Hey, Baby Factories!

[bobquasit]

Are you FEMALE? Between menarche and menopause? Then the US Government considers YOU pre-pregnant!

Yes, the government now wants all of you little potential baby factories out there to "take folic acid supplements, refrain from smoking, maintain a healthy weight and keep chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes under control."

Just to clarify, those recommendations aren't just for women who are actually pregnant - they're for ALL women between first menstruation and menopause, all the time.

Okay, seriously, I suppose that those are good ideas - except the folic acid thing, I don't know about that - but doesn't it just seem odd? Particularly from an Administation that in theory opposes big government, and has been lowering environmental standards? Or is it just my own warped viewpoint?

I also have to wonder if sometime down the road failing to follow the government's pre-pregnancy recommendations will be criminalized. Oh, it sounds unlikely...but this is a strange world we live in.

Comments

[lubedpumpkin.livejournal.com]

argh.

[zarhooie.livejournal.com]

The problem with taking too much folic acid is that it can cause autism. :)

[bobquasit.livejournal.com]

Really? In an adult woman, or in a baby? I hadn't heard anything about this.

[dancing-kiralee.livejournal.com]

I've heard that deficiencies early in pregnancy can cause pretty severe birth defects (although I'm blanking now on exactly which ones). "Early in pregnancy" can mean before the mother knows she is pregnant (e.g. the relevant time period includes the first two weeks after conception), although increases in early detection technology may have changed that.

So, folic acid supplements may not be a bad idea for women planning / hoping to get pregnant...

Actually, I wish the medical community would make that distinction (planning for pregnancy vs. not planning for pregnancy) instead of the one they do (pregnant vs. not pregnant).

For example, everytime they take dental X-rays, they ask me if I'm pregnant... I think they wouldn't take them if I was. But exactly how am I supposed to know with 100% accuracy?

And here I am wondering how far they're going to take this... Does being "pre-pregnant" mean they aren't going to take the dental X-rays, just in case?

Kiralee

[unquietsoul5.livejournal.com]

It gets worse... you should see the stuff that riba_rambles dug up on this issue. Scary.