Pregnancy and Caffeine
I am kind of weird when it comes to babies. First, to the amusement of many of my friends I refuse to hold infants. There is something about the power of a whole life being in your hands and totally dependent on you- that makes me nervous about my inherent clumsiness, and I don’t like to hold them.
Also, I am a big believer in little things that happen to children when they are young have an amazing impact on them for the rest of their lives. Kind of like a butterfly effect on personality and psyche. I would agree with the psychologists who say it all comes back to our childhood. When my future wife is pregnant, I am going to be such a freak. I’m going to beg her not to take any kind of medication, really watch what she eats, make sure she doesn’t strain, and get rid of all the “negative energy” in the house. In fact, future wife if you are reading this- you should probably save all your big desires and wishes for this period- because I will refuse to fight with you and probably concede all your points.
Anyway, in a concession to the crazies out there like me, a recently published study shows that women’s caffeine intake while pregnant can drastically increase birth defects. I think this makes perfect sense. Anything a pregnant woman is ingesting is being shared with the child obviously. Hence the old saying “eating for two”. Women need to be aware of everything they are ingesting while with child.
Posted on January 22, 2008, in Fitness and Health, News, Relationships and Sex. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
Yes, events during childhood (particularly traumatic events) have a disparate impact on mental wellbeing during adulthood. It’s amazing how many people don’t realize this- perhaps because it’s not something that’s too prevalent in popular psychology.
“Women need to be aware of everything they are ingesting while with child.”
i’ve always found the insights into pregnancy from men amusing.
you remind me of tom cruise and his theories on silent birth.
women have been having babies for thousands of years without the aid of modern medicine. they have had normal children under the most extraordinary circumstances. healthy women have had babies with disabilities, and unhealthy women have had perfectly healthy children. i
sure especially traumatic events will have an impact, but fighting with your wife and negative energy is probably the most ridiculous thing i’ve ever heard of.
The research on caffeine and pregnancy showed that a lot of the harm done was due to the increased heart rate of the mother and the heart rate of the child.
My thinking was that stress raises the heart rate as well, and the less stress a pregnant woman has, the less her and her child’s heart rate raises, thus creating a healthy situation for the baby.
I know it is probably a small difference, but if anything can be done to improve the health of your child- why not do it?
My line of thinking also comes from my characteristic of being a bit of a control freak. Pregnancy is something that I would have absolutely no control over, so in any little way I could do my part to contribute and help would make me feel better as well – a nice bi-product, if not a bit narcissistic.
Ebeth, you’re drunk. Give me your keys.
dan, i think you had a traumatic experience as a child. your mental well being is affected.
ebeth, please. end the suspense for us and just tell us whether it was the next door neighbor or your stepdad.