Decease… Death… Die…

Pregnancy – old wives tales and superstitions, prejudices

The tales which I tell now, I heard from my friends and their parents and what is the original source – nobody knows…

1. It is forbidden to cut your hair during the pregnancy

This is one from the most spread myths. The superstition is throwing back into the deep ancient times when the hair was partially saving a person from cold. It was considered that exactly in the hair there was concealed the life strength of a person. With hair it was also correlated a huge number of prohibitions in general: it was forbidden to throw them to the wind after combing out; it was allowed to cut, wash and comb hair only in certain days.

To part with hair meant to reduce your life forces, shorten your life or deprive yourself of prosperity. But from the point of view of the medicine the haircut cannot make any harm to the women’s health and her future baby. The hormones which are produced during the pregnancy are positively influencing at the growth and structure of hair. That’s why hair becomes strong, thick and silky. Many women mark out that their hairstyles are looking much better. However, if a woman has a short haircut, the prohibition at the attendance of hairdressing salon during nine months can become a serious problem for her. Successful haircut can only improve your mood and a baby will feel himself better as well.

2. During pregnancy, it is forbidden to knit or sew by yourself for your future baby: baby can get entangled in the umbilical cord

This is associated with the notion of nature of knot. It was considered that knot is tying up the baby’s exit to a world. Strings or ropes were associated with the umbilical cord in which a baby can be entangled. Though, pregnant women like to sew and to knit. And this is not surprising: pleasant, calming down pastime and there is a lot of free time!

It is necessary to mark out that needlework must be done in a comfortable position as the static loading and long being in one position can lead to the reduction of the blood’ coming and nutrients to the fetus. And a fact that a baby is feeling “not comfortable”, will indicating his intensive movements. During sewing or knitting, just necessary to try to regularly make breaks, during which a woman can have a walk or lie down for a while.

3. Waiting a baby, you should not buy him/her layette and bring baby’s clothes into the house

It was considered that ready things for still not born baby will go to the evil spirits. Besides, in old days, there was a high level of infant mortality and the things which were ready for a baby, unfortunately, were useless for children.

Actually, this is a prejudice. And vice versa, it is desirable to buy in advance all the necessary things, otherwise at once after coming back from the maternity hospital you will have to run to the shop 🙂 Or you will have to trust this responsible procedure to just brought to light father who often cannot distinguish baby’s bootees from socks. It will be more pleasant for mother to choose thing by herself for her baby than entrust this duty at father or grandmothers.

Pregnancy is overlaying some significant limitations at the lifestyle of a woman. Majority of them is correlated with the necessity to eat properly, to be on the fresh air as much as it is possible, don’t be tired and etc. All these recommendations can be found in any book about pregnancy and they actually important and justified.

So, should a woman overlay at herself some firm limitations and prohibitions which are dictated by the prejudices? It seems to me that not. And if some warning of the “experienced mother” especially sinks deeply into your heart – then consult your doctor, do you actually have to follow it.

4. It is forbidden to tell somebody about the pregnancy

The reason of this superstition is enough banal. Being concerned of a bad eye, the future mother didn’t not initiate anybody except the closest relatives. According to this reason, women were trying not to tell about the beginning of their delivery. That’s why the midwife went to the house of woman in childbirth through the vegetable gardens as she wanted nobody saw her. It was considered that the less people know about the beginning of the delivery, the easier the delivery would be.

The modern women till this day not rare hide their pregnancy until it becomes noticeable. And the reason for this is not the old wives tales but in the inner feeling of every woman. Very often a woman just feels herself more comfortable if nobody suspects about her positions. This is like a “protective reaction” against outside looks.

However, there are such situations when initiate people into the situation is more useful than holding them in ignorance. When these people know about your state, they will guard you from lifting the weights, cleaning-up and other work about the house. The colleagues will stop asking you about the amount of the food your are eating, why you are so place and so on. And as for the bosses, they will, maybe, free you from the most burdensome work and allow being in more free time-schedule.

And if a woman was waiting for this pregnancy for a long time and her soul is just singing from the happiness and she cannot keep this news inside – so why should not she share her happy news with the friends?

5. It is forbidden for a pregnant woman to eat eggs with two yolks or “double” fruits (for example, two accreted carrots). Twins can be born

The birth of twins or triplets is not correlated with the character of nutrition or eating at all. This is just another prejudice.

The number of babies which will be in the family depends on how many ovules were fecundated at the same time or how the fecundated ovule was divided. After the conception neither nutrition of the pregnant woman nor other factors influence at the fact how many babies will be inside a woman. The single core of sense which can be in this superstition is in the fact that eggs are obligatory allergens and can cause the allergic reaction in future mother’s organism and the predisposition to the baby’s allergy.

