# Listen up all you fertile lady dopers. You need to start getting ready for that baby! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 23, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940 "2006-05-23T19:04:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/1 "2006-05-23T19:04:16Z")
It’s true! So put down that glass of wine, and start taking your folic acid supplments and pre-natal vitamins, drop some tubbage and get rid of that nasty cat! Sometimes you smoking, drinking, thong wearing, tattoo getting, multiple pericing party girls are careless with your fertile vaginas and a slacker baby can take root. [So listen up all you “pre-pregnant” lady dopers, the CDC is there for you!](http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/68978.htm) > [@](#): > > May 23, 2006 – Hey, girl, if you’re capable of bearing a child, you’re now officially considered pre-pregnant and federal health officials want you to live as if you may soon be in a family way. Even if you have no plans to ever have children, newly issued federal guidelines still apply to you, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. > > That’s because half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned and a great deal of damage can be done to a fetus before a woman realizes she’s expecting. > > Under the guidelines, as reported in the Washington Post, all women capable of reproducing are urged to follow health-care advice normally given to mom wannabes. That includes taking folic acid supplements, maintaining a healthy weight, staying up-to-date on vaccinations, and keeping asthma, diabetes and other chronic conditions under control. It also calls for giving up smoking, talking to medical experts about the danger alcohol poses to a developing fetus, and avoiding contact with lead-based paints and cat feces. > > The guidelines urge health-care professionals to provide preconception advice and treatment to all patients capable of conception. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/2 "2006-05-23T19:13:22Z")
Huh. The CDC wants people to live healthier lives. Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/3 "2006-05-23T19:15:23Z")
Let me think about that for a minute: no. Wait let me reconsider! No. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/4 "2006-05-23T19:18:44Z")
I double up on birth control – hormones and condom. Never had a scare yet (knock on wood). I DON’T want a baby. I am not a walking uterus. I’m not going to live in fear of getting knocked up at any second, no matter what They think I should do! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/5 "2006-05-23T19:19:33Z")
> [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > Let me think about that for a minute: no. > > Wait let me reconsider! No. Don’t be be stubborn woman! You’re pre-pregnant! You have a duty to your as yet un-conceived, unborn child to keep yourself and your lush fecundity as healthy as possible. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/6 "2006-05-23T19:23:36Z")
I may be fertile, but I am most definitely not pre-pregnant. The Ivy Baby Factory is closed after producing two stellar models. I don’t smoke, I exercise, and I drink moderately. Other than that the CDC can butt out. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/7 "2006-05-23T19:27:58Z")
Hell, I’m all for it if it means I get out of cleaning the litter box. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/8 "2006-05-23T19:29:06Z")
Yeah, it sounds a little goofy, but considering there are indeed so many unplanned pregnancies in America, I don’t blame them for trying to get women to err on the side of caution. Taking folic acid is a small step that can help prevent very devastating birth defects (I wouldn’t wish for my worst enemy to have an anencephalic child), so if a few women take this advice and are spared that kind of ordeal, I’m all for it. ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/9 "2006-05-23T19:34:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Hey, girl, if you’re capable of bearing a child, you’re now officially considered pre-pregnant and federal health officials want you to live as if you may soon be in a family way. “Pre-pregnant”? _PRE-PREGNANT_??? Yes. Yes, that will be the message I will be giving my daughter as she grows into womanhood. “There is no ‘you’ in this picture, sweetheart. Much as I love you, you are nothing but a vessel for the children you will eventually bear. That is your one and only purpose in life. Don’t bother enjoying your late teens and early twenties, because you will be PRE-PREGNANT and anything and everything you do should be in anticipation of those children. That means no hanky panky with anyone before you marry, and certainly no birth control, because after all, that goes against what you were made for.” _checks forum_ GRRRRRRRRRRRRR! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e9c0ed/32.png) [@El\_Perro\_Fumando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Perro_Fumando)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/10 "2006-05-23T19:38:13Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Hell, I’m all for it if it means I get out of cleaning the litter box. Dang, you beat me to this. . . ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/11 "2006-05-23T19:49:45Z")
C’mon, girls! It’s “uter-us”, not “uter-you”! But yes, if I can get out of heavy lifting and litterbox cleaning and so on, I can get used to making constant claims of “Oh, soooo sorry, I’m pre-pregnant”. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/12 "2006-05-23T19:53:29Z")
> [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > Let me think about that for a minute: no. > > Wait let me reconsider! No. Not **just** no… Oh, I can just see the response I’d get if I went to my (vasectomized) husband and said, “hey, listen, Honey, the CDC says I’m pre-pregnant…” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/13 "2006-05-23T19:57:53Z")
