Discover the old wives’ tales about pregnancy you can ignore

When you’re pregnant, you get advice from old wives, new wives, grandmothers, friends and strangers. However, old wives’ tales about pregnancy are usually just plain wrong. The experienced physicians at Athens ObGyn encourage you to ask questions about any troubling or intriguing tales.

Folklore that claims to predict a baby’s sex

Before we had ultrasounds, people came up with many ways to “predict” whether you were having a boy or a girl. Here are a few we know about.

• If your baby’s heart rate is high early in pregnancy, you will have a girl. Studies disprove this theory.
• A pregnancy glow means you are having a boy. Your skin responds to fluctuating hormones and an increase in blood flow, not in response to your baby’s sex.
• If you have severe nausea and/or acne, you are having a girl. Don’t blame the females for these negative pregnancy symptoms, as they can’t predict a baby’s sex.

Legends about how food affects your baby when you’re expecting

At times in your pregnancy, you can’t stand the sight or smell of food; at other times, you crave the strangest things. Here are old wives’ tales about pregnancy and food.

• Eggplant parmesan can induce labor. There is no proof of this, of course, but the former Scalini’s restaurant in Smyrna, Georgia offered pregnant women a $25 gift card and a restaurant t-shirt for the baby and put the baby’s picture on the wall if they went into labor within 48 hours of eating their eggplant parm.
• If you eat something you crave and then touch your body, your baby will develop a birthmark in the shape of that food. Never fear. Your baby won’t enter the world with a pickle-shaped birthmark.

Old wives’ tales about pregnancy and your body

Here are a couple of tales you can ignore about pregnancy and your body.

• If you raise your hands above your head, the movement causes the baby’s umbilical cord to twist around the neck. There’s no danger at all, so feel free to stretch or reach above your head.
• If you have bad heartburn or reflux, your baby will be born with a lot of hair. A tiny study at Johns Hopkins seemed to support this theory. However, the study sample was small and could not be proven with certainty.

You and your baby are our focus at Athens ObGyn. Our highly skilled physicians and staff are here to help you with all your obstetrics needs, including debunking myths when needed. Contact us for an appointment.