I absolutely agree with this post. My daughter and daughter-in law were following Ms. Oster so I joined in. Then I read her wrongly-interpreted (ridiculous) thoughts on breastfeeding and said adios. Like it or not, breastfeeding makes a difference. I just wish it wasn’t so hard for so many people and there was more support.
Not gonna lie, I liked her first book, I felt like it took a huge weight off my shoulders in terms of going againts basically everything my doctor was telling me, but then I read cribsheet and I wanted to die. Definitely she became a sell out and a proponent of mainstream corporate narratives and disconnected, work/adult centered parenting.
I think so many of us had this experience! It makes sense, though. Pregnancy is primarily healthcare, which is her area of expertise and can reasonably be considered through a data lens (although I’m more critical after seeing her later books). Parenting is a relationship between humans. It’s much murkier and more ethically fraught to use data as the lens for our closest relationships. My background is in early childhood ed and I cringed the moment Oster moved into parenting. I sometimes find the research very helpful in parenting, but I think most responsible people working in parenting/early childhood are much, much more humble about what research can tell us. Relationships are complex and best known by the people in them!
Me too!! I appreciated her first book bc it WAS helpful to have data on things like foods that were ok to eat/avoid and genetic testing (I skipped the NIPT test after reading her book) etc. But once my baby was born I lean into more instinctive practices, as trends come and go. I don’t WANT to think my way through every decision in these early days!!
Emily Oster is a major bugbear of mine. I just legitimately cannot stand her smug approach. I heavily criticized the Free Press when they began including a column she does where she tackles “tricky” parenting questions. I made sure everyone knew she was a bona fide formula advocate. I don’t know why we take advice from people like this. I’d rather take advice from my grandmother who successfully raised function people. I don’t know how her kids are gonna turn out. It’s truly bizarre where we place our trust.
I have always found this woman to be intensely irritating and yes, smug. She uses the same technique as Amy Tuteur aka The Skeptical OB, who confuses her own experience of four children as some sort of legitimate data set that means she can make grand pronouncements that Must Be Followed. She's another "expert" who thinks that breastfeeding is really overrated.
I have been supporting women professionally and in volunteer roles in birth and breastfeeding for over 40 years and I am a mother myself. If Emily wants to risk her children's futures by consuming alcohol while pregnant that's her choice, but I wonder just how many people she knows who have FAS? You do not need to be an alcoholic to give this to your baby; just a couple of ill-timed drinks can do it.
Also does she not realize that breastfeeding is so much more than an infant feeding choice; that it's about building a relationship with your baby that is going to last for the entire length of your life. Our babies learn everything they need to know at our breasts (or not).
Oh my goodness something about her never say right with me. Thank you for spelling it all out like this, really helpful. I'm kind of averse to anyone billing themselves as a "parenting expert", especially when Western paradigms are used to make universal claims, and she has been particularly grating. Appreciate this post!
You say you're going to take Oster down on her own playing field, "the data," but then don't offer any data definitively saying breastfeeding is better? Your data is...vibes?
Also I think Oster is often just trying to make parents with extenuating circumstances feel better instead of torturing themselves over momfluencers' judgment. Not everyone has a great time breastfeeding. People might not make enough or have adopted children or find it uncomfortable or even painful (eg my baby gave me thrush and eczema and it SUCKED). I'm sure those people, who are also following their instincts as parents, find a lot of comfort in Oster's analysis and a lot of hurt in yours.
The piece was about proving oster wrong, specifically about these two studies she uses to make her claim that breastfeeding is overrated. Rad moms don't need 'data' on breastfeeding
Thank you. I love the Oster books and as a scientist I appreciate people who understand the purpose and definition of the scientific method, of objective truth, of value of data and know how to interpret studies, respectively what can be extracted from them and what can’t. Oster does that.
This article is amazing! I read her book while I was pregnant and remember thinking 3 months into motherhood… “these books are garbage… data can’t replace my own instincts”.
I also found that when there’s no data, she adds in recommendations that align with her preferences. I like when she says sleep training is fine because her daughter tells her it’s the only way her baby brother will learn to sleep (while he’s crying in another room). That’s not scientific data… that’s a toddler repeating something you told her.
Maybe she’s using “data” to justify her own parenting choices…
I’m not saying she believes this. But in Cribsheet she heavily implies lack of evidence implies evidence of lack. The fact that a lot of these things are hard to study (and maybe unethical too, so we’re never going to have good answers. And life is too complicated by age 18 to tease out the effect of one variable anyway) leads her to say “well, the data isn’t definitive anyway. So… do whatever you want.” If you worship data and you are not capable of knowing anything but by the book, sure. Do whatever you want. But if you don’t discount chesterton’s intuition, say, then you might draw different conclusions. Gavin de Becker makes a VERY good case that we shouldn’t fetishize disregarding our intuition, as the smug, midwit debunkers just LOVE doing like “don’t you know it turns out that EVERYTHING you think you know is wrong? Don’t trust your lying eyes! Or your own mind!”
