Pregnancy Myths and Old Wives Tales

You can tell your baby's gender by the way you are carrying, or by the fetal heartbeat.

Other than ultrasound and amniocentesis (or chorionic villi sampling), there is no way to determine the gender of the baby you are carrying.

Babies are carried differently based on their presentation (breech, vertex, transverse), their position (anterior, posterior), their gestational age and weight, maternal weight and stature and the mother’s parity (whether or not this is her first or eighth baby).

Fetal heartbeat is really no help either. Heart tones may be heard as early as eight to ten weeks using Doppler technology. Until about 20 weeks, it is not unusual to have a fetal heartbeat in the 150 to 160 range. As the baby’s heart develops and the neurological system matures, the count may fall to between 130 to 140. The normal range is 120 to 160. Some say that a fast heart rate is a girl, based on the fact that women’s heart rates are faster than men’s. But if this were the case for an unborn baby, we would all start out as girls and turn into boys!

You can tangle the umbilical cord by raising your arms above your head.

About 20 to 25 percent of all babies are born with the cord around the neck, and many are born with cords around legs. Some cords are even tied into knots. There is nothing that a mother can do to cause this. Entanglements are caused by fetal activity during early gestation. Long umbilical cords, defined as longer than about 100 cm (most cords are 32 to 80 cm long), seem to contribute to entanglements. Excessively long cords are actually caused by excessive fetal movement.

If you experience heartburn during pregnancy, your baby will be born with lots of hair.

Because it's extremely common throughout pregnancy, heartburn isn't an accurate predictor of whether your baby will be born with lots of hair.

If you have bad morning sickness you are expecting a girl.

There is no evidence to support this myth. Morning sickness is caused by low blood sugar. It is not affected by the sex of the baby.

If you crave sweet foods during pregnancy you are going to have a girl but if you crave sour foods you will have a boy, or vice versa.

Cravings are thought to be the body’s response to deficiency in certain minerals and trace elements. Indulge them where reasonable but keep away from the ones that are obviously harmful such as coal.

The color change displayed by a mixture of Drano and urine from a pregnant woman will predict the sex of the unborn child.

This canard has been enthralling women for decades. Though widely believed and vigorously defended by its proponents with anecdotal data about how the test worked for all the women they knew, there's nothing to it. Mixing Drano with urine will not predict the sex of an unborn child any better than will hanging a dead chicken from the flagpole and watching to see which way the wind riffles it. However, unlike the dead chicken method (which imparts no further ill effect other than to cause the neighbors to question the chicken swinger's sanity), breathing the fumes of the Drano-and-urine mixture may well harm the expectant mother. In other words, if you must play at "predict the baby's sex," do it another way.

You lose a tooth for every baby you have.

This old wives' tale started back in the days when women didn't get enough calcium and iron during pregnancy. By taking prenatal vitamins and eating healthy, there is no reason why a mom should lose any teeth at all.

You should not wear nail polish while pregnant.

Nail polish does not penetrate the nail bed; therefore, there's no medical reason not to wear nail polish during your pregnancy. If it helps make you feel beautiful, then enjoy.

You should avoid sex during pregnancy.

There is usually no danger in having sex throughout your pregnancy. The only times you may be advised to refrain is if you are having any bleeding, if you are having pre-term labour or if your pregnancy is at higher risk for another reason.

Pregnancy makes a woman glow.

Many people believe that pregnancy causes a woman’s skin to glow. The actual truth is that all the hormones produced by your body at this time augment growth. That’s why many expectant moms enjoy beauty benefits like thicker hair and faster-growing nails. But while some may bask in a rosy glow from the increased blood volume churning through their bodies, others endure broken blood vessels and spider veins.

Pregnant women cannot dye their hair

Most research, although limited, does show that it is safe to color your hair while pregnant, as the chemicals in permanent and semi-permanent hair dyes are not highly toxic. While some studies have shown that very high doses of the chemicals in hair dyes may cause harm, it would take your using a massive application of hair dye—we’re talking using enough for a thousand women—to cause any harm.

If you’re still concerned and would prefer to stay on the utmost safe side, wait to dye your hair until after the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, when the risk of chemical substances – hair dye or otherwise - harming the baby is much lower. If you’re coloring your hair yourself, wear gloves, leave the dye on for the minimum time, and work in a well-ventilated room. As highlighting your hair doesn’t involve the dye touching your skin and reaching your bloodstream, it poses less of a risk. Of course, semi-permanent pure vegetable dyes, such as henna, are a completely natural, safe alternative.

Steer clear of soft cheese

In the past, pregnant women were told to avoid soft cheeses like brie, camembert and gorgonzola altogether during pregnancy. These days, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says its safe to eat soft cheese as long as it has a label clearly stating that it's made from pasteurized milk. Raw milk and any cheeses or other dairy products made from unpasteurized milk can carry disease-causing organisms, including the potentially deadly bacterium listeria. While raw-milk soft cheeses are thought to be the Martha Stewarts of hosts for listeria, the pasteurization process kills it and other potentially harmful organisms.

