As if taking a pregnancy test isn’t anymore nerve racking than it already is, now a bar in Mankato, Minnesota wants to make sure women can take one in the privacy (or lack thereof) of a public stall.
Pub 500 is the first bar to install a pregnancy test vending machine in the ladies room, where you can happily find out whether or not you’re pregnant, for a mere three dollars.
That’s right. Right next to the soft soap, the tic-tacs, and the lotion, you can swipe your debit card and out will pop a packaged pregnancy test.
Tom Frederik, owner of the pub, thought the idea was “strange” at first, but welcomed it after hearing more from Jody Allen Crowe, expert in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and head of the organization, Healthy Brains for Children.
“It’s focused on prevention.” Crowe notes. “It gives you an informed decision at that point in time to stop drinking, your baby is going to be better for it.”
He believes that placing these dispensaries in upscale bars, will target the demographic most likely to drink while pregnant – financially stable women over age 30.
How exclusive.
At first, I was baffled to think that any woman who is pregnant would be more concerned with downing a couple beers, than focusing on the health of their baby. But alas, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14,000 pregnant women were surveyed for the rate of their drinking. 1 in 13 women drank when they were pregnant, and nearly 1 in 5 women had four drinks or more. Pregnant women ages 35 to 44 were the biggest drinkers.
Yikes.
Though several Pub 500 customers seemed enthusiastic about the option, it rather confuses me. I mean, if you even have an inkling that you may be pregnant, why are you in a bar getting wasted in the first place? And if for some reason, you’re not sure that you’re pregnant, but showing signs of morning sickness where you may end up in the bathroom, wouldn’t you just leave the bar and go home?
I mean really, who in their right mind would stop and think, ‘Hey, I just threw up in the bathroom. Maybe I’m pregnant. Oh! Let me take this pregnancy test that’s being offered here in this very public ladies room bar, just so I can be certain!”
Ugh.
What do you think about bars installing pregnancy tests?
I think this is a good idea, or give it some time to see if it is used. It may not be used by only bar patrons. I could forsee a young woman thinking, ‘hmmm I wonder if I am pregnant, where did I see that pregnancy test for just $3.00 bucks? Oh yeah the bar, I will pretend to use the bathroom and go and get one to bring back to my dorm/apt.’
I hope it takes cash too, as many college student’s debit cards are often still managed by their parents who put money in their accounts. I don’t think anyone would want a debit listed on their statement that says, PG test.
Finally I don’t think the person that wrote this statement was ever pregnant. “I mean really, who in their right mind would stop and think, ‘Hey, I just threw up in the bathroom. Maybe I’m pregnant.”
Sometimes women, including myself know within a few days of conception that something is going on with their body. You try to go about your life as normal, but it keeps popping up in your head, Am I? Nah, Maybe. Even though the thought of taking the test is scarry, deep down you know you have to do it. Going in the bathroom and seeing that machine with easy access, may just give someone the push and conveince to take the test, and not have another beer until they sort things out.
Fairy’s part two.
For those of you who don’t know Mankato, Minnesota is a college town with a campus that is ranked as one of the biggest party schools in the country.
Also pregnancy test cost about $15.00 so getting one for $3.00 bucks is a steal. They also have them at the dollar store, but would anyone really trust a dollar store test?