Food Fright: today's pregnant women are afraid

[Gifted Gourmet]

article from Slate

Quite an interesting article from Slate today about the onslaught of information for pregnant women and how fearful they have become about what goes into their mouths.

The list of sketchy comestibles is almost comically long. Alcohol is an obvious no-no.... avoid deli meats (listeria risk), sushi (parasite risk), coffee (possible miscarriage risk), soft and blue cheeses (listeria again), peanut butter (allergy risk), tuna (mercury risk), liver (retinol poisoning risk), aioli (salmonella risk), herbal teas (untested medicinal effects), and any meats cooked less than shoe-leather tough (toxemia risk).

So, the author, Sara Dickerman, asks "was it always so?" Clearly not ... read on and see what she has to offer .. witty and profound, Dickerman offers insights I had never even considered.

Even if you are not pregnant, nor ever plan to be, or have a grown child who will someday have your grandchildren, this article may be of interest to you ....

[iamthestretch]

Times sure have changed. My mother remains firmly convinced that the reason I turned out to be 6'7'' is because, while carrying me, she religiously followed the orders of her doctor to sup a nourishing pint of Guinness every day with dinner. And, who knows, there's about as much evidence to support that contention as there is to back up the claims of the zero-is-the-only-safe-dose brigade today. Want to worry about something substantial? Worry about the chemical body burden that is our children's price of entry into our industrial society. Makes the odd glass of wine and chunk of unpasteurized cheese look pretty innocuous by comparison, no?

Edited September 15, 2004 by iamthestretch (log)

[Lady T]

My bet would be that, in a survey of a statistically large population, the process would turn out not to be as fragile as the food-fearmongers want us to believe. I suspect that the old "everything in moderation" saw comes in right about now, and that common sense (along with the careful supervision of a doctor who knows the mother-to-be's history) truly should govern.

[Really Nice!]

If today's pregnant women are afraid, then why are there so many of them this year?

[chile_peppa]

I remember scare stories in the press, especially women's magazines, 20 years ago when I was pregnant (a single glass of wine will deform your child, insecticides in fruit will deform your child, etc....!!!) It seems to me that writers (and other advice-givers) sometimes prey on the insecurities of mothers-to-be and sensationalize such "information" to sell their stories. And the drivel presented as scientific fact regarding nursing and feeding of infants and toddlers -- yeesh, a little common sense and trust in your own instincts go a long way!

[shelly59]

If you want to have some REAL fun, try eating out with a pregnant woman who thinks the "forbidden foods" thing is nuts. I was appalled at how many people thought it perfectly ok to come up to Kathe and tell her she was going to either hurt or kill her baby cus she was drinking a glass of wine or whatever.

It was awful.

And her baby is just FINE, thank you very much.

[docsconz]

I strongly believe in the anything in moderation credo and that one must live one's life. The thing to be wary of is consideration of what constitutes moderation. Unfortunately it does not mean the same thing to different people. Ultimately, one should be responsible for oneself and deal with any potential consequences accordingly. That doesn't mean that there is no potential value in these studies, although the science behind them is often murky at best. One should use them to help guide what constitutes moderation. Is it absolutely necessary to avoid all alcohol during pregnancy? Generations of Europeans would argue that that is not the case. On the other hand the existence of fetal alcohol syndrome is all too real. It can be a fine line.

[therese]

I just love reading stuff like this: "any meats cooked less than shoe-leather tough (toxemia risk)". The author means toxoplasmosis (a parasite infection that you usually get from cat poop, but can get from meat), not toxemia (a lay term for pre-eclampsia). But hey, who needs fact checkers?

Fetal alcohol syndrome results from very high intake, particularly early in pregnancy.

[docsconz]

I just love reading stuff like this: "any meats cooked less than shoe-leather tough (toxemia risk)".  The author means toxoplasmosis (a parasite infection that you usually get from cat poop, but can get from meat), not toxemia (a lay term for pre-eclampsia). But hey, who needs fact checkers?

Fetal alcohol syndrome results from very high intake, particularly early in pregnancy.

←

You are correct on both counts, however, "very high intake" is not really well defined. I don't really believe in absolutes, but it is easy for someone to rationalize that her (or his in other circumstances) particular intake of alcohol or other substances isn't "very high" even though (s)he may be. Unfortunately, because some people have difficulty regulating themselves, the government feels obligated to intercede and make recommendations that are extreme.

