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Old Wive's Tales and Pregnancy Myths...


It seems as though almost every day in one of my pregnancy books or online somewhere I come across yet another Old Wive's Tale or myth about pregnancy. Today I read that if you don't drink enough water your amniotic fluid will get dirty and your baby will be sitting around in filthy water. This one isn't true- although the baby IS sitting around in amniotic fluid as well as the baby's own urine- but urine is sterile so I don't think that really qualifies as filth!

Another myth I heard recently is that women who have really bad morning sickness have girls, and women who don't have bad morning sickness have boys. Now if this myth was based solely on my experience I'd have to say that's true- I've had only an occasional bout of nausea and we're having a boy- myth proved!!! Except that my best friend and my cousin both had boys and lots of morning sickness... So the myth will remain a myth...

Here's another: if a pregnant woman raises her arms over her head the umbilical cord will wrap around the baby's neck and strangle it... Good heavens... How are you supposed to take off your t-shirt? Or get something off the top shelf? I'm glad that this one isn't true!

And finally, if a pregnant woman sees something violent or traumatizing it can start preterm labor. Now I'd imagine that if something happened in real life that traumatized you this could be true- people have all sorts of physical reactions to things... But I sincerely hope that it doesn't relate to things you might see on t.v. About a week after I found out I was pregnant I became OBSESSED with Law and Order: SVU. I'd never watched this show before but was flipping channels one night and stopped on it for a while because I liked Mariska Hargitay's haircut. Next thing I knew I was completely into the show and I now Tivo every episode and watch it every night... And for a t.v. show there's some pretty gory stuff! Lots of blood and guts and dead bodies... So I hope that this myth only applies to real life stuff...

There are, of course, many other Old Wive's tales about pregnancy and I'll keep you updated as I come across them!
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  1. Oh, I love that cartoon! I have to show that to Josef later!

    When I was reading _The_Other_Boleyn_Girl_, it mentioned a myth about eating asparagus to ensure the child that King Henry's mistress was carrying would be a boy. Didn't work very often, eh? But in your case, it would!

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