Spooked*
On the one hand, I tell myself that women have been having babies for centuries, without vitamins and supplements and avoiding soft cheese and caffeine. On the other hand, as many as one fourth of pregnancies end in miscarriage. With stats like those, how does anyone spend those 9 months without holding their breath?
*no, I'm not pregnant.
4 Comments:
I thought the statistic was 1/4 of *first* pregnancies, not all pregnancies, with the numbers going up if you're over 35 years of age, etc.
And I think I speak for everyone when I say we're glad you're not pregnant [at this time in your life]. Keep those boys away from your knees!
~Sid
Not to make anyone more unhappy, but in the "Prevalence" section of the article, it seems to indicate the chances are closer to 1/3rd. (25% in the first 6 weeks + 6% afterwards (%8 of the remainder)).
What would be interesting to know is how much of those numbers is preventable versus inevitable. A quick google didn't find anything useful, but did turn up a few papers I didn't have access to download.
Guys - I realize as a statistician I'm sort of asking for it, but a dissection of what exactly is the right stat really isn't my point right now.
Even if you weren't a statistician, given your circle of friends (mostly technical), you were asking for it...
But to address the point, I think they do "hold their breath" so to speak... just more during the first trimester, since that's consistently reinforced as the 'danger period'. Once you get past that, I think the worry drops off a lot.
(It doesn't ever go away entirely, but my Ma says that's the parental experience-- worrying constantly till either you, or your child, is dead.)
~S.
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