Old Wives Tales

Old Wives' Tales

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Old wives' tales abound in pregnancy. Some are hilarious and funny to pass along, while others can be downright dangerous to your health.

Myth: Drano mixed with urine will tell you if you're having a girl or a boy.
Truth: (Click Here)

Myth: The baby's heart rate will determine the gender.
Truth: (Click Here)

Myth: You need to drink plenty of water or the baby will get dirty in its sac of water.
Truth: Amniotic fluid is an amazing product! It completely replaces itself every three hours, even after your water has broken. What mom drinks can help or hinder its production, but it is definitely not all about her hydration. The baby does urinate into the water, and skin cells from the baby are also sloughed off into the water. This is what amniocentesis uses to determine gender and chromosomal make up of your baby.

Myth: If you hold your hands above your head you'll strangle the baby with the umbilical cord.
Truth: This is not true. The incidence of the baby's cord being around the neck, called a nuchal cord, is about one third of all births. It has to do with the twists and turns your little gymnast makes rather than whether or not you've held your hands up over head. Comments: This particular myth actually sounds sensible compared to the Hawaiian superstition that if a pregnant woman wears a lei her child may be choked by the umbilical cord. The latter definitely has a more supernatural flavor to it, but by the same token it's hard to imagine how anyone could think that raising one's arms would physically affect the positioning of the umbilical cord. Thus, both supersitions might be similarly based in supernatural beliefs. We can conjecture, for example, that the arm movements were thought to mimic the act of strangulation, and affect the unborn child in the manner of a magic spell.

Myth: Pregnant women shouldn't take baths.
Truth: (Click Here)