Meg Hourihan of Megnut points us to this op-ed piece in the New York Times about the cultural food taboos pregnant women face while gestating. He points out in Japan eating raw fish is considered good nutrition for expecting mothers and how pregnant French women often indulge in wine and unpasteurized cheese in moderation. Shaw points out faulty logic, a lack of scientific data and a culture of fear which creates these 'rules' for women in the United States. He goes so far as to call the prohibition of sushi/raw fish consumption insulting to the Japanese culture.
Meg goes further to explain her well thought out analysis of what she would and would not eat during her pregnancy. She says she researched each food prohibition, categorizing each restriction as one which could cause illnesses which affected the fetus and those which did not. "would eating something make me any sicker because I was pregnant than if I weren't? Or would the outcome be the same?" She admits the "puritanical impulse" and the resulting guilt Shaw
writes about in his piece was strong as she evaluated her need to be
worked up about what she ingested for the 9 (10.5) months of her
pregnancy.
I could go on and on about this issue as I've heard hushed admonitions of pregnant mothers from other women, "Is she eating a California roll? She shouldn't be giving birth if she can't give up sushi for 9 months." Gasp! A small piece of cooked crab with rice? CHILD ABUSE! But instead of listening to my anecdotal bitching, why not read something more well thought out and reasoned?
