The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) led a team that recently released new recommendations for women’s pre-pregnancy health. Most of the guidelines are old hat: treat existing conditions, stop smoking and alcohol consumption, take folic acid supplements, and maintain appropriate weight and nutrition. More controversial, though, is the suggestion that “all health encounters during a woman’s reproductive years, particularly those that are a part of preconception care, should include counseling on appropriate medical care and behavior to optimize pregnancy outcomes.” In other words, if you’re physically capable of bearing a child, you should be treated as if you might. Makes sense for women who are or are planning to become pregnant, and it may boost infant survival rates, but it’s also rather patronizing and not very individualized.
Even more disturbing is an example from the Washington Post, which helpfully explains how some medical facilities are combining preconception care with regular visits. How? Female patients are given assessment forms that ask “Do you smoke, and do you plan to become pregnant in the next year? And if not, what birth control are you using?”
There’s a good lesbian-marginalizing example to disseminate to the public. (Not that almost all of us haven’t gotten that question at some point in our lives.) Let’s give them a big ol’ pointer to the Mautner Project’s Removing the Barriers online course. Providers can learn all about “Culturally Competent Care” and lesbian health, and receive continuing education credits to boot.
(Personally, I say “Women” when I get asked about birth control. What’s your response?)
I have to admit that when trying to get a pap smear at a local Planned Parenthood clinic (I had no insurance at the time) and facing the birthcontrol question for the 4th time in less than a half hour (and it wasn’t casual, it was pushy, as in “WHY aren’t you interested in birthcontrol?”) I finally snapped and told the woman, “I avoid pregnancy by only letting women f*ck me”. That stopped the questions that day.
Funnily, the only time in my life I’ve been on birth control was when my partner and I were trying to get her pregnant. Yes, really. I was donating an egg to her and the doctors needed to synch our cycles, so I went on the Pill. I saved the box as a memento.