Me, a hypocrite?

Lately I have been reading a lot of the Cochrane reports on all types of medically related stuff. These reports represent the most unbiased, comprehensive analysis of evidenced based medicine that exists. Not just birth related stuff, all sorts of health issues. The Cochrane Institute is a great resource.

But reading these reports has me thinking. I often gripe (mostly to Super B) about how I wish OBs would practice evidenced based medicine and I get frusterated when I see them recommending things that are proven to pose risk to moms and babies with little to no advantage to be gained.

However, in the normal birth camp, we often talk about recommending chiros, accupuncture to induce labor, evening primrose oil to prep the cervix, rasberry leaf tea for uterine toning, even moxbustion to turn a breech baby. According to the Cochrane Reports most of these practices are about as evidenced based as constant fetal monitoring, which means, not at all. Now some of that doesn't shock me, I never have been able to fully swallow that burning an herb on your big toe (mox) causes baby to flip. To be fair though, constant fetal monitoring carries a fair degree of risk to mom and baby whereas a little tea never hurt anyone. But still, neither appear to be evidenced based.

So I am a hypocrite, right? I get miffed that OBs routinely recommend stuff that is clearly not evidence based, yet I have chiros and places to buy herbs listed in my doula notebook. In some ways I wonder if we are not both doing some of the same thing - which is basically working from the worldview we know and in which we are most comfortable. I honestly find myself pretty comfortable sitting between a healthy skepticism and openess to each group, but looking at it from the perspective of differing, rather than competing, worldviews makes me more comfortable walking a mile in the shoes of someone else's thinking.