So…are you plan­ning to become preg­nant? For the last decade, preg­nancy has been in a 50/50 sit­u­a­tion. That is, about half the preg­nan­cies occur­ring in the U.S. are planned. The rest? Well, not nec­es­sar­ily unwel­come, but def­i­nitely unplanned.

Will this change in the cur­rent reces­sion (or as a friend said today, Let us just call it a depres­sion and move on)? So far, it is clear that preg­nancy rates are not drop­ping, despite an unwill­ing­ness to spend money on many other things. What does this say?

Once again, despite liv­ing in a high tech world, hav­ing babies is a pri­mal expe­ri­ence. It does not dimin­ish when resources are scarce.

So, plan to or not, if you have a baby dur­ing this depres­sion, do not waste your money. Fig­ure out how to have a healthy pregnancy.

Next on the Preg­nancy Path­way: the act of conception.