Fed Up of Being Made to Panic About Everything!!! ( Sorry, bit of a rant)

[KJ007]

Just having my regular peruse through the posts today and it struck me how many of us come on here because we are worried about ridiculous tiny little things that we have eaten/ done/ forgotten etc that might cause some harm to our unborn babies and it's just made me really cross!! (hormonal, me?)

I am absolutely not criticising those of us who post because we are worried over things like touching a dog and not washing hands, or getting angry with DP and shouting or eating unripe papaya etc at all because I do it myself all the time like the other day when I was cleaning my bathroom window the other day and realised I was reaching up and that daft little tale of 'don't lift your arms above your head because the cord will wrap around the baby's neck' popped into my head, now I can't get rid of it even though I know its totally physically impossible!!!!

I am bloody well complaining about the misinformed busy bodies with their ridiculous old wives tales and the jobsworthy medical bods who feel the need to tell you can't eat something because there is a 1 in 10 billion chance that it might have some effect on your baby but don't know what because nothing has actually ever been recorded but, you know, it might so best to avoid altogether.

The fact is, no matter how ridiculous or irrational we know something is WE STILL END UP WORRYING ABOUT IT because MOTHERS ARE BLAMED FOR EVERYTHING!!!!! So I think it's time we started trusting our own judgement and common sense and ignoring all the throw away comments from foolish people. I'm not saying go and rub your face in the cats litter tray then go out and get plastered or anything, just try to chill out and not sweat the small stuff, panicking because you accidentally ate a lukewarm prawn will cause far more harm to your sanity than it will to your unborn baby.

Sorry for the rant, just needed to get that off my chest!

and breathe love xxx that was a good rant and I agree with it completely, people seem to have forgotten that women have been having babies for many many many years !!!

The worst thing is looking anything up on NHS Direct. I go there hoping for some sane, factual advice, but according to them, a side effect of anything you could do in pregnancy is DEATH. Teensy bit over the top.

Can I add to the rant can everyone stop treating us as though we are made out of glass! I can carry a plastic bag with two cans of beans in it, I can drive to the shop, I can carry on working, I can walk in the snow!

AmandaCooper - shhhhh. THE best thing about being pg for me was not having to do the shopping.
Course when the baby comes you crank it up to a whole new level of paranoia. I warmed some milk up for my DS in the microwave and I was stirring it like a loon to get rid of the heat spots. DS is 9!

I know what you mean.

I wasn't worried about anything in my first pregnancy, but now 26 weeks with my second, and last night I couldn't sleep because I convinced myself I must have given toxoplasmosis to my baby. Why? well obviously because I ate salami one day (fine according to NHS website), or maybe I didn't wash my salad properly, or could it have been that prepacked sandwich, or the carvery I went to incase the meat wasn't properly cooked. Not to mention the cat poo I found in my garden in the snow!

I need to step away from google!

I agree. I'm glad the guidelines are there and they're there for a reason, but being made to feel like a bad person for making your own informed choices is not on. I've been through miscarriages and they always inevitably make you feel like 'what did I do wrong' and blame
yourself, when of course you shouldn't, so it's really disgusting that people like to try and scare you with if you eat that your baby will die!! It only gives you more ammunition to hate yourself with if the worst does happen.

I'm with you - I am so sick of everyone panicking every time I go for a walk.... or even worse, walk up a hill. I have 'promised' I will not walk along any country paths, and will stick to roads in the village. Let's just say I had my fingers crossed

The other one is the paranoia that is instilled in us all about movements. My baby doesn't have a set in stone pattern, some days she seems quiet, and others she kicks around like a loon. That is normal for her, and probably has much to do with my having an anterior placenta (I often don't feel her move, even when I can see my stomach jump). If I took everything I read on here as gospel I'd spend half my life hysterical.

My mum's latest worry is about me having a bath when there's noone else in the house - now if I had my way if spend half my day in the bath!

"What if you went into labour in the bath?!!" "Er I'd get out?"

"But what if you couldn't get out?!" "I'd ring DH/the midwife/an ambulance?"

"But what if you slip and fall while trying to get out?!" "I'd get up again."

Hear hear. I was one of the paranoid people on here that was worrying about riding my bike to work (which before pg I had done every day for over a year). As soon as I got my BFP I stooped riding it, and now I wish I hadn't! Maybe my arse wouldn't be as massive now if I had carried on!

Some people on here are really judgemental though (have you read the drinking during pg thread?), and it irritates me. I like the fact that the massive majority on here a really supportive (particularly for me during first pg), I just wish the minority would be a little more restrained when commenting. Being pregnant is stressful enough without others making you feel guilty unnecessarily!

Totally agree. 2 types of people to avoid: 1) the ones who wrap it all up in cotton wool : example, my mother - 'you shouldn't be stretching' -wtf?? And 2) judgey types on here strike you down if you eat pâté/Brie/prawns/miss a few folic acid etc.

However when it comes to work I will use all of it to my advantage ;)