Vaccination Information

While I’m sticking my neck out elsewhere, I might as well do it here. This was in response to the question “So just to be clear, you think it is unethical or dangerous to ask parents to research or question vaccines?”

Since most anti-vaccine sites provide dangerous, unscientific and ethically questionable information it isn’t really ‘research’. I think that professionals directing parents to these sites– who overtly or outwardly suggest that there is anything dangerous or controversial about vaccines that parents need to ‘research’ or ‘learn the truth’ about, who imply that vaccines are something to be afraid of– are misguided, and are contributing to the decline of the public health safety net.

If that’s what you mean by ‘dangerous and unethical’ then yes. If you mean showing parents where they can get scientifically accurate, myth-dispelling information that isn’t full of fear mongoring and conspiracy theories, then no.

As an adjunct, since many of the professionals who provide these questionable sites to women, are also members of the natural/low intervention/out of hospital birth community, I think they are contributing to the damaging image of that community as unsafe, dangerous and full of unqualified practitioners.

I think it is time for midwives, doulas, CBE’s etc who are pro-vaccination to start speaking out because it is unfair that we are being tarred with the same brush.

A very well done breakdown of some of the anti-vaccination myths & fears is found HERE