Pre-Pregnant?

Last night, I read several posts in the feminist blogosphere talking about a CDC study and Washington Post article. Some bloggers felt that the report and/or the article argued that women should maintain a healthy lifestyle in case they should suddenly get pregnant, and not because being healthy is a good thing for women. Bloggers didn’t like that woman had to be always considered “pre-pregnant.”

I don’t feel like reading the report, so I’m not going to comment on it. But I thought I would pass along my pre-pregnant experiences.

My brother in law was born with Spina Bifida, which is caused by a combination of bad genes and the lack of folic acid in the diet of the mother. The mother has to have enough folic acid in her for a long time before becoming pregnant to avoid this terrible birth defect. That’s why when you’re planning on getting pregnant, you have to take your pre-natal vitamins for a few months before getting pregnant. That’s also why they drop it into all sorts of food products, like flour and cereal, since lots of people get pregnant unexpectedly.

Even after taking vitamins, I was careful about moderating my many vices when we were trying, which luckily didn’t take long. I would have two weeks of vices and then two weeks of virtue.

On other matters of fetal health, I’m a moderate. My aunt is a really, really big mucky-muck in the midwifery community. (No names or titles, so as to not get her in trouble). She taught me how to breathe and pant and also told me to just use common sense. A little wine and beer and coffee wouldn’t do much, but don’t be stupid either. The trouble is that moderation doesn’t really translate well into health recommendations. They always tend to be rather extreme.

There definitely is such a thing as pre-pregnant. My poor friends who try to get pregnant for a while know all about that. But should all women be considered as pre-pregnant all the time? No way. I’m planning on drinking martinis tonight.