dealings with doctors and hospitals

[Jenn_UCSB]

Hello all. My name is Jennifer.
I am a vegan student. I am writing a term paper on vegan pregnancy, and what doctors are like during this time. So if any of you have stories about your experience with doctors (good or bad), I would love to hear them. You can either post or email me. jenn_ucsb@hotmail.com
Also, let me know if I can use your stories in my essay. Thanks so much and I look forward to hearing from you.

[Erin Pavlina]

I wrote an article entitled, Dealing with Doctors During Your Vegan Pregnancy. You can read all about my experience in this article.

Go to: http://www.vegfamily.com/vegan-pregnancy/dealingwithdoctors.htm

Good luck!

[Jenn_UCSB]

Great, thanks Erin. I saw that light night while I was hunting around. It's a big help.

[veganmama]

This is my second vegan pregnancy and my OBs have always treated me normally, as well as after my son was born the Ped did too. Is there a specific question I can answer for you? Maybe your questions will spark a memory of something else I am forgetting? Tell me also what argument you are hoping to prove? Good luck. VM

[Jenn_UCSB]

Well, what I first read about that made me decide to do this project were horror stories about women whose doctors believed that vegan pregnancy is a form of fetal abuse (like drugs or alcohol). Doctors often believe this because there is very little taught about nutrition in most med schools. So, I have read about women being threatened by social workers, made to feel so guilty and scared that they've binged on meat or dairy. Also, as a psychologist, I am guessing that when doctors take a stand against a woman's diet, it makes her feel on the defensive which increases her stress levels and changes the relationship to the doctor and medical staff. By that I mean that women sometimes feel that they are protecting their babies from the professionals, rather than feeling that the professionals are there to guide and protect them.
But, these stories that I have read about are on the extreme side. And I'm sure that there are lots of great doctors that are supportive of dietary choices.
I met a woman this week (an omni) that when I asked her about diet issues during her pregnancy, she said that her doctor NEVER even asked. Did your doctors ask you? I was shocked. What if she was living off of soda and cheetos?
So, I'm looking to hear about your experiences.
Was your doctor supportive of your diet? or not?
Was the medical staff supportive? or not?
Was your family supportive? or not?
Did anyone say things during your pregnancy that made you wonder (even for a second) if what you were doing was best? or not?
If there were people against your diet, did you also have stong social support?
For this project, I don't have a set argument in mind. I am looking at good experiences, and seeing how the women felt during and after (security, confidence, happiness is my guess). And I'm looking at bad experiences and what effect those had during and after (I'm guessing guill, fear, stress, defensiveness, loneliness, anger).
Those sorts of questions, plus anything else you would like to share. I appreciate it, Jenn

[veganmama]

Jenn, here are my answers:

Was your doctor supportive of your diet? or not? Yes, very she just wanted to make sure I had extra calcium in addition to the prenatals.
Was the medical staff supportive? or not? My diet never came up with them.
Was your family supportive? or not? Yes because I had been vegan for many many years before getting pregnant the first time. My mom even bought me Dr Clapper's book on Vegan pregancy.
Did anyone say things during your pregnancy that made you wonder (even for a second) if what you were doing was best? or not? If they did it would have never phased me. Infact I was very upset to learn of two vegetarians (not vegans) that I knew went back to eating fish when pregnant for extra protein. They have never gone back to being vegetarian even years later so I think they must have been looking for an excuse, because as any vegan knows getting protein when pregnant is very easy (except when you have severe morning sickness and can't keep anything down! LOL)
If there were people against your diet, did you also have stong social support? n/a

I had an amazing vegan pregnancy last time and this time so far. I am very secure and confident and happy. Just one look at my son who is two, and vegan from conception would change anyones mind who is sckeptical. Infact some new friends who are vegan want to have a baby in the future and want to have their skeptical family meet our son!

My only negative experience parenting so far has been my desire for playmates for my son who are vegan. And I know no other vegan children. The only pregnant vegans I know besides myself at the moment are from this web site and not in my "real life" That is lonely in my eyes.

I enjoyed your questions and hope that it helps. I will also be happy to answer more if you think of them. Good luck with your paper! VM:)

[Tamara]

This is my first pregnancy but I’ve been a vegetarian for almost ten years and a vegan for the last couple. I went looking for a doctor expecting a war over my diet and was pleasantly surprised that my doctor was very supportive. He did suggest I make sure to get enough iron but was otherwise fine with my eating habits. Because I was between insurance when I got pregnant I went on Medicaid and they sent me to a nutritionist (I think its standard practice). Wonder of wonders – the nutritionist was a vegan! And she was quite pleased with my diet!

I have had a lot of family members criticize my diet and my plan to raise my baby vegan but for the most part it hasn’t been that they worry for health reasons – they all seem to think my poor baby will be deprived of junk food (like Grandma’s baking). In other words they don’t have much of an argument! My s/o is a meat eater but with the exception of the rare doubt he expresses behind closed doors he is very supportive – especially when dealing with family, friends and the general public – we put up a very united front.

The most disappointing conversation I’ve had with anyone so far was with another vegetarian. I was at a dinner party at a restaurant – there was a preset menu so of course the chef had to prepare something special for me (which of course everyone wanted when they saw it!). There were many people there that I didn’t know and I was obviously pregnant so I got a lot of questions about my vegan lifestyle. Everyone was curious but respectful and I got no criticism from anyone – except the vegetarian sitting next to me. This was someone I’ve known for a long time and she actually had a hand in getting me started as a vegetarian so I was shocked to hear her tell everyone that even though she is a longtime vegetarian and thinks meat is “gross”, she absolutely plans to feed her children meat and will even force herself to eat it when she gets pregnant because of all the good proteins. Ugh.

Hope that helps – good luck with your paper and let me know if there are any other questions you would like answered.