----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2002 10:03
PM
Subject: Babywise
As I gave an antenatal talk at a major Melb
maternity hospital a couple of months ago a pregnant couple vehemently
defended their parenting "bible" - Babywise. For the sake of the other couples
present I firmly stated my views - that this book advocated dangerous
practices (by the way it is not the only book that advocates strict
regimentation of babies) . The pregnant woman partner turned out to be a
doctor at the hospital where I was speaking. OOps!!
I am still invited to do these talks in spite of
this awkward incident, and happy to advocate for babies.
This was just forwarded to me by a midwife who
takes the antenatal classes at this hospital -Thought you might all find the
following interesting:
Pinky
Babywise
Publisher Plans Contract Cancellation
Multnomah editor now considers Ezzo
book "dangerous."
By Corrie Cutrer | posted 3/23/01
Multnomah
Publishers, a small Christian publishing company in Sisters,
Oregon, has
begun severing ties with one of its most profitable and
controversial
authors, Gary Ezzo, according to a reliable company source.
A household
name among many Christian parents with newborns, Ezzo has been
unable to
shed doubts about the child-rearing methods in his popular book On
Becoming
Babywise. In addition, church leaders with past ties to Ezzo
describe him
as "disqualified" for Christian ministry and his parenting
materials as
"fraught with danger" (CT, Nov. 13, 2000, p. 70).
A central element of
the Ezzo plan is feeding newborns on a structured
schedule controlled by
parents, rather than "on-demand," whenever an infant
indicates hunger.
Ezzo's program teaches that in order to develop
respectful, obedient, and
godly children, parents must exercise restrictive
control. Ezzo and his
Growing Families International (GFI) organization
report that more than
500,000 infants have been trained to sleep soundly
through the night
through the method.
Yet many breast-feeding mothers have reported a
failure to produce an
adequate milk supply when following the program. Some
pediatricians see
inadequate weight gain, dehydration, and failure to
thrive among newborns on
the program. Ezzo has also instructed parents of
the importance of leaving
infants alone in their cribs so the infants will
experience periods of
solitude. Many parents have admitted, however, that
they left their children
crying alone for too long while trying to follow
Ezzo's recommendations for
scheduled feeding and nap times. Critics also
question other Ezzo emphases,
such as introducing a form of spanking in
children younger than 2.
Multnomah's decision to break ties with the
author came after years of
persistent controversy regarding Ezzo's
professional and personal integrity.
Several churches that Ezzo and his
wife, Anne Marie, have attended have
publicly rebuked the author for his
lack of truthfulness and failure to
distinguish between his preferences and
biblical teaching.
Despite having no medical training or health-care
certification, Ezzo first
published his methods in Preparation for
Parenting, a book that contained
many biblical references. Later, he
removed the religious references and
renamed the book On Becoming Babywise.
Robert Bucknam, a Colorado physician,
is listed as coauthor of Babywise,
although no substantial changes were made
to the original text or to the
methods taught after Bucknam signed on.
Multnomah began investigating
the allegations by contacting physicians and
other professionals qualified
to discuss early childhood development. The
inquiry itself was a reversal
for the publisher. About a year ago, Multnomah
issued a lengthy statement
defending Ezzo and his parenting philosophies.
But ongoing public pressure
from journalist Frank York, one of Ezzo's former
employees, as well as
Matthew Aney, a pediatrician affiliated with the
American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP), prompted the company to take a deeper
look. Aney wrote a
detailed article, published by the AAP two years ago,
listing the potential
dangers of Ezzo's methods.
Multnomah's Jeff Gerke, who has edited
several of Ezzo's books, spearheaded
his company's investigation. In early
March, when Aney became convinced that
Multnomah was not prepared to fully
disclose its findings, he contacted
Christianity Today. Aney provided CT
with several e-mails between Gerke and
himself.
Gerke told Aney that
he initially investigated the allegations believing
that Ezzo had been
unfairly attacked, but later changed his mind. "I'm
personally convinced
Gary Ezzo and his infant care materials are dangerous,"
Gerke wrote. "He
has no medical training and therefore no business writing
medical books-or
disregarding the advice of bona fide medical
professionals."
Later,
after a meeting when Multnomah executives decided to sever ties,
Gerke
e-mailed to Aney: "The bomb has been dropped." According to
Gerke,
Multnomah vice president Kyle Cummings called Ezzo in mid-March to
inform
the author of the company's decision. "Gary was instantly broken,"
Gerke
wrote Aney. "He was very hurt that we would have to sever ties with
him."
Christianity Today contacted Ezzo at his southern California
office, but
Ezzo refused to discuss Multnomah's decision, claiming there
was more to the
story. Ezzo told CT he was planning to meet in person with
Multnomah
executives. But in an interview with CT, Multnomah president Don
Jacobson
said an official statement would be released within weeks.
"This
[investigation] has been under way for quite some time and has
reached a new
height and level," he said.
The publishing company
could face legal repercussions for its role in
promoting Ezzo's materials.
Gerke admitted to Aney that Multnomah did not
have a medical editor who
reviewed Ezzo's manuscripts. "Besides these
[Babywise] books, we don't do
any medical books," Gerke wrote. Moreover, the
AAP has issued a statement
saying that Ezzo's infant feeding schedule is
inconsistent with the
academy's own feeding recommendations for newborns.
Aney believes
Multnomah should issue a public apology for misleading the
public for so
many years. "They're publishing a medical book with medical
information in
it, and they couldn't even spend the money and time to get a
medical
consultant to review the book and get a comment," he told CT. "It's
insane.
Multnomah should recall [the books]. They should acknowledge that
they've
been deceived by Ezzo. They are an accomplice and a victim. But
they're not
innocent."
In the process of gathering research, Aney says, he
discovered multiple
cases of children suffering because of Ezzo's methods:
"It was literally an
endless web of information regarding medical problems
associated with it."
Aney has documented the ten most serious
cases.
In defending Babywise, Ezzo has dismissed reports of problems as
poor
parenting, inability to follow Babywise methods, or infant
problems
unconnected to Babywise.
Frank York was GFI's editorial
director for two years before the
organization fired him. York said he was
instructed to examine the
complaints being made against Babywise. Yet when
he presented his findings
to Ezzo, York says, the author appeared aloof and
claimed certain parents
were exaggerating their problems.
Although
GFI told York he was being fired because he did not meet the
company's
editorial needs, York believes differently. "They realized I was
not a
Gary-worshiper," he said. "I pointed out all sorts of medical
problems. I
was very honest in the report. Gary does not like to be told
that he's
wrong."
York wrote an open letter to Multnomah last January strongly
urging an
investigation.
It is unclear whether GFI or Ezzo himself
will gain control of the
copyrights to the Babywise materials. "There are
babies who are still going
to be harmed," Aney said. "Churches are still
going to want to teach it."
Hundreds of church leaders have distributed
Ezzo's materials in their
congregations to first-time parents. Others have
parenting classes using
Babywise methods. "The more people find out about
Gary's character, he's
losing influence gradually," York said. "Multnomah
has had a reputation for
integrity in the past, but they have been deceived
by Gary for years. It
seems that they have finally come to the conclusion
that Gary lacks personal
integrity. This has been a long time coming, but I
am gratified that
Multnomah is choosing integrity over
profits."
Copyright � 2001 by the author or Christianity
Today
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