Comments on: Studies That Scare Women – Or, How to Get Through Pregnancy Without Stressing Too Much

By: Christine C.

Christine C. — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:44:10 +0000

Thanks for the link — and for all the comments. Amie, you said it so well: “we want to see accurate, clear, tested results that will actually serve the public good …”

I think the obsession with the behavior and health of pregnant women influences the media’s choice of studies and the type of coverage the studies receive — making it all the more important for those of us who write about women’s health to call it as we see it when the information does more to scare than educate.

By: Jacqueline

Jacqueline — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:51:14 +0000

Great blog. I think that so many of these studies make the news when there is still not enough evidence to definitively link it to humans (or to a large population of humans). Like a few of the other posters, I too, wrote a pregnancy book and can’t even beging to tell you the laborious process my coauthor and I went through to make sure all our advice was completely sound and not panic-inducing blips of unsubstantiated information.

By: Karen Houppert

Karen Houppert — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:09:36 +0000

There is a hot and heavy debate going on about this article on the NYT’s site which I found rather interesting. Lot’s of women are chiming in to say that their periods began at roughly the same age as their mother’s–regardless of diet. Other comments go on to refute this “anecdotal” evidence.

But when it comes to the “research” versus “anecdotal” info about the onset of menstruation: In fact, there is no need to rely on anecdotes.

In 1998, in the course of researching my book “The Curse: Confronting the Last Taboo, Menstruation” I learned that the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research–which is a terrific repository for all the studies conducted on the topic–drew from various legitimate, replicated scientific studies to conclude that the onset of a girl’s menstruation most often mirrored her mother’s.

This whipped up hysteria about early onset puberty (or “precocious puberty,” as it is often called) comes with a rich subtext about the horrors of teen sexuality that is worth exploring.

It’s also nothing new.

The below link takes you to an article I wrote for Salon in 1999, noting that we in the press like to recycle this story about early onset puberty every 10 years. The NYT here is merely one year ahead of schedule.

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/1999/10/22/puberty/

By: Leigh Ann - My Family Doctor Mag

Leigh Ann - My Family Doctor Mag — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:00:43 +0000

Bravo for reminding us to look past the headlines and into the facts–and that we shouldn’t live in fear because of the latest rat study. Our publisher (a family doctor) put up a blog entry today about this very type of issue, though a different story. Thanks for the down-to-Earth view.

Leigh Ann Hubbard
Managing Editor
James Hubbard’s My Family Doctor

By: Amie Newman

Amie Newman — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:07:07 +0000

Thank you for this, Christine. I think the stress and guilt mothers are made to feel from pre-conception (ie trying to get pregnant) through to, well, even after their children become adults, is a tremendous burden. We are so quick to link every malady, issue and potential problem back to mothers. And while we all desperately want to see more research and information related to pregnancy and maternal health, we want to see accurate, clear, tested results that will actually serve the public good – not guesses and sensationalistic headlines. I remember having huge difficulties breastfeeding my son and was made to feel horribly guilty for that. With my daughter, it went smoothly and wonderfully but I attribute that to knowing more, feeling more comfortable and “letting myself off the hook” to not feel so guilty and horrible if it didn’t work out – as happened with breast feeding my son. Guilt and stress over long periods of time, we all know, can very well cause physical/medical issues to crop up. It’s so important to be clear, to mind the words we use and to reassure women that doing their best is all we can ask of them – we can’t be superheros and we certainly cannot control for every physical, mental, psychological or emotional “mishap.” Thanks, Christine!