But anyway, I don’t find her books or interpretation of the data as objective as people like to make her out to be. My husband and I both read parts of Expecting Better and we’re both like “well that’s a convenient interpretation.” And I say this even when she green lights my choice to drink coffee during pregnancy (my husband thought I should probably stop. I said no chance. He shrugged). I mean I am addicted to coffee. I’m probably drinking it regardless and the effect sizes are not big enough to stop me. I also drink it while breastfeeding. She seems fine anyway. But I don’t entirely believe it’s all the same whether I do it or not.
Well, I looked into caffeine/coffee quite a bit while pregnant and it appears from almost ALL sources that some caffeine IS ok……one Dr. said “we’ve studied this one a lot bc WE all need it” 🤣 I believe it’s a fairly safe conclusion that coffee is ok, and I worked as a night shift nurse while pregnant, so was very thankful. I cut back a little, but had no qualms about still having a (reasonable) amount still.
THANK YOU! I am an actual data scientist and Emily Oster was recommended to me by a couple of moms in our research group. I am the only one in our group that actually has data science training and statistical training and was appalled by Emily Oster! She exemplifies a major issue in science right now, cherry-picking results instead of conducting systemic, designed studies to answer a scientific question. While Big Data is great, it requires very rigorous analysis and very careful interpretation especially if you're trying to recommend public health policy!! Plus she is not an epidemiologist and has no business making recommendations like that. Plus she's sold out to big money as well according to a NYT article I read on her.
I found her book very irritating, especially when she'd look at studies and say "well the children had good test results at school so that proves sleep training didn't affect them negatively". Who cares about their test results?! That's not the kind of info I'd need to decide sleep training is harmless.
I'll admit I didn't read this whole article - just enough to get the gist of it. Data-schmata; many of the most valuable things in life are not measurable or tangible.
When I read What to Expect to When You’re Expecting, The First Year, in the early 2000’s, it said that feeding your child anything but the Best Odds diet would shorten their lifespan, but there was no evidence that day care had an adverse impact on children. A lot of certainty on some things; a lot of fog on the other.
I loved Expecting Better. But Emily Oster sold out. Her recent book was done in collaboration with a MFM specialist and *unironically* talked about the VBAC calculator. The old Emily would have ripped it apart.... new Emily asks OBs for permission. Gross.
I absolutely agree with this post. My daughter and daughter-in law were following Ms. Oster so I joined in. Then I read her wrongly-interpreted (ridiculous) thoughts on breastfeeding and said adios. Like it or not, breastfeeding makes a difference. I just wish it wasn’t so hard for so many people and there was more support.
Not gonna lie, I liked her first book, I felt like it took a huge weight off my shoulders in terms of going againts basically everything my doctor was telling me, but then I read cribsheet and I wanted to die. Definitely she became a sell out and a proponent of mainstream corporate narratives and disconnected, work/adult centered parenting.
Exactly my experience! I thought her first book was great overall (read it when pregnant w my first) and it does not feel like the same person
I totally thought she was the French parenting lady
I think so many of us had this experience! It makes sense, though. Pregnancy is primarily healthcare, which is her area of expertise and can reasonably be considered through a data lens (although I’m more critical after seeing her later books). Parenting is a relationship between humans. It’s much murkier and more ethically fraught to use data as the lens for our closest relationships. My background is in early childhood ed and I cringed the moment Oster moved into parenting. I sometimes find the research very helpful in parenting, but I think most responsible people working in parenting/early childhood are much, much more humble about what research can tell us. Relationships are complex and best known by the people in them!
Exactly. Love this!!
Me too!! I appreciated her first book bc it WAS helpful to have data on things like foods that were ok to eat/avoid and genetic testing (I skipped the NIPT test after reading her book) etc. But once my baby was born I lean into more instinctive practices, as trends come and go. I don’t WANT to think my way through every decision in these early days!!
Emily Oster is a major bugbear of mine. I just legitimately cannot stand her smug approach. I heavily criticized the Free Press when they began including a column she does where she tackles “tricky” parenting questions. I made sure everyone knew she was a bona fide formula advocate. I don’t know why we take advice from people like this. I’d rather take advice from my grandmother who successfully raised function people. I don’t know how her kids are gonna turn out. It’s truly bizarre where we place our trust.
YES! I also had the same thought…
I have always found this woman to be intensely irritating and yes, smug. She uses the same technique as Amy Tuteur aka The Skeptical OB, who confuses her own experience of four children as some sort of legitimate data set that means she can make grand pronouncements that Must Be Followed. She's another "expert" who thinks that breastfeeding is really overrated.
I have been supporting women professionally and in volunteer roles in birth and breastfeeding for over 40 years and I am a mother myself. If Emily wants to risk her children's futures by consuming alcohol while pregnant that's her choice, but I wonder just how many people she knows who have FAS? You do not need to be an alcoholic to give this to your baby; just a couple of ill-timed drinks can do it.
Also does she not realize that breastfeeding is so much more than an infant feeding choice; that it's about building a relationship with your baby that is going to last for the entire length of your life. Our babies learn everything they need to know at our breasts (or not).
