After a recent confrontation with a family member over the issue of ‘to vaccinate or not to vaccinate’ against H1N1, I realized that there may be a need to more clearly state what internetmom.org and is and is not.
Internetmom.org is a natural resource site loaded with articles, videos, blogs, research, and peer reviewed articles about vaccines, chiropractic, birthing & pregnancy, family wellness, motherhood, health & beauty, and breastfeeding. Our information is one sided. The information we provide is strictly within the vitalistic model, based on the premise that the body has an inborn ability to heal itself and keep itself healthy as long as there are no interferences. Therefore, in addition to vitalistic, natural information and resources, we provide an abundance of links to the little-known concerns, dangers, and effects of the mechanistic approach from doctors themselves, leading health and wellness experts, researchers, and independent organizations and groups. Most of us are already bombarded and privy to mainstream medical approach to sickness care or healthcare, that’s why internetmom.org is unique, and one of a kind in terms of content. However, if you are looking for mechanistic medical information there are hundreds of sites out there for you to pull information from, or ask your doctor for that type of information if it suit your needs and concerns.
What internetmom.org is not is what The Lancet refers to as a group of people who are ‘relatively wealthy, relatively well educated, middle class anti-vaccine lobbyist that have not done any research’. Yes, Kelly and I are well educated, we fall into the middle class, we live comfortably (not really seeing the downside to being in this “group”) and our children are not vaccinated, however this stereotype also states that we have done NO research and are lobbyists for the anti vaccine movement. In actuality, we are two concerned moms that have second full time jobs researching all of the issues that we provide information on, especially vaccines.
I could sit here and provide you with our “resume;” a list of all the books we have read (for & against the issues at hand), seminars we have attended with leaders of vaccine research, nationally and internationally recognized practitioners, and activists on every topic. But what this really comes down to is that our site is meant to be used as a jumping off point for our readers to use to begin to educate themselves on every aspect of their families health and wellness. Our site does not contain all of the information or all of the answers; it is just a resource site to assist parents on their research mission and to be informed consumers on these topics of concern. We are also not suggesting that we are the experts on these topics, actually our views never come into play on internetmom.org, instead we are providing you with our resume to show that we have some background when it comes to finding information.
An article in the Lancet called ‘Vaccine Safety: Informing the Misinformed’ stated that “concerned parents today are getting degrees from the ‘University of Google’ and that this type of education excludes sources of evidence based information”. Our website name came to us at a vaccine research and safety symposium where it was highlighted how countless mothers are being scrutinized for asking questions, reading, researching, and then questioning the doctors that provide for them. What grabs me about this assumption is that there are concerned parents out there that don’t want to be sheep and follow the herd; they want to take control of their family’s health. The ‘University of Google’ is used to find the resources parents need in order to further investigate topics they are concerned with.
Internetmom.org is here to provide the resources to those that can not make a full time job out of it and we promise to deliver everything from blog posts written by other concerned parents to evidence based scientific research published in peer reviewed journals from the leading experts, researchers, and professionals. And I would like to extend a welcome to anyone that does not agree with our views, please check out our site and submit your opinions to us. We welcome any and all dialogue, as both of us have gradually made the journey over the years into this vitalistic approach to our family’s health and wellness.
December 11, 2009
