Daphne Adler - Debunking the Bump: What the Data Really Says About Pregnancys 165 Biggest Risks and Myths

Praise for Debunking the Bump

In this important book, Adler, a mathematician, management consultant, and self-proclaimed numbers junkie, equips mothers with researched data behind recommendations for what to do (and not do) during pregnancy She writes in a tone that is both authoritative and assuringthat of a mother rooting for all other mothers.

Publishers Weekly

Ms. Adler has taken the time to research many of the top concerns of pregnant women and not simply give a recommendation for whether or not something is safe, but to talk about it in a manner that puts it in perspective A valuable read.

About.com

Adler spent three years examining thousands of studies before compiling her findings the result is a detailed, often surprising examination that puts accepted pregnancy precautions into perspective, and even occasionally overturns prevailing wisdom an essential resource for any mothers-to-be who want to be more informed about the choices they make during pregnancy.

Nine in the Mirror

Ms. Adler has done her homework. Her book is especially useful for those who teach pre-conception and early pregnancy classes and will help any birth educator answer many of the tough questions asked in childbirth classes about pregnancy issues.

The Family Way

Debunking the Bump is a useful reference book for the research-minded parent and for the educator.

Babble.com

Copyright 2018 by Daphne Adler

All rights reserved.

Published by Familius LLC, www.familius.com

Familius books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases, whether for sales promotions or for family or corporate use. For more information, contact Familius Sales at 559-8762170 or email

Reproduction of this book in any manner, in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Note: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. This book is intended only as an informative guide for those wishing to know more about health issues relating to pregnancy. The author cannot be held responsible for any errors and omissions that may be found in the text or for the consequences of any actions or inactions by a reader as a result of reliance on the information contained in the text. In no way is this book intended to replace, countermand, or conflict with the advice given to you by your own physician. The ultimate decision concerning care should be made between you and your doctor. The author disclaims all liability in connection with the use of this book. Readers should also be aware that websites listed in this book may change.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

2017962274

Print ISBN 9781945547805

Ebook ISBN 9781641700474

Printed in the United States of America

Edited by Katharine Hale

Cover design by David Miles

Book design by Brooke Jorden

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Third Edition

Many thanks to Blythe Adler and Kimberly Chase-Adler for their invaluable help and infinite patience in editing the many iterations of this book and to Tom Adler and Claudio Siniscalco for their practical assistance in bringing it to market.

CONTENTS

Appendices

INTRODUCTION

What Are We Worried About?

T he Soft-Serve Scandal, May 2008: Beverly Hills 90210s Tori Spelling looked radiant, the picture of maternal health with her cropped blond hair and glossy candy-colored lipstick, a white-and-pink geometric print dress stretching across her eight-month bump. She had just arrived at Baskin Robbins, ready to promote the companys new soft-serve ice cream at an event called First Swirl on Bump Day. Toris job was to serve a few symbolic cones to other pregnant mothers, smile for the cameras, and attract a bit of publicity. She would be attracting plenty of publicity, but not the kind she had intended.

Tori was about to become the poster child for irresponsible motherhood, on a par with Michael Jackson, the baby dangler, and Britney Spears, the joyrider with an unbuckled baby in her lap. By promoting soft serve to pregnant women, she was apparently unwittingly encouraging them to put their unborn babies at risk. Is Tori Baskin in 31 flavors of bacteria? crowed TMZ, an entertainment news website. Several sources in the knowincluding one pregnant OB/GYNtell us that there are definite health risks associated with soft-serve ice cream for expectant moms because of Listeria bacteria. Softie machines can be studded with bacteria that can cause all kinds of issues for newbornsin fact, its pretty much forbidden for preggo women.

Across internet chat rooms, the disbelief exploded: Every day there is a new food that youre not supposed to eat Good grief! Maybe we shouldnt eat, breathe, or drink anything while pregnant, just get an IV drip and an oxygen mask, then we wont have to worry about anything. Or, as another woman complained, If all pregnant women were as overly cautious in all other areas of our lives as we are expected to be about what we eat, we would wrap ourselves in bubble wrap (as long as there are no harmful chemicals in the plastic) and curl up into the fetal position until we deliver. Speaking of harmful chemicals in plastic

The Case of the Undescended Testicles, October 2008: Exposure to chemical may affect genitals of baby boys ran the headline in USA Today. A chemical leaching into womens wombs and causing genital deformities! What could this terrible chemical be? A persistent radioactive remnant of the Chernobyl disaster? A poison spewing out of factory smokestacks, afflicting a whole generation of unfortunate children in the Third World? Brace yourself. The chemical culprits being fingered were phthalates, commonplace ingredients in everyday plastics, found in virtually every American home. As the article explained: Baby boys are more likely to have changes in their genitalssuch as undescended testicles and smaller penisesif their mothers were exposed to high levels of a controversial chemical during pregnancy, a new study shows. Undescended testicles? Smaller penises?! Its more than enough to make any prospective mother (let alone father) shudder.

We dont need to be concerned about either soft serve or testicles (more on both later). But only a woman with nerves of steel could make it through an entire pregnancy without pausing to worry about the safety and health of her fetus; everywhere she looks, there are warnings about potential perils. Pregnancy books feature long lists of what is safe versus what is off limits. Babycenter.com has answers to 176 questions across eight different categories on the topic of Is it safe?, including Is it safe to sit in a vibrating chair?; Is it safe to binge on Halloween candy?; and Is it safe to get Botox treatments? (In case youre wondering, the answers respectively are Yes, Yes, and Yes, but you wont need it since youll be retaining water and looking puffy anyway.)

In response to all of these unseen dangers, mothers-to-be across the country are heroically modifying their behavior during pregnancy, as a very first gesture of love and sacrifice on behalf of their unborn children. But there is still widespread worry and confusion about pregnancy. When I was pregnant several years ago, I became fed up with the conflicting headlines and the scary rumors I heard traded over lunch with my expectant mothers group. I decided to do some research to discover which threats were actually dangerous and which were merely red herrings. The result was this book.