Placenta previa is a condition where the placenta grows over the cervix or is too close to the cervix. This can lead to catastrophic bleeding for both mother and fetus and requires a c-section for safe delivery. Placenta previa is often suspected early on in pregnancy when an ultrasound suggests the placenta is very close …
Continue reading “How does a placenta previa “move” on ultrasound? (With video!)”
Ivanka Trump was on Dr. Oz last week and I’ve finally managed to watch it. It is sickening. Oz introduces Ivanka with the teaser that we’ll find out “What it’s like in the West Wing to advise the President” and “What she is doing behind the scene to empower women and families.” This is important …
Continue reading “Dr. Oz was an embarrassment to medicine in his Ivanka Trump Interview”
Gwyneth Paltrow recently claimed her detractors don’t do their homework and are afraid of empowered woman. She stated: “The difficulty is that you’re suggesting that people have autonomy over their health and some people love that and some people are like, ‘fuck you, just write me a prescription.'” she says of “challenging medicine as it …
Perhaps you have heard of the latest “natural” birthing trend called a “lotus birth”? This practice involves leaving the newborn attached to the placenta until the umbilical cord separates “naturally” or, to be blunt about it, rots off. Let’s get two sets of basic facts established before we continue: The placenta receives its oxygenated blood from …
Continue reading “A lotus birth is leaving a newborn attached to a decomposing placenta”
There is a “new viral sensation.” Ok, there is one almost every day, but this one is a NEWBORN BABY WALKING AT BIRTH LEAVING MIDWIVES STUNNED IN BRAZIL. This is not news this is normal pediatrics. The baby is exhibiting a primitive reflex called the walking or stepping reflex. There is no weight-bearing and no …
The New Scientist, a publication I had never heard of before, wonders if Serena Williams pregnancy is making her a better athlete? This is a new low in “pregnancy angles.” I often get asked to comment on celebrity/athlete pregnancies and I always decline. Why? Partly because I don’t want my name in a shit article …
An Op-Ed in the New York Post has lots to say about the motherhood on display at the Grammys. The author criticizes Beyoncé for her “tush-wiggling” and “pagan fertility worship” and finds Adele’s words about her struggles with motherhood “self indulgent.” I think the take home message from the column is supposed to be …
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a warning regarding the potential dangers of anesthesia in pregnancy and for young children. Specifically that “repeated or lengthy use of general anesthetic and sedation drugs during surgeries or procedures in children younger than 3 years or in pregnant women during their third trimester may affect the …
This is a common question that many have used to question the link between Zika and microcephaly. It is a valid point. After all, viruses have been around forever so if Zika caused microcephaly wouldn’t we already know that? The answer is pretty simple – Zika is actually a relatively new virus …
Someone sent me a sad link to a coroner’s report about a baby in Australia who died from bleeding due to late onset vitamin K deficiency. It’s an older case (2011), but I decided to do some research to see if this was something I needed to write about. Above the fold I found this …
Continue reading “Unhealthy advice on vitamin K shots from the Healthy Home Economist”
Dr. Jen Gunter 