How student midwives learn

Today's post is brought to you by the student midwives writing on the website sponsored by the Royal College of Midwives. It is an object lesson in what happens when student midwives (and many graduate midwives) are confronted with scientific evidence that does not support their pre-existing beliefs. It's not a pretty sight.

Here's the question posed by the OP (original poster):

article stating 2 in 3 babies stillborn at home could have been saved in hospital

Just wondering what your views are on this article. http://skepticalob.blogspot.com/2011/12/2-out-of-3-babies-who-die-at-homebirth.html

Now let's look at the reasoned discussion that follows, the careful reading of my post, the examination of the underlying scientific literature (the Birthplace Study), and the mathematical analysis of the data.

P:

Dr Amy talking about things she doesn't understand again

V:

This woman does my nut in

Li:

I really don't understand the idea "0 out of babies Bjorne in hospital could of been saved at home' she seems be choosing to ignor all the evidence re hospital birth being more likely to led to intervention and then all the associated risks off that...

Does rub me up the wrong way when people who should know better choose to take one small piece of evidence and ignore the rest

Lo:

Only read a tiny bit so far but I'm puzzled by "3 times (200%)". Can someone explain this to me? 1 times 1 is 1, which is 100% of 1. So presumably 200% of 1 is 2, and therefore three times 1 is 300%? If that makes any sense.

R:

I agree.

S:

Dr. Amy's blog is a waste of time, she likes to skew numbers and reports, while ignoring any evidence that what she is saying isnt true. Homebirth in the USA is not as safe as other countries, however painting homebirth in general with the same brush is irresponsible. Esp considering the USA's high mortality rates.

B:

Was going to read this then saw who wrote it and changed my mind.

M:

Agreed, I don't need the anger in my life from reading posts by this woman. Gets me worked up just thinking about it!

Original poster:

yeah it is an absolute load of rubbish but i thought it would bring an interesting discussion/debate which hasn't happened... as everyone thinks exactly the same lol x

And that's how student midwives handle information that challenges pre-existing beliefs. Very instructive!