🔗 Share this article

Despite all the established advances of contemporary medicine, certain people are drawn to non-traditional or “natural” remedies and approaches. A number of these are not dangerous. As one cancer specialist observed recently, people receiving cancer treatment will often try meditation or vitamins too. When such a change is alongside, and not in place of, evidence-based treatment, this is usually not a problem. If it reduces distress, it can help.

The Proliferation of Digital Health Influencers

But the explosion of online health influencers presents problems that governments and oversight bodies in many countries have yet to grasp. A recent inquiry into one such organization offering membership and advice to expectant mothers has revealed dozens cases of third-trimester stillbirths or other severe injury involving mothers or birth attendants linked with it. While the company is based in North Carolina, its influence is international.

“For whole populations, going through labour and birth without professional support is associated with higher levels of risk for mother and baby,” according to a expert of midwifery.

Understanding the Risks and Background

Giving birth without medical assistance, known as free birth, is legal in countries including the UK and US. The potential dangers are poorly documented due to a absence of reliable information. Childbirth can be a daunting prospect, and high-quality care is not guaranteed. In England, a alarming recently published report found two-thirds of maternity units to be unsafe or in need of improvement.

Criticisms of medical systems and particular, longstanding issues with maternity care are in many cases valid. Many of the women interviewed for the investigation had previously experienced traumatic births.

Distrust and the Proliferation of Falsehoods

But while distrust of institutions may be based on experience, it has also become a breeding ground for other influencers seeking followers to their unconventional methods and DIY ethos. During the pandemic, a “wellness” industry supposedly focused on healthy living was implicated in spreading lies about vaccines and fuelling paranoia about government advice.

Worry is growing that such beliefs are acquiring more general purchase. One presentation given at a cancer conference focused on misinformation, which it said had “acutely worsened in the past decade”. The inquiry shows that behind the facade of an rebellious sisterhood lies an operation that coaches women as social media influencers as well as birth attendants. The organization does not present itself to be a certified medical provider.

The Need for Protections and Reforms

There is no turning the clock back to a time when doctors were assumed to know best. Huge quantities of scientific research are published online and many people use these to beneficial effect. But there is also a critical necessity for safeguards from poor advice. It is widely understood that the algorithms used by tech companies promote increasingly sensational content.

In the UK, necessary reforms to childbirth care cannot come soon enough. They must include the choice of home birth and the availability of data to empower women in making decisions. Ministers and bodies such as the World Health Organization should also create plans for the online information landscape so that science-based healthcare is not undermined.