What’s 100% safe? As most dairy products made in the US are pasteurized, your local grocery store has a whole range of pregnancy-safe dairy options. Cottage cheese, ricotta, cream cheese, processed cheeses like American and hard cheeses, such as cheddar and Parmesan are fine, as are cultured dairy products like yogurt and buttermilk. Regardless, before you indulge, check the label and make sure that it’s been made with pasteurized milk.

A pregnant woman should not take baths.

This myth is routed in the belief that water can get into the vagina and thereby introduce bacteria to the baby. Scientists have proven that water does not enter a woman's vagina during a bath. In fact, baths will probably help pregnant women feel better by helping them relax.

A pregnant woman should not take baths.

This myth is routed in the belief that water can get into the vagina and thereby introduce bacteria to the baby. Scientists have proven that water does not enter a woman's vagina during a bath. In fact, baths will probably help pregnant women feel better by helping them relax.


sooo true.. but i've always been a bath person lol.. so maybe i'm biased  

OMG I hate the old wives tales.... I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if I didn't live in such a superstitious country. These are things that were told to me either by my MIL or her friends:

I've been told that I cannot ride on my husband's motorcycle because a bump can knock the baby out since my legs are spred. I'm supposed to either walk home or take the bus...

I've been told that I'm supposed to eat double the amount of food because I'm eating for the baby too.

I was told that if I slept facing my husband I would have a girl, if I slept facing away I would have a boy.

I was told that if the baby started kicking at 2months it was a boy... otherwise I was having a girl. (That's impossible anyways).

If I sleep during the day the baby will get anemia.

....and my mother in law expects me to follow a ton of other superstitious rules after the baby is born for example:

I was told that if a newborn crosses his arms he is either calling death or will grow up to be a theif.

A woman is not supposed to bathe (or shower) for 40days after giving birth.... (could you imagine the smell?)

The one about the way you carry turned out to be true for me. I grew out in front with my son and I grew out to the sides with my daughter. My son was much more active than my daughter too. Thats not to say it will be like that for all women, but it was for my first two. We will see if its like that for this one. Oh and the heartburn one is not true at all (for me at least) my son was born with a head full of hair and I didnt have heartburn at all. I had alot of people ask if I had a lot of heartburn because of all the hair he had.

ugh i hate these.. mainly because my grandma believes each and everyone of them   she caught me taking a warm bath and she started flipping out and screaming at me  

my family swears by this method to tell what gender your child will be. It has worked for me and everyone Ive known without fail.

If little boys adore you and little girls hate you, you are having a girl.

If little girls love you and little boys hate you, you are having a boy.

It is really evident with toddlers and babies. My family has lots of kids and we have always used this method and havent been wrong yet!

those were funny. ive heard most of them.
I've dyed my hair, painted my nails, taken baths.. and so on..
to bad piercings and tats during pregnancy isnt a myth! i want to get them so bad! lol.

To the woman above me, technically some tattoo places will let you get tat's while pregnant as long as they're not above your waist! I have a friend who got one on her foot when she was 7 mos prego. Not saying I support or condone her decision, just letting you know!

Allacia wrote: To the woman above me, technically some tattoo places will let you get tat's while pregnant as long as they're not above your waist! I have a friend who got one on her foot when she was 7 mos prego. Not saying I support or condone her decision, just letting you know!

I'm sure some places will. none of mine will though.. plus the tats i want are on my chest and arms.. so i figure why risk it? i only got 3 more wks to go anyways lol.

my mom tels me not to strech my arms and i keep telling her its just a myth hahaha

The way we carry was false for me.
I carried low and in the front with all 4 of my babies. By the old wive's tale rule I should have 4 boys, but I have boy, girl, boy, girl.

pssh everything about me is false ... From the old wives tales everyone so thought i was gunna have a girl. But it's a boy! haha. People still are like "you sure it isnt a girl?"
wackadoos!

yep, now I hear that the amount of weight you gain determines sex too.
My weights were all over the map. I gained the most and the least with both my girls, so go figure...LOL

There is a few more that i know of.

there is the Ring Test that can determine the sex of the baby ( 86 out of 100 women this was correct) if you put a ring on a chain (necklace) and hang it over your belly, if it rocks back and forth it is a boy if it goes around in circles it is a girl.

Spoon or Fork.
put a spoon under one cushion of the couch and a fork under the other and invite a pregnant woman around, if she sits on the spoon its a girl, if she sits on the fork it is a boy.

Who initiated it?
they say if the woman initiated the intercoarse that lead to the conception it is a girl, if the male did its a boy.

Acne
If you get bad acne during pregnancy they say uou are having a girl and 'she is stealing mummy's beauty'

well there is a few more for you to giggle at. only one of them has been properly tested with 100 women and that was the ring test... might be interesting to see..

C it's COLOR your hair not DYE!!!!