General Discussion

I know people are focusing on the religious yokels and RFK Jr. - and well they should, particularly when it comes to vaccines - but L&D doctors and nurses are combating a whole slew of "natural health" gobbeldy gook particularly surrounding pregnancy and birth. The shit they have to deal with, because expectant parents "read something online".

Go look up what free birth is and enjoy that one.

Just finished my OB rotation here in the Bay Area a few weeks back, and oh yeah, many new parents had opinions sourced to this or that social media platform or tiktok/youtube/twitter influencers.

The Vitamin K thing is an interesting one, because it feels like there's the least education around it. At least with vaccines you can chalk it up to disinformation. But parents are at least familiar with vaccines and antibiotics. You start explaining that Vitamin K shot, and sometimes there's this idea it's some kind of toxic chemical we just want to pump into a baby willy nilly.

I had a moment with a new mom where were discussing it and made a joke about how you can't even get me to eat kale, so it's not something I'd want to inflict on a newborn. No one's introduction to this world should involve kale. She was fine with the shot generally, but she did have misgivings/questions. Which is fine. But man, I really hate Dr. Facebook.