Biblical Faith + Science + Parenting

It seems like most people think of doctors as scientists - or as “science people” - and people in my everyday life categorize me this way.  I have done some medical research, and I have a clinical profession in the sciences. Webster's definition of a scientist is someone who systematically gathers and uses research and evidence to ask questions and test those questions - in order to gain and share understanding and knowledge. 

Yes, doctors do that with regard to health, caring for the sick, and helping people navigate their health - whether it’s staying healthy or getting better - or in this case, navigating labor, delivery, and newborn care.

Today I want to charge you to also do that as a parent. Because science is about a deliberate and logical way of thinking.  It’s about asking questions, and it’s also about observation.  These are all things that are very much in line with our faith, with God and the world he created, and with who he made us to be as humans and as moms who care for and make decisions for our children.  We should all think like scientists - not the category of professionals, not the political groups of some physician association or governmental agency - but scientists in the sense of someone who thinks logically, observes, looks for real facts, and gets expert input from trusted mentors.

Medical school is first about learning how to think like a scientist.  It’s not about spitting out - “Blah Blah Blah is the right answer on the multiple choice test.”  In our introductory lecture on our first day, the professor told us that MOST of what we would learn over the next few years would become obsolete at some point in our careers.  That the actual details of which antibiotic to use, or which tests to order, or even what we think causes a certain disease, would all be changing rapidly.  Therefore, we would have to always be learning, asking, seeking, questioning.  We could never say “I was taught X” or “I always thought Y.”  Or even “I saw this particular thing happen in this one patient.”  We are memorizing facts and gaining knowledge, but that knowledge actually comes from a body of evidence from centuries of scientific thinking.

There have been centuries of mothers before us, there is guidance in the Bible, we have mentors, we have cautionary tales, we have a body of evidence that we can use as moms to help us avoid mistakes and make good decisions.  The same is true in medicine - medical school is about gaining knowledge, and standing on the shoulders of those who came before us, armed with real information - as well as developing a critical eye and a thinking brain.

Doctoring is always asking questions, testing what we think we know to find out the truth, sometimes finding out what you thought was wrong, or that it’s trickier to find out the answer and not as straightforward as you thought.  And then still somehow being confident enough to help make a call with the information that you have.  To say that based on what we know right now, this is the best course of action.

We mamas should never say simply “I was taught X” or “I always thought Y” or “I saw this particular thing happen to this one person.”  We have to try to find out the truth and still somehow be confident enough to make decisions based on what we know.   And this is the value of developing a decision-making strategy that involves thinking like a scientist, seeking expert input, and prayerful care. 

I would define this as discernment, and discernment comes from the LORD - not from a book, not from a degree, not from the internet.