A new student service offers help to students who are “new parents, pregnant, or experiencing pregnancy-related conditions.” It’s a great idea to have such a service but I don’t understand why the description includes the word “or”. You can only experience pregnancy-related conditions if you are pregnant. There needs to be no “or”.
Yes, a small thing, but we are a university. One would hope we’d be more careful with language.
Happy August 1st, by the way! The summer is 2/3 done, which is always a relief.
Clarissa's Blog 
“experiencing pregnancy-related conditions”
I’m guessing that this is about services for spouses/partners/families of pregnant women?
But who knows….
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I guess they might be able to help women who just had a miscarriage or abortion? Not clear what they had in mind exactly.
The or makes sense to me as distinguishing the first two cases.
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That and possibly post-partum depression or other health issues.
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OK, that makes sense.
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Miscarriage, stillbirth, wife on full-time bedrest, baby in the NICU — fathers who are students might need support in these situations despite not being pregnant themselves.
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Can you imagine a man who says aloud that he has “a pregnancy-related condition”? Can you imagine a woman who will not experience a strong desire to commit acts of violence against a man who says he has a pregnancy-related condition?
I’m not going to comment on the extreme tactlessness needed to refer to a stillbirth as a “condition” to me, of all people. The need to do that sounds like a condition in itself.
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right, but what probably happens is that the young man, or someone close to him, goes looking to see what resources are available to support him in his pregnancy-related grief, stress, incapacity. This language confirms that this is a program he can use. Could it be said better? Sure.
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“Could it be said better? Sure.”
What the fuck is wrong with you?
The proper response is…. “I’m sorry, it was thoughtless of me. It won’t happen again.”
Anything else is pure nastiness including the non-apologyh “could it be said better?” Yes, a retarded rhino could phrase that better.
This is a bannable offense. The awfulness of some people….
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The moment we get to around a month before the anniversary of my son’s death, I start getting this weirdness. Works like clockwork. We are in for yet another round of this.
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Since they didn’t specify, I’d assume it’s a euphemism for abortion.
But if you’re being generous, yeah, postpartum complications, recovering from C-section, miscarriage, might all qualify.
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I once had a student who got pregnant by accident and didn’t know what to do. She trusted me and we had several long conversations about it.
I think her little boy should be in first or second grade now. These are the situations when one feels the importance of one’s profession very acutely.
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“didn’t know what to do. She trusted me and we had several long conversations about it”
Bravo! I haven’t been in that precise position but being trusted with personal information and doing your best to help them navigate tricky situations without trying to ramrod your preferred solution (and even if you’re one voice in a chorus) is one of the most rewarding parts of being an educator. Such a privilege! And to think so many educators look down on that aspect of the profession…. it boggles the mind
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