Raw Journolist emails on ‘Palin’s Downs child’

Maggie Mahar
Sept 1 2008, 11:50am

Dylan–

Her age and the fact that the baby has Downs does not mean that the birth will be “incredibly dangerous” or the the baby will need intensive care.

Downs babies rarely need ICU. And women in their early 40s have babies all of the time.

Brad DeLong
Sept 1, 2008, 11:57am

Yes–if the baby is head-down near the bottom of the uterus…

Yours,

Brad DeLong

Katha Pollitt
Sept 1, 2008, 12:02pm

I think people are making very narrow harsh judgments about behavior and decisions while pregnant that are not all that unusual. A lot of things look worse on paper than they do in real life. Sarah Palin had been pregnant and delivered four times before Trig. What looks to some j-listers like wild irresponsibility bordering on criminal insanity may have just been her belief that she knew how her body worked and how much time she had before going into full delivery mode. And, if it was her baby, she was right! she didn’t give birth on the plane etc.