May 17, 2006

Forever Pre-Pregnant

According an article by January W. Payne in the Washington Post yesterday,

"New federal guidelines ask all females capable of conceiving a baby to treat themselves -- and to be treated by the health care system -- as pre-pregnant, regardless of whether they plan to get pregnant anytime soon.

Among other things, this means all women between first menstrual period and menopause should take folic acid supplements, refrain from smoking, maintain a healthy weight and keep chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes under control... Women should also make sure all vaccinations are up-to-date and avoid contact with lead-based paints and cat feces..."

Thanks for the tips!

Say, here's an idea: why don't you recommend all of these obviously health-promoting guidelines to women without attaching the guilt/fear factor of infant mortality? Maybe I'm just one of these women...

"Experts acknowledge that women with no plans to get pregnant in the near future may resist preconception care.

'We know that women -- unless you're actively planning [a pregnancy], . . . she doesn't want to talk about it," Biermann said. So clinicians must find a "way to do this and not scare women," by promoting preconception care as part of standard women's health care, she said."

There is something very The Handmaid's Tale about this. Not to mention the near-complete disregard for women who have decided to be childfree.


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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Touché! Everybody, let's go out and rent The Handmaid's Tale this weekend and put up some inspired posts/comments about it next week.

Hillari said...

I wish a doctor would come to me with that nonsense. Utterly disrespectful of personal choice.

Shannon Morgan said...

Teri- thanks for adding the author credit for the article and cleaning up my formatting! I look forward to discussing the book/movie.

Laura S. Scott said...

Ohmygod,
What are the suggestions for pre-pregnant fathers?
Give up smoking, set your alarm for 3 a.m. and practice bottle-feeding your cat with your eyes closed, max out your 401K contributions, and assemble a jungle gym in your back yard?

twiga92 said...

Oh, this so irritates me! I'm not planning on having kids but it's assumed that I will at some point? Why is it that society still just lumps us all together? We are not all alike!

Britgirl said...

What part of the words Not. Getting. Pregnant. do they not understand?

Green Stone said...

After I get my tubal, I think I should bring along a doctor's note so I can drink myself silly.

Anonymous said...

I am LOL, right off my big blue boundy ball that I use for a chair!

Anonymous said...

We are all correct in the loud assumption that we are going to have kids. "pre-pregnant". But the massive unthought(regular joes never thinking for themselves) population does not take care and often give birth to sick babies. We the thoughtful( people who have thought it all out) end up paying extra for them. Whats the world to do?