That's Fit

Jennifer over at ParentDish has a really interesting post about how women are perceived by their health care providers. It stemmed from a discussion over at the NYT's Well Blog, about all women of childbearing age being viewed as "pre-pregnant" or as "walking uteruses" when being treated for medical conditions. Do doctors assume that all women are pregnant until proved otherwise? And does it have an impact on their ability to treat us as whole patients?

This trend, say experts, started in the 1960s when doctors realized that drugs -- thalidomide was the drug in question -- taken by the mother could harm the fetus. Since the, when treating conditions or precribing medication, doctors have to consider the theorhetical fetus any time they treat a woman. At Well Blog, they're asking the question: Is this appropriate?

I'm used to being asked "Are you/could you be pregnant?" But for the most part, my doctors believe me when I assure them that no, I'm not. They respect that I'm in charge of my body and my fertility. Then again, on one very important occasion, I was wrong, adamantly wrong until proved otherwise through a pregnancy test. So it's easy for me to see both sides of this issue.

What do you think? Do doctors worry too much about a woman's reproductive status when making medical decision? Or is it appropriate to assume that any woman of child-bearing age could be pregnant?