Anyone else think they make some of these things up?

rslilly1

It seems like nearly any medication is a Class C- largely because no one wants to do studies on pregnant women, and I can understand that. But ever feel like some of these restrictions are somewhat made up just because we have no idea?

I mean obviously alcohol and excessive caffeine are bad- we actually do have studies for those. But a masseuse refusing to give you a massage in the first trimester? That's just silly. And avoiding falls and contact sports makes sense when you're farther along and there's a risk for placental abruption- but does that risk start from the moment of conception? I doubt it. But good luck trying to find data one way or another.

kimmykaye

When my cousin was in her 1st trimester, she was hit in the abdomen. It caused a cleft lip to develop on her baby. There's definitely a reason to stay clear of contact sports where you could get hit in the stomach during pregnancy. I'm not sure why you couldn't have a massage, though?

animalcrckr

I would chalk a lot of those things up to our extremely litigious society.  Woman in 1st trimester gets massage, has m/c next day and blames it on the massage.  Files lawsuit.  

As a dentist, I know of a few colleagues who refuse to treat patients in 1st tri or even the entire pregnancy due to the fear a being sued.  There are not many contraindications to dental treatment while pregnant but some dentists would rather avoid potential liability issues.  People are sue crazy, believe me!

Mom2DrG

My sister did massage for a while and said there are some pressure points that help release toxins that can be dangerous to an early pregnancy.

Totally anecdotal: she 'released' said toxins for my cousins wife and she got PG very shortly after, they had been TTC for several years - or it could have been the drunken sex after crabfest :-p

jaztastic

I dont think erring on the side of caution is making stuff up. A lot of times its too ridiculous to say, you can do this until week 13, this thing until wk 22, this isnt recommended until after wk 19... So its simply "pregnant woman should/shouldnt". And I honestly dont mind. I'd rather proceed at my own risk, with medications, drinks, sports or other activities; rather than be told its okay and consequently something happen. JMO

rslilly1

I'm pretty laid-back, but obviously don't want to do anything too risky. So I wish they had a scale. Perhaps from "don't even think about it" to "we have no idea, so maybe you shouldn't".

The fact that the 140 heart rate thing pops up still, even though there is zero evidence and the doctor who said it try to get it removed, really frustrates me.

thegoodpotato

From what I've heard - tissue massage is somewhat like being in a hot tub or hot bath.  It draws blood supply away from the body's core to the extremities (or the muscle being massaged).  Which means there's not as much blood flow to the ute/bebe (this is what my doc told me).

The danger is less when you're further along, but while everything is going through all that early stage development and huge amounts of growth, blood and oxygen supply is a pretty big thing.

Ducktale

A lot of guidelines are made assuming pregnant women are going to cheat. As in, a few alcoholic drinks are fine, but they're afraid pregnant women will cheat and have more than a few, so they say don't have any.

Just a few weeks ago a study came out that pregnant women weren't eating enough fish because they had made the guideline too strict (same logic as above) so now they're encouraging pregnant women to eat, I think, at least 3 servings a week?

Apparently pregnant women are dumb and have no regard for the health of our babies. ::eyeroll::

Read "Expecting Better" by Emily Oster, it's great , and on this topic.

Irishcurls

Yeah I think the thing I just read said 2 fish a week. It's like most things in life: moderation unless you're part of society too dumb to understand that, in which case, nothing for you.

But seriously, the regulations of scientific studies are tough enough without getting pregnant women to possibly risk the health of their unborn child only to find out it really is dangerous.