Marsden Wagner, MD on the BirthLove
Site
Compiled by LLM
Marsden Wagner MD, MSPH
Marsden Wagner is a pediatrician, neonatologist,
perinatal epidemiologist, and the former Director
of Women's and Children's Health for the World
Health Organization. His published works and
worldwide contributions to the body of birth
and public health knowledge are vast, varied
and far too numerous to mention here.
The gift of Marsden Wagner to women and babies
is remarkable... a more erudite, passionate
and influential childbirth activist, author
and educator simply cannot be found.
On this page:
Marsden Wagner, MD on this
site
Brief
Curriculum Vitae of Marsden Wagner, MD, MSPH
A bit about what Marsden Wagner has accomplished
in his education and career.
Confessions
of a Dissident In Chapter 14 from Robbie
Davis-Floyd's book "Childbirth and Authoritative
Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives",
Marsden talks about a vast array of topics-
from how the obstetrical authoritative knowledge
is based on illogic and repression of fact,
to how he has been systematically persecuted
by members of the medical profession. Also discussed-
midwifery as the optimal model of birth care
for healthy women, what caused his own internal
paradigm shift, and how his attendance of a
homebirth in Denmark changed his life. Very
long, but well worth the read.
Excerpts
from "Confessions of a Dissident"
by Marsden Wagner, MD Main points taken
from the article, with titles, to make reading
easier.
La Technologie
de la Naissance: Premièrement Ne Pas
Nuire The French translation of his excellent
"Technology in Birth" article, linked
from the end of this page.
Choosing
Cesarean Section This includes the
dangers of c-section to mother and baby, and
just why c-sections are so "doctor friendly".
A must-read for mothers who consider themselves
"too posh to push".
Quoted: "...
the woman who chooses CS puts her baby in unnecessary
danger. That some women are choosing CS strongly
suggests women are not told this scientific
fact...It is only logical that eventually a
point is reached at which CS kills almost as
many babies as it saves."
Also:
"It is no coincidence that in the US, Canada
and urban Brazil where obstetricians attend
the majority of normal births and there are
few midwives attending few births, the highest
CS rates in the world are found...Promoting
more CS by encouraging women to choose CS is
part of a campaign to keep the obstetric profession
in control of maternity care, a campaign which
also includes marginalizing midwives through
witch-hunts."
Being
Seduced to Induce: What Women Should Know About
Their OBs How doctors "torture"
scientific data to make it read what they want
it to say regarding incredibly dangerous childbirth
procedures, like c-sections and inductions of
labor. A must-read.
Midwifery
in the Industrialized World This contains
many of the points of "Confessions of a
Dissident" about midwifery care. Included:
a brief history of midwifery (and the medical
attacking it has endured), how midwifery actually
saves lives, and how beneficial midwifery is
to women- and society at large.
A
Global Witch-Hunt By far most of the witch-hunted
are the independent, female midwives. This examines
the key underlying issues of witch-hunts: money,
power, sex, and choice.
Elective
Cesareans: A Women's Rights Issue or Florida
Swampland? A debate on Good Morning
America between Marsden Wagner and W. Benson
Harer, the president of the American College
of Obstetricians and Gynecologists regarding
cesarean section by choice for America women.
This page includes commentary by birth activists.
Cytotec
Induction in the US: An Example of Vigilante
Obstetrics Marsden Wagner says in plain,
bold language how dangerous and reckless Cytotec
use is- and just how rampant its use is in North
American hospitals: it has become the induction
drug of "choice" by many OBs (actively
replacing Pitocin). Also: why ACOG recommendations
should be taken with a grain of salt; and how
important it is to speak out as loudly as possible
against illicit Cytotec use.
Cytotec
Letters to Midwifery Today Magazine Tahany
Hassan, who had four previous cesareans, was
coerced into consenting to having Cytotec experimentally
used to induce the labor of her stillborn infant.
The drug almost killed her. This page includes
a response to this case by Marsden Wagner, MD.
Another Cytotec letter by Marsden Wagner
can be found here.
More about Cytotec by Marsden Wagner:
Maternal
Mortality in the United States: WHERE ARE THE
DOCTORS? More women are dying in childbirth
than people actually know; and as the c-section
rate rises, maternal mortality will likely rise
as well.
Also see by LLM: "Women
Are Dying Needlessly in Childbirth".
Outside links to Marsden
Wagner, MD's articles
What
Every Midwife Should Know about ACOG and VBAC:
Critique of ACOG Practice Bulletin # 5, July
1999, "Vaginal birth after previous cesarean
section" The bulletin that has herded
so many women into the OR is critiqued (and
excellently rebutted).
"Shooting
the Messenger if You Don't Like the Message"
An OB writes to Midwifery Today with disgust
about the above-linked article; calling it "antagonistic
and extremist". Marsden replies with extraordinary
candor and insight into the OB's letter.
Technology
in Birth: First Do No Harm Written as
if speaking to a first-time mom, this tells
how technology such as epidural anasthetic and
cesarean section kills women, and why
doctors are so deadset against changing their
practices. (i.e.- OBs make well over a quarter
million dollars a year.) A crucial read for
anyone intersted in birth issues.
The
active management of labour A rather dry
title for an excellent article regarding the
illogic of medicalizing childbirth.
Ultrasound:
More Harm than Good? More harm can done
by ultrasound than is commonly known or accepted.
Bad
Habits This looks at the problems caused
by the widening gap between maternity practice
based on sound evidence, and practice based
on peer approval.
|
