March 2016

The story I hate to tell: the dark history of obstetrics ~ Strike Three (part 6)

by faithgibson March 9, 2016

Link back to part 5 Part 6 ~ STRIKE THREE – 21st Century AUDACITY ON STERIODS “There is no alibi for not knowing what is known” — 1966 edition of Davis Obstetrics, statement by editor J. Rovinsky, MD As you already know, Strike Three is the audacity of continuing to assume that it is medically […]

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The story I hate to tell: the dark history of obstetrics ~ Strike Two (part 5)

by faithgibson March 8, 2016

link back to part 4 part 5 ~ STRIKE TWO ~ 1910 to 1937 Strike Two started in the US in 1910 with the Listerizing of childbirth by the two most influential leaders of American obstetrics. The new policy was based on the best of intentions. Doctors De Lee and Williams and other professors of obstetrics […]

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The story I hate to tell: the dark history of obstetrics ~ Strike One (part 4)

by faithgibson March 7, 2016

Link back to part 3 Part 4 ~ Strike One ~ Autopsies, Anesthesia and Obstetrical Audacity    I describe this trilogy of historical events as a trifecta AAAs of iatrogenesis, so named after the three specific practices used during three different periods of history. The first was maternal autopsies in European hospital beginning in the 1830s; […]

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The story I hate to tell: Dark History of Obstetrics (part 3)

by faithgibson March 6, 2016

Link back to part 2   Link to an “Aside” ~ Background material on standard obstetrical practices used on healthy low-risk women and consumer activism from 1950 to 1990. The material in the “Aside” is not included in other segments of this series. In the context of this lengthy essay, I want to point out that I’m […]

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The story I hate to tell: the Dark History of Obstetrics (part 2)

by faithgibson March 5, 2016

Link back to part 1 In the Beginning . . . . Let me begin this chapter by restating the obvious: My critique of the obstetrical profession is ONLY relative to historical and contemporary excesses and its institutionalized poor practices. Examples include the historical rejection of hand-washing by 19th-century doctors after aseptic principles were established […]

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