Prenatal yoga and "woo"

I've been taking prenatal yoga classes for a few weeks. I'm going to the same instructor as I did when I was pregnant with Moira, but she's got her own studio now. Part of her classes include guest speakers and so far I've been unimpressed by 2 of 3 of them.
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The yoga class itself is great. I find it relaxing and good for my often stiff muscles. It helps me clear my mind from the otherwise constant thoughts of all the things that need to be done before baby's arrival. I also enjoy talking to some of the other moms. They usually have an herbal tea made for us to drink and sometimes cookies. Not having to bring a mat or any props to class is also a big bonus.

The first speaker that we had after a class was a Homeopathy practitioner. This woman was strictly into homeopathy, not a registered Naturopath. What's the difference? Well, mainly, naturopaths use a variety of different treatment options, a fair chunk of which actually have some scientific data to support them, whereas homeopathy is pretty much unproven and of dubious value.

Homeopathic remedies are not explained well generally, but here's what they really are. Some substance is taken, say Arnica (which is a topical anti-inflammatory) and added to water. This solution is then diluted many times, again and again, until there is so little of the original substance remaining that one cannot find it on a molecular level. This "solution" is then added, by droplet, onto sugar pills or taken in liquid form.

More here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeopathy

As she tried to explain homeopathy, the speaker made several statements that concerned me. Generally, she recommended always trying a homeopathic remedy first, though she did readily conceed that if there was no improvement that one should see a mainstream doctor. She also noted that, while a single homeopathic dose/pill should be effective, one could take multiple doeses (i.e. eat a whole bottle full) and suffer no ill effects - this seems contradictory to me.

Her analogies and anecdotes also seemed wrong. She noted how wonderful it was to see a baby immediately react to being given a remedy, but I can see why getting a lump of sugar placed in your mouth would grab the attention of any child.

Her discussion of science was just weird. While agreeing that there was no scientific evidence that her remedies worked, she said that:

*People used aspirin for a long time before it was proven effective - which is true, but it has been scientifically proven. People also used to bleed out those who had fevers, but that was topped when folks realized how ineffective and unproven it was.

*The room we were in was filled with radio waves even though we couldn't see them. If we had radios, then we'd know. I'm not sure how this related to homeopathy unless she was trying to say that just because we couldn't see it working, doesn't mean it isn't. It's a poor analogy though, as radio waves are man made as are the receivers that hear them; we can clearly find them if we want to with science, unlike homeopathic remedies.

*Her flash drive, which she held up, was something she couldn't understand and couldn't be explained - it was something that 100 years ago would have been deemed impossible. She insinuated this was like homeopathy, which made no sense. Flash drives are man made and clearly explainable as devices.

The whole thing seemed to come down to her saying that homepathic remedies simply worked on some magical and unknowable level and should be regarded and preferrable to proven mainstream medicine. She also seemed vaguely anti-vaccination, which bothered me.

The following week a Chiropractor was the speaker. She praticed a slightly different style and also promoted her treatments for everything - lots of unproven things like allergies and so on, as opposed the musculoskeletal things they're known for treating. She was also clearly anti-vaccination as she stated she and her children has not been vaccinated and, when discussing bringing babies in to see her, bascially said she'd help parents mitigate the negative effects of vaccines if they "choose to go through with vaccination".

Her chiropractic style was less manual, she didn't do the cracking type manipulations but more of a light touch type (she demonstrated on someone in the class).

Chiropractic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic

This past week a midwife visited. She was actually from the same practice as my midwives. She explained about midwifery and what midwives could offer as opposed to or in conjunction with obstetricians, noting their medical training and applied training as well. I knew most of this already, but it was interesting talking to her about some of the logistics and how OHIP can make it difficult sometimes for OBs and midwives to work together for clients. She also described the good relationship they had with local OBs and Grand River Hospital - which I witnessed myself when my midwife attended my C-section, assisting during and afterwards. Whenever I see midwives slammed online, it often seems to be a subset of American midwives that is being discussed, as medical training and credentials aren't always as rigorous there as they are here (in Ontario anyway).

St. Jacobs Midwives: http://www.stjacobsmidwives.on.ca/

We'll have to see who comes this week. I have yoga classes right up to my due date, though whether I'll be able to attend is a whole other matter.