About

I’ve loved embarking on the adventure of pregnancy and parenting, but it’s involved a surprising amount of ranting about the information and advice I’ve been given. For whatever reason, there seems to be a prevalent belief that pregnant women and new mums only want to hear vague, soothing advice. Books, leaflets, magazines, midwives, health visitors, doctors – they all assume I’m happy to hear a vague phrase like ‘most babies are fine after treatment’. No no no. Call me crazy, but I want information that’s accurate, specific, supported by evidence, and referenced. I find it infuriating when evidence is ignored in order to provide ‘conservative’ advice, and so frustrating to be given counter-intuitive information and not know what it’s based on – how can I get more details if you don’t cite your sources? I’m guessing I’m not alone, so here’s a forum to rant about vague advice, share evidence when it’s available, and rant some more when it isn’t.

Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional so don’t take advice from me. I’ve tried to link to evidence where possible, but I haven’t done a systematic review of all available evidence and I probably won’t be providing regular updates on every topic.