A day before my wife went into labor with our first baby, we found ourselves strolling through the Midtown Global Market (MGM) with our friend Manda. MGM serves somewhat like a mall but with all local as opposed to chain stores and restaurants. After eating some hamburgers from Andy's Garage, and perusing some merchandise, we were on our way out when we stopped to look at a bulletin board. Among the various advertisements and announcements was a poster pedaling Herbalife. Herbalife describes itself as a seller of nutrition, weight-management, and personal care products; but with a market capitalization of $6.6 billion, many might consider it the world's largest snake oil company.
Upon investigation, I've learned that Herbalife is actually more controversial for its marketing techniques than the questionable efficacy of its products. It uses multi-level marketing, similar to Amway and Avon.
To be fair, Herbalife is far from a product line of sugar pills. Although in some cases, a sugar pill might be preferable. Until 2002, some of its supplements contained ephedrine alkaloids (supplements containing ephedra are now illegal). Its most popular product is the Formula 1 protein shake. I don't doubt that meal replacement shakes can be a part of an effective weight loss program, but I'm a little more skeptical of Formula 2, a multivitamin that contains 500% DV of vitamin B6 in addition to an herbal blend. I'm very skeptical of Formula 3 which claims to be a 'cell activator', whatever that means. Maybe we're too hard on placebos though. The Economist published an article about the research of Edzard Ernst into the efficacy of alternative medicine. Ernst studied “everything from acupuncture and crystal healing to Reiki channelling and herbal remedies,” and found that 95% of it was no more effective than placebos. Placebos, however, can be very effective. Some doctors are coming around to the idea that they should not be hesitant to prescribe placebos. Surprisingly, one study showed that placebo treatment for irritable-bowel syndrome was effective even when the patients were told that they were taking placebos. Sometimes the practitioner's job is just to do something, and then let the patient's body take care of the rest.
The amount of intervention involved in childbirth seems to be coming under more and more scrutiny over the years. Fortunately, the hospital we went to was a little less interventionist than most. My wife was never given an IV, an intervention that is routine at some hospitals. Artificial breaking of the water is still a common practice even though there is strong scientific evidence that, under most circumstances, it has no benefit. Is it done because the practitioners don't read research papers, or just because they want to do something, to feel like they are doing their job, even if (scientifically speaking) it is pointless.
My wife made it through labor without IVs or drugs or induction, but that doesn't mean that it was easy. It was long and painful and exhausting. Just when she finally considered opting for drugs, we found out that she was 9 cm dilated. Not long after that she began pushing. As she moved from one pushing position to another, a nurse came in with two small plastic tubs filled with liquid. She said that this was a special pushing juice, and that as soon as my wife drank it she would be able to push much stronger. I hadn't slept for 27 hours. Standing in the dimly lit room, the experience became surreal for me.
The day after the birth, I was carrying two cups of coffee from the hospital coffee shop back to our room when I ran into a former coworker. We talked briefly about what's changed at the company since he left. He told me that his wife was also in the birth center, but she got an operation, not a baby. “It's okay though, we have a lot of kids already,” he said. Naturally, this caused me to reflect on how lucky I was.
Standing at my wife's side during the final pushes, it was as though all of my life's failures were now insignificant. In a few moments, I would become a father, and my life would be redefined. Moments before my healthy son, Cedric, was born, I glanced at the label on the foil wrapper covering the special pushing juice: '100% Pure Apple Juice'.
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