Pregnancy taboos -- from fear to knowledge: Lode Dewulf at TEDxBrussels

[@greasechoreography5501]

Thank you for speaking up for us! I came across the issue of being denied treatment in two separate problems I had during pregnancy. It's infuriating and makes you feel helpless when you cannot get the help you need. If mother suffers, the baby will suffer. It would be wonderful if physicians could remember this.

[@IonIsFalling7217]

What, pregnant women are people with normal human problems and not just walking incubators?! Why are people surprised by the fact that women GROWING HUMANS sometimes need to do things like take medicine?

[@MyEpilepsyStory]

Great talk! We need more awareness and education in the area of pregnancy!

[@elizabethgibbs5025]

If men were the ones who had babies, there'd be an entire line of pharmaceutical drugs geared to make pregnancy more bearable... not to mention guaranteed paid leave in the U.S.

[@melissadeseguin4449]

As a dental hygienist I have never ever heard of a pregnant woman being denied dental treatment because she was pregnant. We encourage routine exams, cleanings, and even radiographs if necessary. I don't know what country this woman was in where she was denied treatment but I can assure you that in the United States and Switzerland where I currently practice, pregnant women are not denied dental treatment.

[@marysmusicaljourney2.0]

Melissa de Séguin not true! I had to go through 3 dentists in my area ( east coast usa) before I found someone to remove it. All afraid of liabity I'm sure...

[@JRMcCabe]

Melissa de Séguin i live in the US. Thirty years ago pregnant women visiting the dentist was discouraged i believe because my mother thought like i couldnt go to the dentist when i got pregnant.

[@marahaquala1686]

I felt like the story of the woman being denied Dental Care was made up !

[@TheRealAngelGrace]

I was because I didnt have a pregnancy note 😂😂 so it happens in some places.

[@elizabethgibbs5025]

I can assure you that this happens in the United States.

[@cassiemil3148]

Couple thoughts. If health care providers, and particularly physicians, were knowledgable about and shared information with patients about alternatives to medications, medication use in pregnancy would likely go down. If our cultures were less focused on medications and more on ways to address issues that involve lifestyle and behavior change, medication use would go down. And lastly, if all care providers not only stayed abreast of changes in practice, but were also committed to changing their practice readily based on research, women would be offered care that is more evidence based. Two of those points are related to the knowledge and practice by and of health care providers. And this is where the biggest changes can start...

[@PickYourPoisson]

Kari Michalski I have to disagree with some of your points here because pregnant women are a pretty small chunk of patients and especially a smaller chunk of willing participants of studies. Studies take participants and not much of the population is pregnant women. Especially pregnant women willing to participate in a clinical trial. Even if this trial found enough patients, it would have problems with bias. Those willing to accept the risk may be people who already have children, are impoverished and looking for some form of monetary benefit to support themselves (a racial bias might even occur due to this), and possibly young women that could easily get another child even if the drug terminated the pregnancy. All of these considered, it is very hard to discover new information on side effects of certain drugs while pregnant. All of this aside, I do think hospitals/ doctor offices should think about including specialists in drug treatment to talk with people in need of alternative medication due to certain circumstances like pregnancy

[@aimsical285]

Kari Michalski I think dewolf was talking more about women with diseases that get pregnant and have to keep taking certain medications. I can think of 3 friends off the top of my head that take medications for things like a brain tumor, depression, and fibromyalgia. And those friends are in their 20s wanting to have children. I think the issue that needs to be addressed is how can these women make the decision to have children and still be able to control their diseases, medically or otherwise, during pregnancy. There is a lack of data and research being developed for situations like this and these women I know are just told no way, no how. I keep track of my health habits and medications I take. If there was a way that my health data could be used to help benefit a research project and the women who need questions answered, I would gladly participate! Any way to make informed decision making easier for everyone instead of having to sift through 100 useless articles to find one useful one. Most people would stop after 5.

[@TheKirschbaumfee]

The more i know about pregnancy the more i wich i wouldnt be the one with the womb.

[@autumngrace8541]

Liability, etc problems...however some drugs that my mother took and was told it was safe but weren't.

[@aimsical285]

I keep track of my health habits and medications I take. If there was a way that my health data could be used to help benefit a research project and the women who need questions answered, I would gladly participate! Any way to make informed decision making easier for everyone instead of having to sift through 100 useless articles to find one useful one. Most people would stop after 5.