Another Reason to Love Feministe.com
I loved this post. Loved it. Zuzu nails it when she says:
God forbid a pregnant woman enjoy an adult pleasure every now and again without someone trying to shame her into giving them all up in the name of the holy baby.
She’s referring to the most recent study linking even a moderate intake of caffeine with an increased risk of miscarriage. You know, the one I wrote about the other day.
Right after I dumped my coffee and started going through my fridge for more offending items (which, happen to be all of the things I love - soft cheese, smoked salmon, anything unpasteurized), I started thinking, where the heck is all of this going to end?? I can live with the no alcohol and avoiding smoky places (even though I am sure that French ladies have been birthing babies, drinking merlot, puffing on galloises for ages), but come on! Tell me again why, if I am hoping to conceive I need to reform my tastes to that of an infant? Zuzu sums it up nicely here:
The message given to pregnant women nowadays, though, seems to be that they’re mere children themselves, so they can’t partake of adult pleasures, and while smoking, drinking to excess and taking hard drugs is pretty unquestionably bad for both the fetus *and* the mother, nobody knows how much is dangerous, how much is safe, and so on. So the recommendations seem to be that the pregnant woman has to quit absolutely everything that she may enjoy, and that she can’t be trusted to have any of this stuff in moderation.
Hear! Hear!
And here’s where I admit, that while I dumped my fully caffeinated brew, I have been making decaf spiked with some flavored “real stuff.” Scandalous! I know! But I’m not the only one. I was so pleased to read an email from one of my dearest friends who now happens to be preggers herself and she wisely wrote:
I was a little stressed by the recent articles saying it’s bad, but not enough to give up my morning husband-made latte.
A wise choice indeed. Her husband’s lattes are the bomb.
Tags: avoiding caffeine, feministe.com, food, health eating while pregnant, pregnancy, research, risk of miscarriage, websitesRelated Stories
POSTED IN: environment, pregnancy, research, shared experiences
2 opinions for Another Reason to Love Feministe.com
Jul
Feb 2, 2008 at 10:16 am
Great post! I’ve heard some infuriating stories from pregnant friends - often involving complete strangers lecturing them on what they’re not allowed to ingest. Pregnant women’s bodies are not public domain!
Gabrielle
Feb 13, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Update: my pal’s midwife just assured her that a mid-morning latte is just fine - for her and her growing belly.
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