Trusting Pregnant Voices & Combating Misinformation

The Challenges of Pregnancy in a Difficult Time

As we move forward into October and the challenges of living in this difficult moment in history barrel on, as a practice we’ve been talking a lot about the unique challenges of supporting our pregnant clients. Without hesitation we condemn the misleading and inaccurate medical “advice” about the use of Tylenol, SSRIs, and vaccine safety, but we know nonetheless that it takes an emotional toll. Being told to “tough it out,” the implication that women are cavalier in treating their mental health and medical conditions, it is just so wrong and so patently untrue.

How Misinformation Impacts Pregnant People

What we see in our practice reflects what we know in the research. That women tend to undertreat their conditions. That there is a culture of fear and shame around the use of medication during pregnancy. Heck, there is fear and shame and policing of most everything during pregnancy. In our current political environment, whether through restricted access to reproductive choice or medically inaccurate guidance around the use of medication, this is only getting worse.

Why Accurate Information Matters

As a practice, we believe that when pregnant people are armed with accurate information and supportive healthcare providers who value their wellbeing, they make great health care decisions for themselves. When they are not shamed, when they are given data driven information and empowered to make choices that work for them, and they tend to feel better too.

How We Support Pregnant Clients in Their Choices

While we do not prescribe medication, we are committed to helping our patients access accurate information, connect with trusted and specialized medical providers who are experienced in supporting pregnant patients, and making sure our patients feel empowered and confident in their decisions.

There is an old saying attributed to the late George Tiller, a pioneer in reproductive care, that simply states “Trust Women.” This simple message has been repeated in various feminist social justice movements, whether around reproductive freedom, or the #MeToo movement, that feels so apt for this moment as well. We trust our pregnant patients and believe they deserve access to providers that trust them too.