes birth appear as safe as it appears to laypeople. Without routine use of medications, technologies and procedures, literally hundreds of thousands of deaths would occur in the US each year.
Comment Reply
"Dr. Tuteur has again and again pointed to the God-like power of modern obstetrics, and how many thousands of lives it saves each year. However, Sasha's rebuttal is a strong one: are obstetricians saving women and babies from BIRTH itself, and the small number (less than 10%) of organically-birth related complications, or are they simply "saving" moms and babies from the side effects of the meds, technologies and procedures they themselves created."
Birth itself .... obviously.
A 10% complication rate is HIGH, not low. That would mean that 400,000 and 400,000 babies would be affected each and every year.
Let's look at the facts:
The maternal death rate from medication, technologies and procedures in any given year is ZERO!
The neonatal death rate from medication, technologies and procedures in any given year is ZERO!
Medication, technologies and procedures have lowered the maternal death rate by 99% and the neonatal death rate by 90% in the last 100 years.
The ONLY places in the world where the maternal and neonatal death rates are low are places where modern obstetrics is practiced.
Modern obstetrics has been so spectacularly successful at making birth safe, that some people are confused about how it happened. It is only the routine use of medications, technologies and procedures that makes birth appear as safe as it appears to laypeople. Without routine use of medications, technologies and procedures, literally hundreds of thousands of deaths would occur in the US each year.
July 21, 2008 - 3:23pmThis Comment
Reply