Pregnant? Take this off your movie list.

So, a couple months ago, I was home alone on a Wednesday night while my husband grabbed a beer (ahh...beer - I'm looking forward to having one of those again soon) with a friend of his. I was flipping through the cable channels and "Jersey Girl" was just starting. I read the brief description: know-it-all publicist (Ben Affleck) ends up as single dad, meets young woman (Liv Tyler) who changes his life for the better. Great. I popped some corn and settled in for a relaxing night at home. It never occurred to me that (*spoiler alert*) Affleck's character became a single dad because his wife died of a previously undetected aneurysm while giving birth. I'd just figured he was such a prick (and he was--at the beginning, at least) that she left him.
Of course, rationally, I know the chances of having an aneurysm--much less an aneurysm that bursts during labor and kills the mother, even though she is in a hospital at the time--are slim. But that didn't keep me from rushing to the computer to Google "aneurysm and child birth." (There weren't a whole lot of entries, which provided some relief. But the fact that there were any at all made me a little nervous.) And it sure didn't help me sleep that night.
After that, I started rigorously screening all movies to ensure that they didn't involve any pregnancy or delivery mishaps or tragedies. Just to be safe, I stuck mostly to sappy romantic comedies (in the past few days alone I've seen "Casanova , "Must Love Dogs," "Shopgirl" and "Prime"--none of which involved pregnancies or babies, just a lot of baby-making activity). I'd wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone who's pregnant--or trying to get pregnant.
But my streak ended tonight, an hour and a half into a really good movie: Junebug. I probably should have been a little more wary when one of the main characters announced she was ready to give birth "any day now" (in my defense, the plot description didn't even mention her), but I was too involved in the film by then. I don't want to spoil the movie (so don't read the next line if you're planning to see it). But I really wish there'd be some sort of warning label on movies that depict unfortunate outcomes for any pregnant characters. If you're pregnant, I'd highly recommend waiting until after you've delivered to watch this one.
And from now until my son arrives, I'm sticking with silly slapstick and romantic comedies.