I think I'll stick with this guy over Emily any day of the week. He knew what babies need and it's not economics or data: https://lucyleader.substack.com/p/donald-woods-winnicott
Oh my goodness something about her never say right with me. Thank you for spelling it all out like this, really helpful. I'm kind of averse to anyone billing themselves as a "parenting expert", especially when Western paradigms are used to make universal claims, and she has been particularly grating. Appreciate this post!
You say you're going to take Oster down on her own playing field, "the data," but then don't offer any data definitively saying breastfeeding is better? Your data is...vibes?
Also I think Oster is often just trying to make parents with extenuating circumstances feel better instead of torturing themselves over momfluencers' judgment. Not everyone has a great time breastfeeding. People might not make enough or have adopted children or find it uncomfortable or even painful (eg my baby gave me thrush and eczema and it SUCKED). I'm sure those people, who are also following their instincts as parents, find a lot of comfort in Oster's analysis and a lot of hurt in yours.
The piece was about proving oster wrong, specifically about these two studies she uses to make her claim that breastfeeding is overrated. Rad moms don't need 'data' on breastfeeding
Thank you. I love the Oster books and as a scientist I appreciate people who understand the purpose and definition of the scientific method, of objective truth, of value of data and know how to interpret studies, respectively what can be extracted from them and what can’t. Oster does that.
Evidence based article on breastfeeding.
https://substack.com/profile/180134387-just-plain-rivka/note/c-83857557?r=2z8wkz&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Emily Oster reminds me of this classic tweet by Steven Kaas:
"Why idly theorize when you can JUST CHECK and find out the ACTUAL ANSWER to a superficially similar-sounding question SCIENTIFICALLY?"
Just another woman waging war against other women and their children who aren’t of her tribe.
This article is amazing! I read her book while I was pregnant and remember thinking 3 months into motherhood… “these books are garbage… data can’t replace my own instincts”.
I also found that when there’s no data, she adds in recommendations that align with her preferences. I like when she says sleep training is fine because her daughter tells her it’s the only way her baby brother will learn to sleep (while he’s crying in another room). That’s not scientific data… that’s a toddler repeating something you told her.
Maybe she’s using “data” to justify her own parenting choices…
I’m not saying she believes this. But in Cribsheet she heavily implies lack of evidence implies evidence of lack. The fact that a lot of these things are hard to study (and maybe unethical too, so we’re never going to have good answers. And life is too complicated by age 18 to tease out the effect of one variable anyway) leads her to say “well, the data isn’t definitive anyway. So… do whatever you want.” If you worship data and you are not capable of knowing anything but by the book, sure. Do whatever you want. But if you don’t discount chesterton’s intuition, say, then you might draw different conclusions. Gavin de Becker makes a VERY good case that we shouldn’t fetishize disregarding our intuition, as the smug, midwit debunkers just LOVE doing like “don’t you know it turns out that EVERYTHING you think you know is wrong? Don’t trust your lying eyes! Or your own mind!”
But anyway, I don’t find her books or interpretation of the data as objective as people like to make her out to be. My husband and I both read parts of Expecting Better and we’re both like “well that’s a convenient interpretation.” And I say this even when she green lights my choice to drink coffee during pregnancy (my husband thought I should probably stop. I said no chance. He shrugged). I mean I am addicted to coffee. I’m probably drinking it regardless and the effect sizes are not big enough to stop me. I also drink it while breastfeeding. She seems fine anyway. But I don’t entirely believe it’s all the same whether I do it or not.
Well, I looked into caffeine/coffee quite a bit while pregnant and it appears from almost ALL sources that some caffeine IS ok……one Dr. said “we’ve studied this one a lot bc WE all need it” 🤣 I believe it’s a fairly safe conclusion that coffee is ok, and I worked as a night shift nurse while pregnant, so was very thankful. I cut back a little, but had no qualms about still having a (reasonable) amount still.
THANK YOU! I am an actual data scientist and Emily Oster was recommended to me by a couple of moms in our research group. I am the only one in our group that actually has data science training and statistical training and was appalled by Emily Oster! She exemplifies a major issue in science right now, cherry-picking results instead of conducting systemic, designed studies to answer a scientific question. While Big Data is great, it requires very rigorous analysis and very careful interpretation especially if you're trying to recommend public health policy!! Plus she is not an epidemiologist and has no business making recommendations like that. Plus she's sold out to big money as well according to a NYT article I read on her.
I found her book very irritating, especially when she'd look at studies and say "well the children had good test results at school so that proves sleep training didn't affect them negatively". Who cares about their test results?! That's not the kind of info I'd need to decide sleep training is harmless.
Exactly
I'll admit I didn't read this whole article - just enough to get the gist of it. Data-schmata; many of the most valuable things in life are not measurable or tangible.
When I read What to Expect to When You’re Expecting, The First Year, in the early 2000’s, it said that feeding your child anything but the Best Odds diet would shorten their lifespan, but there was no evidence that day care had an adverse impact on children. A lot of certainty on some things; a lot of fog on the other.
I loved Expecting Better. But Emily Oster sold out. Her recent book was done in collaboration with a MFM specialist and *unironically* talked about the VBAC calculator. The old Emily would have ripped it apart.... new Emily asks OBs for permission. Gross.