Vaccination Decisions - Who Should You Trust?
Most parents want to trust their pediatrician. We no
longer live in extended families. Moms and grandmas
frequently live far away so when Johnny gets sick,
instead of consulting with those close to us who have
taken care of sick kids, we confer with our doctor.
Most pediatricians are well meaning and want to do
what they feel is in the best interest of children's
health. However, when it comes to vaccination,
pediatricians often go beyond helpful suggestions;
they resort to fear tactics. Parents are told
frightening, "worse case scenario" stories of a child
who had serious complications from a childhood illness
such as measles, mumps or chickenpox. The children who
recovered uneventfully are never mentioned. The
pressure to vaccinate can escalate and sometimes
results in threats. Intimidated and believing the
"doctor knows best," the injections proceed.
Then you begin to read articles and books by doctors
who have discovered problems with vaccines.
The information about vaccine dangers is not opinion
but represents thousands of hours of research,
documenting facts even most pediatricians don’t know.
The information tackles mainstream thinking about
vaccines head on. Importantly, the information is
presented with detailed references. This new data
causes feelings of confusion. It is radically
different from what has been generally accepted about
vaccination for more than two hundred years: "Vaccines
are safe, effective, protective and cause no harm."
You spend hours researching both sides of the argument
to determine which doctor is telling the truth, which
information is correct. You struggle, you argue, and
you often feel very conflicted.
Both doctors are convincing. Both speak with authority
and present information you struggle to assimilate.
Which guidelines should you follow? Which doctor
should you trust?
Quite frankly, you shouldn’t trust either at face
value.
You should trust your intuition, your gut feeling,
your own internal guidance system. Sit quietly and
privately, see how you "feel" when you consider
vaccination. What does it feel like when you look at
your precious baby and know that injections are
planned at the next doctor visit? What does it feel
like to think about not vaccinating? If both feelings
are neutral or confusing, you need more information.
If both feelings are equally strong and negative,
examine your fears. Do you understand the real risks
of the disease you want to prevent? Do you know the
real risk of the vaccine? When one feeling is
definitely stronger than the other, that is your
instinct talking.
Moms know when something is not right with Johnny,
even when he is not in sight. That’s intuition. On the
other hand, mothers have cried while their child was
being vaccinated, praying that "nothing would go
wrong." That's going against intuitive sense.
We have abdicated our personal power to professionals,
particularly doctors, even though the medical industry
has failed us miserably in many ways. Parents, it’s
time to take back your power. Trust what you feel when
considering vaccination. Know that you are intelligent
and capable of reading and then understanding the
risks vs the benefits. The more you listen to that
"voice within," the louder it becomes. It is the best
test of the vaccine information you hear.
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