Pregnancy, babies and children

Forwards about pregnancy, feeding newborns, childhood illness and vaccines.

• Claim 06 · Children

  Vaccines cause autism

  Unsupported

  Studies of more than 1.2 million children find no link; the 1998 paper of 12 children was retracted.

• Claim 08 · Pregnancy

  Papaya or pineapple in pregnancy causes miscarriage

  Exaggerated

  Ripe papaya is a normal food; the concern is unripe latex, shown only in rats. Pineapple has no evidence of harm.

• Claim 16 · Newborns

  Discard the first milk; give honey, ghutti or water

  Dangerous

  The first yellow milk protects the baby. Breastfeed within the hour; no honey, ghutti or water.

• Claim 17 · Children

  Stop food and water in diarrhoea; ORS is useless

  Dangerous

  ORS replaces the water and salts diarrhoea drains. Keep feeding, give zinc, and watch for danger signs.

• Claim 29 · Vaccines

  The HPV vaccine causes infertility in girls

  Unsupported

  Large studies and WHO's vaccine safety experts find no link between the HPV vaccine and infertility or early menopause.

Every verdict is held against four tiers of evidence. How this site works.