[KatieLoeb]

Oh ferchissakes. Have we forgotten the days of yore when there was nothing to drink but mead (fermented beverages were preferable to the local water supply) and women would squat in the fields and give birth to strapping babies and continue sheaving wheat as if nothing had happened. With better medical care also comes more and more paranoia. Of course doing shots of tequila while pregnant is decidedly unwise. Having a glass of wine with dinner occasionally is not a big deal. Some women with high risk pregnancies are actually prescribed a glass of wine nightly to prevent premature labor. Drinking in early pregnancy is the greatest danger. How many women drank like fish before they even realized they were pregnant? How many women were drunk as sailors on shore leave at the moment of conception???

Follow one's own doctor's advice. They are the only ones with enough information on any particular pregnancy to give advice.

[Pan]

Oh ferchissakes.  Have we forgotten the days of yore when there was nothing to drink but mead (fermented beverages were preferable to the local water supply) and women would squat in the fields and give birth to strapping babies and continue sheaving wheat as if nothing had happened.

←

How high were infant mortality rates in those days? Let's not forget that they were way higher than nowadays, as were maternal mortality rates. Changes in the amounts of alcohol consumed by pregnant women probably had little to do with that, but who knows for sure? Let's not assume that all practices of the olden days were good. People in days of yore did what they thought best, and what they could, with the knowledge, beliefs, and resources they had. We do the same with the knowledge, beliefs, and resources we have.

[KatieLoeb]

How high were infant mortality rates in those days? Let's not forget that they were way higher than nowadays, as were maternal mortality rates. Changes in the amounts of  alcohol consumed by pregnant women probably had little to do with that, but who knows for sure? Let's not assume that all practices of the olden days were good. People in days of yore did what they thought best, and what they could, with the knowledge, beliefs, and resources they had. We do the same with the knowledge, beliefs, and resources we have.

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Michael:

I certainly wasn't implying that those practices were better, just that women have managed under far more adverse circumstances than the hygenic conditions and excellent pre-natal care that's available nowadays. With higher a level of medical knowledge comes the greater level of paranoia because there's so vast a collection of not yet proven links like allergies, exercise, etc. Yes - those are the resources we have at our disposal, but there's also the danger of overthinking things to the point of making pregnant women practically bedridden invalids that can only eat sterilized foods for the duration of their gestation.

[Pan]

I didn't use the word "prejudice" in my last post in this thread, but we could say that people in former years had their prejudices and we have ours. Eating only sterilized food would seem like a modern superstition to me. So we're not fundamentally in disagreement. And the other thing that you're hinting at but not saying right out is that there's such a thing as too much care. I agree, and I think it's abundantly clear that excessive reliance on modern technology and surgery sometimes increases risks in pregnancy and childbirth - notably, through wildly excessive caesarian sections. Having only sterilized food may not be so disconnected from the kind of thinking that results in unnecessary caesarian sections as one might think. The commonality is fear of the risks of natural processes that are usually manageable (feet-first births, etc., which a good midwife can deal with, and eating food that may have some bacteria in it). Consider that the overuse of antibiotics has been unhealthful because it's encouraged the growth and spread of multi-resistant organisms. It's well known that when babies eat dirt, they build up immunity to the local bacteria. It could be hypothesized that the process begins in the womb, but perhaps not if all food is thoroughly sterilized.

Edited September 16, 2004 by Pan (log)

[snowangel]

As the mother of Heidi, I have spent countless hours with children with disabilities -- in schools in "tough" neighborhoods, in parenting of children with disabilities groups. Most of them that I have encountered have been disabled not by food, but by genetics (some luck of the draw, as with Heidi, some because of heredity).

For many prengant women, it is not about what is good to eat, but about what they can stomach. Said from a woman who was so sick the entire time she struggled to gain the 6 lbs. she did.

I've been pregnant 3 times. Every time, in public, everything I consumed was viewed and commented on. It was horrible. I felt as if I were on display.

Don't get me wrong. There are lots of FAS and crack babies out there. But, there are far more that are they way they are because of what happened one night, without anything but organic food and lots of love.

[KatieLoeb]

Susan:

You're the second person in this thread (Shelly59 being first) to comment on random strangers having the unmitigated gall to presume to tell you what to eat or drink. I find that appalling. Unless I literally saw a very obviously pregant woman lining up shots at the bar (and then I'd tell the manager to fire the bartender and handle it, not me) I'd feel no need to insert myself so rudely into someone else's business.

I guess this falls into the same category as perfect strangers who feel it's OK to feel a pregnant woman's belly without asking.

Were these people all raised by wolves? What is up with that?

[snowangel]

Katie, one of the things I hated about being pregnant (other than barfing all of the time) was being so public. People seem to assume that you are there for them to fondle, ask about, whatever. A friend and I, both pregnant, both had people ask about our bowel habits. In an elevator, no less. Both askers were strangers. YIKES! Don't get me wrong. I loved having babies. It was just what other people said during the gestational period that pissed me off.

