The midwife paid a fine and is barred from accessing the state’s vaccine records system.
A midwife in New York administered nearly 12,500 bogus homeopathic pellets to roughly 1,500 children in lieu of providing standard, life-saving vaccines, the New York State Department of Health reported yesterday.
Jeanette Breen, a licensed midwife who operated Baldwin Midwifery in Nassau County, began providing the oral pellets to children around the start of the 2019–2020 school year, just three months after the state eliminated non-medical exemptions for standard school immunizations. She obtained the pellets from a homeopath outside New York and sold them as a series called the “Real Immunity Homeoprophylaxis Program.”
The program falsely claimed to protect children against deadly infectious diseases covered by standard vaccination schedules, including diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (covered by the DTaP or Tdap vaccine); hepatitis B; measles, mumps and rubella (MMR vaccine); polio; chickenpox; meningococcal disease; Haemophilus influenzae disease (HiB); and pneumococcal diseases (PCV).
Homeopathy is a pseudoscience that falsely claims that medical conditions can be cured or prevented by extreme, ritualized dilutions of poisonous substances that cause the same symptoms of a particular disease or condition when administered directly. Homeopathic products are often diluted to such a point that they do not contain a single atom of the original substance. Some homeopaths claim that water molecules can have a “memory” of their contact with the substance, magically imbuing them with healing powers. Homeopathic products work no better than placebos, though if they are improperly diluted, they can be harmful and even deadly.
Using a midwife doesn’t mean forgoing modern medical care necessarily - this person is just a massive crank. There are certified midwives that work in hospitals.
I understand hiring a doula or midwife - if you’re about to give birth you probably need someone who can advocate for you while you’re trying to shove a human out. You have someone who knows you more personally than a doctor and has some medical training (depending pretty widely on location/certification). They’re going to be involved in more of the process than just the birth, they’re usually involved in the months before and after. I’ve heard about them being helpful post partem depression especially.
There’s an unfortunate history of pregnancy being an opportunity for a doctor to invoke harm. Look up the “husband stitch” - it’s difficult to estimate the prevalence but it’s known to happen. Behind the Bastards did a horrifying series on James Burt, a doctor who routinely modified the placement of vaginas without his patients knowledge or consent.
They can be legitimate professionals - it’s not all water births and refusing vitamin K shots.
I love how you mention an anecdote to attack the legitimacy of a profession that produces tangible results but demand I ignore anecdote for the quack profession you defend. Oh wow a doctor somewhere sometime was an asshole, that means medical science is shit and everyone should hire their random ass yoga friend to scream at doctors “she doesn’t need a C-section fetch me another pinecone so I can channel Gaia”. See? I can do what you did, you know only better.
Does a midwife have as much training as a doctor, yes or no? Do midwifes produce better patient outcomes for baby and mommy, in a measurable repeatable way? If the answer is no then have fun with your water sports when she bleeds out maybe the chanting will soothe her before the eternal blackness of a totally avoidable death.
Did you do a modicum of work? Or just ask questions?
https://nursing.yale.edu/news/midwifery-review-adding-care-midwives-improves-birth-outcomes
I didn’t say medical science was shit? On the contrary, I’m a big fan. But medical science is practiced by people, and people can be bad actors. I bring up the example to point out that this is an extremely vulnerable moment and it is entirely valid that someone would want a person whose role was to advocate for them. I think your example is obviously hyperbolic, but I could see a women being very insistent on a vaginal birth and asking for that to be affirmed.
Midwives don’t have as much formal training as a doctor. CNAs, LPNs, CMAs, the majority of people who are actually performing your medical care don’t have as much formal training as a doctor. They aren’t intended to replace a doctor. They are a specialized support role - part of a team. A midwife pushing against seeing a doctor would be a red flag.