The British newspaper The Guardian recently posted an article about a podcast named “The Birth Keepers” which is part of The Free Birth Society, an organization that “encourages women to give birth without medical support – no midwives, no doctors, no ultrasounds – just faith and ‘instinct.’” According to The Guardian, the FBS is linked to “at least 18 cases where the group played a significant role in the mother or birth attendant’s decision-making, leading to potentially avoidable tragedies.”
Many families came forward and revealed the dangers that their following of the Free Birth Society caused, describing in the article as: “This is a story of how misinformation on social media can affect anyone and the devastating repercussions it can have across the world. We are so grateful to the brave families who shared their stories with us to shine a light on this.”
The internet has created a multitude of websites that espouse “the truth” which is merely an opinion based upon beliefs and not facts, with many of the creators putting forth complete lies if not at least horrendous distortions of facts. Some of you might recall all of the great things that the internet was supposed to bring us when it emerged some decades ago. The internet was going to give all kinds of unrecognized talent an opportunity to show their talents that had never been recognized by the media before. While, indeed, some talent has emerged with the help of the internet, many other liars and scoundrels have used the internet to publicly proclaim their distorted and erroneous beliefs. Where we thought that people would become familiar with the great philosophers and minds of all time, instead, they turned to gossip, innuendo, and flat-out lies.
The United States has, since its inception, valued and encouraged free speech. As our democracy has progressed, our justice system has posed limitations on free speech, with the biggest area of limitation being the health and well-being of the populace. It is clear that you cannot scream “fire” in a crowded theatre if there is none. From all of the ideologically-tainted so-called “news” comes a substantial amount of disinformation.
So where did these ideas about “doing it yourself” come from? Our academic institutions, rather than teaching by objective observation, have become an ideological training ground for “correct” thinking, leaning mostly to the left side of American politics. The inability of the public to objectively interpret news has created a society that believes that they are entitled, empowered, and correct almost all the time. Depending on the source, (apparently Voltaire said it) but it is true no matter who said it: “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Ideologies have infected the truth, to the point that we now recognize truth as being an individual choice or interpretation. The ideologies now infect thinking to where the truth has become a subjective conclusion, based on hand-picked facts, or seriously-contaminated historical and even scientific interpretations. According to some scientists, the world was going to be overpopulated by 2025, and food would become scarce; didn’t happen. Many “scientists” claimed that we would experience severe oil shortages by the year 2000; didn’t happen. While I understand the reasonable doubts that have emerged, and the “scientific” theories that have failed, I still have some faith in science.
But when it comes to health, we have a different situation. Most pregnancies turn out fine, with mother and baby weathering the storm. But that is not always the case, and when something goes wrong, trained professionals know how to resolve the issue. The people assisting those who use their “instincts,” if not trained in how to resolve the problem, endanger both the mother and the child. This is an unneeded risk, and The Guardian has pointed out the occasions where something went wrong, something trained medical personnel could address, but instead of using qualified professionals, the mothers are using their “instincts.”
While I do not know how the laws work in such instances, I would be inclined to say that the law looks askance upon would-be mothers who avoid medical professionals because they feel that their “instincts” are the best choice, and then injure a helpless infant- for the rest of their lives. Your takeaway from this essay: Don’t rely on the internet for medical advice. Don’t endanger your future or present children by relying on the internet. Seek the help of qualified professionals, not some internet cranks.