Maybe it’s my lack of a uterus talking, but I don’t really see the big deal, here. Aside from the folic acid supplement, is there anything on that list that most doctors wouldn’t encourage everyone to do, anyway? It’s not like my physician hands me a pack of smokes as I walk into his office because, hey, I’m not ever getting pregnant! Don’t drink, don’t smoke, watch your weight, don’t eat lead paint… these are pretty much standard doctor advice which we all receive and routinely ignore. “Pre-pregnant” is certainly an annoying buzzword, but I’m curious how much it’s actually being used by the CDC, and how much of it is spin from a fairly baised news article. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/14 "2006-05-23T20:03:10Z")
It’s not the advice, it’s the attitude. “Pre-pregnant.” Why should we care? Aren’t we all “pre-dead” anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/15 "2006-05-23T20:08:37Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Maybe it’s my lack of a uterus talking, but I don’t really see the big deal, here. Aside from the folic acid supplement, is there anything on that list that most doctors wouldn’t encourage everyone to do, anyway? It’s not like my physician hands me a pack of smokes as I walk into his office because, hey, I’m not ever getting pregnant! Don’t drink, don’t smoke, watch your weight, don’t eat lead paint… these are pretty much standard doctor advice which we all receive and routinely ignore. “Pre-pregnant” is certainly an annoying buzzword, but I’m curious how much it’s actually being used by the CDC, and how much of it is spin from a fairly baised news article. Meh. It may be an overreaction on my part, but to me it seems like just another step in the government telling women how to prepare for being the baby hatcher that is their sole purpose. Do I want my daughter free-basing lead paint and smoking cubans? Of course not. And yes, it’s good advice to anyone who wants to stay healthy. It’s the whole “you could be a mother someday soon!” tone irritated. If you want to advise people not to do these things because it just makes good sense for their health, that’s fine. Don’t make it about just reproductive health, though. And if the CDC _is_ going to take a more active role in advising young women on reproductive health, it would certainly be nice if they were aware of all their options regarding birth control and healthy pregnancies and all the advantages as well as the dangers and pitfalls of becoming sexually active, and drop the whole “nice girls who want to become good mommies don’t do this,” routine. True sex ed would be wonderful. The plain facts with no spin, no fire and brimstone, no lecturing, no shame. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/16 "2006-05-23T20:11:10Z")
"Dear CDC, Just because you respect my vagina doesn’t mean you have to crawl up my ass. - The Women of America" ---
**Author:** ![Tabula\_Rasa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@Tabula\_Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabula_Rasa)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/17 "2006-05-23T20:15:19Z")
No contact with lead-based paints and cat feces?!!? Now how am I supposed to express my creative impulses? The CDC has no appreciation for real art. 😃 Tabby ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/18 "2006-05-23T20:30:46Z")
> [@](#): > > It also calls for giving up smoking, **talking to medical experts about the danger alcohol poses to a developing fetus,** and avoiding contact with lead-based paints and cat feces. Bolding mine. I bet it’s not the talk itself they’re after. Basically, they want women to pay for a doctor telling them what’s in every book on pregnancy: that no woman should drink _any_ alcohol when she could be pregnant. No alcohol whatsoever. In the books I’ve read, it says that even in the first two weeks after conception, alcohol is harmful: even a few drinks _can_ result in very early miscarriage. So basically, two weeks out of every four, no wine at dinner, no beer after work, no liquor-filled chocolates. As if we don’t have enough to feel guilty about. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/19 "2006-05-23T20:32:02Z")
I think the OP missed the key quote from that article: > [@](#): > > The CDC hopes that by following its recommendations, the United States will be able to cut its infant mortality rate, which is higher than those of most industrialized countries. > > Nearly 28,000 infants died in the United States in 2003, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Among the leading causes, the NCHS said, are birth defects, low birth weight and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. It is shameful that the U.S. has such a high infant mortality rate. And the problem with confining efforts to lower that rate to women who already are pregnant, or who are planning a pregnancy, is that by then it’s often too late. So this is a good and IMHO admirable compromise. Any number of women who can be convinced to make the necessary lifestyle changes before getting pregnant, whether it’s planned or unplanned, will help to reduce infant mortality. Of course no one has to follow the guidelines, any more than we have to eat the recommended daily allowance of vitamins. But maybe putting them out there, and giving them some publicity will prevent some tragic outcomes. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940/20 "2006-05-23T20:42:39Z")
Here’s the thing: it says “even you have no plans to ever have children.” OK, and suppose that, since my spouse had a vasectomy , and I don’t have sex with anyone besides him, I feel I have that covered, especially since menopause is not that far away & I think we’ll be together at least that long? Oh, no, says the CDC - you are too stupid to avoid an unwanted pregnancy. Besides, you could get raped, and wouldn’t you want that baby to have health issues because **you** were selfish and irresponsible, so no more beer for you! Yes, it’s all about the attitude, as far as I’m concerned. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listen-up-all-you-fertile-lady-dopers-you-need-to-start-getting-ready-for-that-baby/357940.md?page=2)