Americans across the country are waking up to the possibility that the medical industry doesn't always have their best interests in mind, and surgeon general Dr. Marty McCully is at the forefront of that awakening.
Now he is sounding the alarm about how women who give birth in hospitals are treated, and what it means for their children's futures.
“We've seen groupthink and medicine discount these best practices in childbirth, and now we see the dramatic benefits,” McCully says. Allie Beth Stuckey “I can empathize.”
“When the baby is born, the umbilical cord is clamped late. The cord contains pulsating healthy stem cells and fetal hemoglobin, which binds well with oxygen, and warm blood is infused directly into the child's circulation, keeping the baby warm,” he explains.
But as a medical student, Macari was taught to cut the umbilical cord as soon as the baby came out, and medical personnel are taught to separate babies from their mothers after just a few minutes. But skin-to-skin contact for hours after birth allows a baby's heart rate and blood pressure to normalize, reducing the need for intensive care.
When a mother holds her baby, her stress hormones don't spike as much and her blood sugar doesn't change as much, so the baby's blood sugar levels also become more normal.
Not only does he disagree with these common practices, but he also tells Stuckey that C-sections and antibiotics are often unnecessary.
“It's estimated that 60 percent of antibiotics are unnecessary and 40 percent of C-sections are unnecessary,” he tells Stuckey. “Mothers are unfairly and inappropriately told that it makes no difference. Whether you choose vaginal birth or C-section, it's your choice.”
However, the gut microbiota is formed differently in babies born by Caesarean section than in babies born vaginally.
“In the womb, a baby's gut is sterile – there are no bacteria there – so how does it get the millions of bacteria that live in such harmony and are involved in digestion, immunity and mental health? As the baby passes through the birth canal, bacteria from the vaginal canal form its microbiome, which is further augmented by bacteria in breast milk, especially in the first hour after skin contact,” he explains.
Babies born by Caesarean section also have higher rates of asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, colitis, Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome, and there may also be an association between people born by Caesarean section and higher rates of colorectal cancer.
“If a doctor told birthing women around the world that a C-section might be safer for their baby, 100% of women would say, 'Well, go ahead and do it now.' If it's not based on sound scientific data, then it's manipulation,” explains McCulley.
Stuckey's first two births were by Caesarean section, and her last was a vaginal birth.
“I'm one of those people who was definitely pressured in every way with my first birth,” Stuckey said, adding, “They just said, 'Oh, your baby might be stillborn,' but there was no sign of that at all. My baby was completely healthy.”
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