Sep 3, 2008 11:13 pm US/Central
Palin Pregnancy Rumors Might Have Begun In Texas
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
A trip to North Texas earlier this year by Governor Sarah Palin may have forced her to reveal that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.
Almost as soon as Senator John McCain announced Governor Palin as his running mate, liberal bloggers started talking about Palin's latest pregnancy. The chatter revolved around a trip Palin made to North Texas in April.
At the time, she was eight months pregnant. But she decided to fly from Anchorage to Dallas to speak at a national governors' association energy conference.
While in Texas, Palin said she started leaking amniotic fluid and felt a few contractions. Instead of having the baby here, she decided to fly eight hours back to Alaska to deliver her son Trig -- who has Down Syndrome -- in her home state.
At the time, Palin's husband Todd was quoted in an Alaskan newspaper saying, "You can't have a fish picker from Texas."
Doctor Ralph Anderson is the local director of the American College Of Obstetricians And Gynecologists. He says traveling late in pregnancy can be risky for women in general.
"By 36 weeks, you should have a good reason to travel," said Dr. Anderson. "You don't really have a very good labor and delivery room on the airplane."
But ultimately, it's up to the individual patient and her doctor to make the call.
"The chances are the doctor has seen you recently, that they know when you've had dilation of the cervix or if you've had any other problems," said Dr. Anderson.
Although, Palin's doctor gave her the green light to travel, left-wing bloggers still questioned her choice and began to accuse her of faking her pregnancy to cover up for a pregnant teenage daughter.
Soon after, the McCain-Palin camp came out to clear up the rumors and announce that Palin's 17-year-old daughter Bristol is 5 months pregnant and plans to marry the father of the baby.
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