[Pan]

Susan:

You're the second person in this thread (Shelly59 being first) to comment on random strangers having the unmitigated gall to presume to tell you what to eat or drink.  I find that appalling.  Unless I literally saw a very obviously pregant woman lining up shots at the bar (and then I'd tell the manager to fire the bartender and handle it, not me) I'd feel no need to insert myself so rudely into someone else's business.

I guess this falls into the same category as perfect strangers who feel it's OK to feel a pregnant woman's belly without asking.

Were these people all raised by wolves? What is up with that?

←

Katie, I have a feeling Romulus and Remus would be more gentlemanly than that...

[therese]

You are correct on both counts, however, "very high intake" is not really well defined. I don't really believe in absolutes, but it is easy for someone to rationalize that her (or his in other circumstances) particular intake of alcohol or other substances isn't "very high" even though (s)he may be. Unfortunately, because some people have difficulty regulating themselves, the government feels obligated to intercede and make recommendations that are extreme.

←

I agree with the difficulty of defining "very high intake" without giving some actual numbers, but it's well within the realm of possibilities for the government and professional societies to make recommendations that are not absolutes. Something along the lines of "no more than one drink per day, no more than a total of three drinks per week". Very conservative actually, and it would keep strangers from poking their noses where they don't belong. Well, actually, it wouldn't, but at least I could enjoy a glass of champagne for my wedding anniversary without the server giving me the "eye".

[JPW]

As a proud poppa of a post-natal Peanut, I find this article's theme strikes home. There is definitely information overload. Paranoia runs through almost all of the women I know who have recently been pregnant. The worst example comes from the No. 1 pregnancy book "What to Expect When You're Expecting".

Doctors, deathly afraid of lawsuits, make the most restrictive recommendations. OB-GYNs have amongst the highest malpractice premiums and are more cautious than your average General Practician.

Without commenting on the alcohol thing, this hearkening back to the past strikes me as forgetting something very key - the shit that the Industrial Revolution has pumped into our environment. People didn't worry about eating tuna in the past because there wasn't the amount of mercury in the waters. People didn't worry about fruit and veggies because there were almost no pesticides or soil pollution.

Please get off of your high horses, pregnancy is an extremely personal matter. Just as many have decried strangers looking askance at pregnant women having a sip of wine, I get the same feeling of noseyness and disdain from those here who have talked about pregnant women avoiding things. Look in the mirror before you put fingers to keyboard.

If you think I'm misreading things than I apologize in advance.

Edited September 16, 2004 by JPW (log)

[hjshorter]

As a proud poppa of a post-natal Peanut, I find this article's theme strikes home. There is definitely information overload. Paranoia runs through almost all of the women I know who have recently been pregnant. The worst example comes from the No. 1 pregnancy book "What to Expect When You're Expecting".

I always referred to it as "What To Fear When You're Expecting." The pregnancy diet is well-intentioned but laughable. Blackstrap molasses, liver, and kale anyone?

Please get off of your high horses, pregnancy is an extremely personal matter. Just as many have decried strangers looking askance at pregnant women having a sip of wine, I get the same feeling of noseyness and disdain from those here who have talked about pregnant women avoiding things. Look in the mirror before you put fingers to keyboard.

If you think I'm misreading things than I apologize in advance.

←

I don't think you are. Nothing guarantees a perfect outcome, but as the veteran of two high-risk pregnancies (with stillbirth and/or maternal death as possible outcomes) if the doctor recommends avoiding something, as much as it may inconvenience your tastebuds, you do it. It may increase the odds of a healthy baby. It may make no difference whatsover. However ridiculous or overblown it may seem to non-participants, the fear and concern are very real and difficult to reason out of when the stakes are so high.

And unless you're the woman's OB, refraining from comment either way is most likely the safest option.

Edited September 16, 2004 by hjshorter (log)

[tanabutler]

Fetal alcohol syndrome results from very high intake, particularly early in pregnancy.

←

Tragically, this is not the only scenario.

Last month, a young cousin of mine choked on his dinner. No one knew the Heimlich maneuver and he went into a coma from which the only release was death. (They took him off life support after a few days.)

Before he died, his mother came to the hospital. When questioned about certain aspects of her pregnancy, she recounted having had her labor delayed with an alcohol drip for weeks prior to his (premature) birth. We only learned while he was on his deathbed that he had fetal alcohol syndrome. (It explained a lot about his brief and tragic life.)

They have since discontinued that method of staving off labor.

As to why pregnant woman are afraid, I agree with the assessment that fear sells in the media. (Especially the American media.)