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The lonely scientist rants.
"[Rh incompatibility] wasn't an issue for all of human history until interventions were performed, like episiotomy and early cord cutting or Cesarians. Again, what gives?"
Okay, I have to get this off my chest here, because if I say it in response to the actual post I'm quoting I'll probably be banned:
For God's sake, isn't some kind of basic education in logic and science required in the schools? Don't people listen to themselves when they talk?
(Okay, never mind, I know the answers to those questions: no, and no.)
Rh factor wasn't even discovered until 1939. For "all of human history until interventions were performed," in that golden age of medical-provider-free natural homebirths in which nothing ever went wrong and there was no maternal or perinatal mortality, there was NO WAY TO TELL if Rh incompatibility existed.
Sometimes your baby was stillborn. Sometimes your baby had heart failure shortly after birth. Sometimes your baby was incredibly weak and sickly, but pulled through. And that was ALL YOU KNEW. It's not like your fellow tribeswomen would've stood around nodding sadly and saying, "Yep, this baby has hemolytic disease of the newborn. Just look at these abnormal red blood cells, which you can clearly see through the microscope I made out of vines and bark."
And even after the invention of the microscope in the seventeenth century... even after the discovery of blood grouping at the turn of the 20th century... people still had no freaking idea why some newborns developed hemolytic disease and died. You could go from one end of the world to the other and never hear a single person utter the phrase "Rh incompatibility." THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT NO ONE EVER HAD IT.
I'll be the first to agree that there are plenty of screwed-up things about standard medical management of pregnancy and birth. However, I solemnly assue you: Rhogam for Rh incompatibility is not among them. If you are Rh- and your partner and baby are Rh+? Get. The. Freaking. Shot.
Okay, I have to get this off my chest here, because if I say it in response to the actual post I'm quoting I'll probably be banned:
For God's sake, isn't some kind of basic education in logic and science required in the schools? Don't people listen to themselves when they talk?
(Okay, never mind, I know the answers to those questions: no, and no.)
Rh factor wasn't even discovered until 1939. For "all of human history until interventions were performed," in that golden age of medical-provider-free natural homebirths in which nothing ever went wrong and there was no maternal or perinatal mortality, there was NO WAY TO TELL if Rh incompatibility existed.
Sometimes your baby was stillborn. Sometimes your baby had heart failure shortly after birth. Sometimes your baby was incredibly weak and sickly, but pulled through. And that was ALL YOU KNEW. It's not like your fellow tribeswomen would've stood around nodding sadly and saying, "Yep, this baby has hemolytic disease of the newborn. Just look at these abnormal red blood cells, which you can clearly see through the microscope I made out of vines and bark."
And even after the invention of the microscope in the seventeenth century... even after the discovery of blood grouping at the turn of the 20th century... people still had no freaking idea why some newborns developed hemolytic disease and died. You could go from one end of the world to the other and never hear a single person utter the phrase "Rh incompatibility." THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT NO ONE EVER HAD IT.
I'll be the first to agree that there are plenty of screwed-up things about standard medical management of pregnancy and birth. However, I solemnly assue you: Rhogam for Rh incompatibility is not among them. If you are Rh- and your partner and baby are Rh+? Get. The. Freaking. Shot.
no subject
Also, they view flame wars as entertainment and will egg people on when they start fighting. And they are not at all supportive of people who are acting stupid. Or gentle. Or tactful. And once you have posted something, you can neither edit nor delete it.
It's got a really high number of intelligent and coherent people, though, compared to a lot of boards.
It's currently undergoing an upgrade and may be intermittently really slow; that should be finished pretty soon, but in the meantime traffic is down.
I have found that this board is a really excellent parenting resource in terms of getting useful advice from people whose perspectives are similar to mine. People have useful books to recommend, useful experiences to share, etc. But it's not a board for everybody.
www.sybermoms.com
Most of the conversation takes place on the forum called the Main Event, and you'll have to register before you can see it.