[michaeldhopkins]

As you know, any field is constantly advancing and sometimes it returns to an older idea and uses it in a new way. This is happening in obstetrics right now. It isn't that the downsides of sedated, prone births were "missed" so much as that they were part of the best birth technology of the time and innovation and changes in viewing that technology do not happen quickly. That model is now being replaced by births that combine medical advances with the mother's natural abilities more effectively.

Every scientific advancement must be preceded by a time when that advancement was not known or known but not used, no matter the age of the field.