As if all of us pregnant moms needed one more thing to worry about ...

A colleague e-mailed me this story today and then immediately apologized and said maybe she shouldn't have.

"It's really not good," she said.

It's not. The story is about how health officials say the H1N1 virus (swine flu) is hitting pregnant women especially hard. They have a much higher risk of serious complications and death when they catch it.

And on Wednesday, a government panel recommended that pregnant women, along with health care workers and children ages 6 months and older, be at the front of the line for a vaccine. 

I'd actually been thinking about this already ... not concerned so much about my safety, but the babies if the virus comes back with a vengeance this fall as some worry. My four-year-old was born in the winter and the doctor recommended we steer clear of too many public places until flu season was over.

This time around, flu season will just be starting. And the baby will be far too young for any vaccine (if one even is available by then).

If you are pregnant and show any signs of the flu, the story says to contact your doctor immediately. Anti-viral meds can help and we can take them.

And take heart that the numbers are really small. Researchers have looked closely at about 266 deaths vin the United States from H1N1 and only 15 were pregnant, the story says. Of course, that's 6 percent of the total number of deaths, much higher than the number of pregnant women in the U.S. population, which is 1 percent.

Now I'm thinking about my own safety. I've been careful about keeping my hands clean over the last few months since we first heard of the flu. Now I guess I'll be even more careful.