You hear a lot of silly things when you're pregnant. Older relatives may try and guess the gender of your baby by dangling a wedding ring on a string and watching how it swings. (An ultrasound is a wee bit more accurate, usually.) You may be told never to raise your arms, ever. How are you supposed to stretch or put on deodorant, then? Your baby could catch your cold! Exercise will cause your baby to be strangled by the umbilical cord! All false. Here are six pregnancy myths that are flat-out false, and one golden pregnancy myth that might actually have some truth to it.
1. Cocoa butter prevents stretch marks. My sister told me so! And look, we both used it and we didn't get stretch marks ... much. Sorry, stretchmarks are hereditary. If they're in the cards for you, all cocoa butter will do is make those stretch marks nice and soft. Some women are even allergic to the stuff.
2. You can tell a baby's gender by how high you carry. Is it high for boys, low for girls? Or the other way around? Doesn't matter -- this one doesn't hold up to the science. Same goes with that one about the shape of your belly indicating your baby's gender: Malarkey.
3. Bad morning sickness means you're having a girl. Nope. It doesn't. But we still hope Kate Middleton, whose morning sickness was famously horrendous, is having a girl.
4. Heartburn during pregnancy means a baby with a lot of hair. Where do people come up with these ideas? This is actually something people say. Heartburn and baby hair are totally unrelated. (OK, FINE you guys.)
5. A full moon or storm can trigger labor. Yeah, no. The moon is not one big pitocin drip in the sky. And your uterus is not that sensitive to barometric pressure.
6. Watch a lunar eclipse during pregnancy and your baby will get a harelip. But if you wear something metallic, like a safety pin, on your underwear, that will protect you. I swear to God, I am SO not making up these myths. Somewhere, out there, a pregnant woman is taping a penny to her underwear before running an errand during an eclipse just in case.
One pregnancy myth that may be true?
7. That pregnancy glow. Many pregnant women look in the mirror and say, "WHAT PREGNANCY GLOW?!?" Well, you do retain more water during pregnancy, which can smooth out fine lines and wrinkles ... temporarily. Increased levels of progesterone can send extra blood flowing around your body, which can make you feel warmer and look a little redder. But pregnancy can also do a number on your skin and have the exact opposite effect, so no pregnant woman is guaranteed to glow.
Have you heard of any of these pregnancy myths?
Image via Frank de Kleine/Flickr