6. A pregnant woman cannot eat on the sly: a baby can be born fearful

The necessity to eat on the sly can appear either during the lack of enough quantity of food or during the usage into the food the “forbidden fruits”, for example, chocolate and oranges which are allergens. And this is, undoubtedly, will not be baby’s good. Besides this, with the usage of the food hastily, the food masses are exposed to the insufficient mechanic processing, the nutrients are digested worse. And this is not correlated with the fearfulness of a baby.

7. The name of the future baby it is necessary to keep in secret

There is such prejudice that you can think over the baby’s name but this name must be kept in secret till the delivery. This superstition is throwing back to the old times and there it was considered that the evil spirits overhearing the name could make harm to the unborn baby.

8. A pregnant woman should not play with a cat, should not take it, otherwise a baby will have many enemies

There was discovered the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, the illness which very dangerous for the future mothers, and it is really transferred by cats. A woman can catch this illness and even not suspect of this, however through the placenta the causative agent is penetrating into the baby’s blood flow. Congenital toxoplasmosis is a very serious illness attacking the nervous system of a baby. So, if there is a cat in the house and you cannot or don’t want to give her to somebody for the period of the pregnancy, it is necessary to visit the pet hospital and it is necessary to pass the tests for the presence of the causative agent of toxoplasmosis. Besides, it is necessary to tell the doctor in the maternity consulting centre about your suspicions.

9. A pregnant woman is forbidden to sit at the porch, threshold

The only reason why it is necessary not to sit there is that if the porch is high, a pregnant woman just can fall, and it is possible that the wind can blow down the back….

10. A pregnant woman should not touch her face because a future baby will have birthmarks of his face

Well, just imagine for minute, that all women don’t touch their faces during 9 months of pregnancy…this is just not hygienic 🙂

11. A pregnant woman must not sit cross-legged: a baby will be born with curve legs or clubfooted. And… surrounding people must not refuse a pregnant woman in food because she will have very difficult delivery

Really, during pregnancy it is not desirable to sit cross-legged but this doesn’t have any relation to a possible curvature or clubfoot of baby’s legs. Just in such position of body, the blood circulation is becoming worse and this can lead to the varix dilatation.

In the foundation of this superstition is a fact that a pregnant woman usually wants which her organism demands – and this is necessary for the baby’s health. The most important thing here is – everything is in moderation. Really, a pregnant woman should better follow her wishes concerning food. But this doesn’t have any relationship with the difficulties of the delivery. The organism of the pregnant woman knows better what is necessary on the given moment.

12. It is forbidden to swear in the presence of the pregnant woman – a baby will receive a birthmark

Nevuses (inborn nevus pigmentosis) is a result of the wrong development of the pigmental cells (melanocytes). They can be not only on skin but also at the surface and inside eye globe. Such marks remind freckles and usually are not changes within the lifespan. The reasons of occurrence of the nevuses were not discovered by the scientists to the end but this is definitely not because the quarrels during the pregnancy 🙂 However, evidently, negative emotions which the woman gets quarreling with somebody are not for her good and accordingly not for a baby’s good. Though, if as a result of the quarrel of the future mother, she will be able to defend her point of view, then, probably, she will have positive emotions which will be very useful during the pregnancy.

13. Rocking a baby to sleep. If you rock to a sleep a crying baby not in hands but in cradle and especially by the leg, a baby will be thrown from one misfortune into another

A prejudice. Rocking a baby to sleep is a perfect calming for a baby which will in addition help to develop the vestibular apparatus.

14. Photographing. It is forbidden to draw or take pictures of a pregnant woman; otherwise the development of a baby will stop like the image on the picture

This is superstition which is absolutely without a grain of truth. Vice versa, it is necessary to take pics of a pregnant woman and to draw her because during this period of life she is especially beautiful! It is necessary to remember that there are fewer chances to take pics of a pregnant woman because this is only a 9 months period. One more argument against this prohibition can be the destinies of many stars of the show-business and photo models that were regularly sitting to a camera during the pregnancy and gave a birth to healthy children.

15. It is forbidden to look in the mirror very often

The thing is in the fact that the mirrors were considered as the entrance to the other world. And a pregnant woman is so sensitive and disturbing; she could draw up evil which could make a harm to a baby and to her as well. But here everything depends on women. The more women are programming themselves for such sad events, the more the probability that something bad will happen. And the thing is not in the frequency of times a pregnant woman is looking in the mirror.