Male podcaster tried to mansplain childbirth to women and got delivered a reality check of his own

D. Alec Zeck (@alec_zeck), a former handball player and vaccine-skeptic host of a podcast called 'The Way Forward,' is ruling X, but for all the wrong reasons. Recently, he shared what he thinks about childbirth, and it's not something people appreciated. He said birth isn't an emergency and doesn't require the presence of a "white-coated pharmaceutical salesman cosplaying as a health expert." Zeck said childbirth is natural and not inherently dangerous or pathological. "The medical establishment has conditioned women to believe they’re broken and incapable, and that birth is something to fear. Birth is a sacred ceremony of creation to revere," he added on November 2. 

People, especially women, were obviously offended by Zeck's remarks as they believed it was too insensitive on his part to spread misleading information online.  For instance, @aaron_nalder commented, "You know what else is natural? Mothers are dying while giving birth. It used to happen all the time. It doesn’t happen as much anymore because of God-given medical advances." @canadiandivadi wrote, "When men have to push a watermelon through a hole the size of an apple with their own bodies, maybe then you can have an opinion about childbirth."

Lashing out at the man, @ummnope7 wrote, "Tell you what, Alex. You go away, develop ovaries & a womb, get yourself pregnant & squeeze one out all on your own with no pain relief, then come back & start your lecture. Until then, sit down & stfu, you incel."  @bookkeepplus wrote, "Nothing but absolutist language that ignores the reality of medical risk. In the 19th-century U.S., there were roughly 600–900 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Thankfully, that has improved because we didn’t romanticize nature and reject medical progress." 

@llynneirwin commented, "If it had not been for established medical practices, I would not be here today. The birth of my eldest only happened because of those doctors. My son was 23 1/2 inches long at birth & weighed 9 lbs. His butt was stuck under my rib cage, and his head was too large to get through my cervix. A C-section had to be performed. FYI, due to the stress on my body, I died on the OR table. They were able to resuscitate me. My son was born alive and is still alive today thanks to those doctors in white coats. Your quackery will kill women and babies if people listen to you. Women, listen to your OB/GYN and not quacks."

Similarly, @leekurtiss added, "I just love it when men mansplain what happens to women's bodies when giving birth in order to gaslight women into getting pregnant. When they pretend there's 'no danger,' & that's not even getting to half of women's bodies being permanently damaged from giving birth." @stephsequin sarcastically explained, "Yeah, man, you’re so right. It would have been so much better if doctors hadn’t intervened when a close friend nearly died twice during her second delivery. It would have been more natural if she had just bled out. It would definitely have been a better option for the baby and her family, too."

The reaction is totally justified, considering the maternal mortality across the globe. In 2023, over 700 women died every single day from pregnancy and childbirth-related complications, according to the World Health Organization. In fact, the report estimated that an expecting mom died almost every 2 minutes in 2023. Moreover, it was observed that over 90% of all maternal deaths happened in low- and lower-middle-income countries. 

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