3: Pregnancy

This chapter will focus on the mother’s health, diet, exercise, medical care, and work-life balance during pregnancy.

Content in this chapter might include:

• Prenatal nutrition and exercise
• Gestational diabetes
• Employment issues
• Obstetrician-patient interactions

Some background:

• American women often see pregnancy as a time to throw caution to the wind when eating. After decades of browbeating women for gaining too much weight, we have swung in the opposite direction. The majority of American women now enter pregnancy with BMIs in the range of “overweight” or “obese,” which can increase complications during labor and delivery. (1)

• Pregnant women struggle with navigating issues surrounding maternity leave. Living in one of the only countries in the world without national maternity leave benefits forces many pregnant women to work until their due date and then return to work before their infants are sleeping through the night.

• Unlike other countries where midwives preside over the births of low-risk women, obstetricians manage the care of most pregnant women in America today, regardless of their risk factors.

Some questions to consider:

• What assumptions do Americans have about what constitutes good eating habits and physical activity for pregnant women?

• What values and beliefs in American society contribute to the assumption that the government should not provide national maternity leave benefits?

• Why do most American women choose obstetricians rather than midwives?

(1) Listening to Mothers III: Pregnancy and Birth. New York: Childbirth Connection, May 2013.