The CDC’s come up with 10 new guidelines for women in their reproductive years, including screening for diabetes, HIV and obesity, keeping up with vaccinations, abstaining from smoking, alcohol and drugs and taking prenatal vitamins.

That’s for all women who may get pregnant, not just those who are planning to. This has critics complaining that it treats all women as if they are eternally “prepregnant.” But some doctors say it makes sense, since half of all pregnancies in America are unplanned. The CDC’s report came out this spring, but here’s an article today in the NYT, pointing out that by the time a woman comes in for her first prenatal visit, she’s usually already 10 to 12 weeks pregnant and “if a birth defect is going to happen, it’s already happened.”

I know when I found out I was pregnant with my first, my mind immediately flashed back to a night of too much wine at a Chicago jazz club, as I did a quick mental calculation at the doctor’s office. Everything turned out fine with my pregnancy, but other women have told me similar stories of their own (ultimately unnecessary) bouts of guilt over their behaviour before they knew they were pregnant.

What do you think? Eminently sensible or overly precautious?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 28th, 2006 at 12:22 pm and is filed under Health, Main, Pregnancy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.