19 Old Wives Tales About Pregnancy – Common FAQs Answered

We have heard it from our parents and grandparents. They always recommend us to follow some old wives tales about pregnancy. I am not sure what are they thinking in the past, but some of these tales seem hilarious to me.

Out of curiosity, I have done some research and gathered some inputs from other mummies. Some claim that it works, some told me it is complete b***shit. For your convenience, I have compiled this list of old wives tales about pregnancy. 

What are old wives tales about pregnancy

These are myths and beliefs from various cultures and passed down from older generation. Most of them does not have scientific backings and no one knows exactly where they originate from. It is entirely up to you to trust them or ignore them completely during your pregnancy

1. Morning Sickness

Those who are suffering from severe morning sickness will give birth to a girl. If you did not have much of any morning sickness during pregnancy, the baby boy may play a part in it. 

2. Young Children Gender Prediction

It is said that young children are able to predict the gender of an unborn baby by seeing the pregnant women belly. Sounds weird and confusing to have a bunch of young kids staring at your belly and shouting different genders.

3. Sour Boy Spicy Girl

Pregnant women who have pregnancy cravings for sour foods give birth to baby boys. Those that have spicy food cravings will most probably have girls

4. Belly and Back Shape

If you have a baby boy, your belly and back will not be so obvious compared to a having a baby girl. Sounds like a good reason when you gain unnecessary weight after having a baby girl.

5. Chinese Lunar Calender

One of gender wise tales includes using the Chinese gender chart that is invented in the Qing dynasty to predict gender. It is only determined by two factors, lunar month of conception and the mother’s lunar age. The Father need not be involved in the calculation. You can actually try out the Chinese gender predictor here.

6. Heart rate test

A normal heart rate for your baby in the tummy would be between 120 -160 beats per minute. One of old wives tales pregnancy symptoms mentioned that heart rate closer to 120 would be a baby boy while 160 means a baby girl. 

7. The Drano test

This test involves pregnant women peeing into Drano to guess the babies gender. Apparently, green color indicates a baby boy while amber to yellow should be a baby girl. Some health professionals and patients thought the opposite is true. A physician run a Drano test for 100 women and found no correlation between the urine color and the baby gender. (Source) It seems like Drano is more suitable for its original purpose, to clean the drain.

8. In your dreams

Old wives tales mentioned that you will be able to guess the gender in your dreams. According to some John Hopkin researchers, this method actually has a high probability of accuracy compared to the Drano or heart rate test. (Source) I wonder what happens when you and your spouse guess the opposite sex. Who should we trust? 

9. Educated women know it better

This is a bit weird but mummies with more than 12 years of schooling were correct about guessing the gender 70% of the time. Uneducated mummies only get it right less than 49% of the time. There is a good reason why our parents always want us to score good grades in school.

10. Long Difficult Labors

This is actually one backed by a study of 8000 births that long difficult labors often deliver boys. (Source). The main reason is probably due to the baby boy bigger heads.  

11. Entangled ropes

If you want to avoid the umbilical cord tangling around the baby’s neck, old wives tales suggest avoiding some activities. Avoid stepping over a rope or raising your arms above the head as they may cause the nuchal cord to occur. There are of course no scientific basis for these beliefs

12. Sucking the Beauty

According to myth, a baby girl tends to suck away the beauty of their mummy. In contrast, baby boy will actually make the mummy more attractive. Based on common sense, the changing hormone levels, morning sickness or other pregnancy symptoms may have caused some acne outbreak on the skin. Irregardless of the gender.

13. Cutting the hair

Cutting your hair during pregnancy will actually cause the baby to develop problems with their vision. It is ok to grow your hair like Rapunzel for 9 months.

14. Dying the hair

If you dye your hair during pregnancy, it is said to increase the chances of birth defects. If you don’t like the color of your hair, maybe just change it before or after your pregnancy.

15. Sharing your joy

It is said that informing everyone that you are pregnant during the first trimester may increase the chance of miscarriage. While not entirely true, it is good to follow this myth as studies have shown the miscarriage rate is highest during your first trimester. (Source)

Of course, your age or activities done during this period may also contribute to this. It is best to keep in wraps till the pregnancy is stable rather than having to announce a miscarriage which aggravates the pain.

16. Excessive rubbing

According to Chinese midwives beliefs, excessive rubbing of your tummy may spoil the newborn when they are born. According to my medical care provider, the developing fetus can actually sense any touch and produce a response from our tummy in the 10th week. 

17. Ugly Animals equals Ugly Babies

One myth that exists for a few cultures mentioned that pregnant women should avoid looking at ugly or disgusting animals. It may cause their babies to resemble one in the future.  There is totally no logic for this but maybe you can go around it by staring at your favorite pop idol daily instead.

18. Receiving gifts

Some cultures encourage mummies not to buy, receive or open any baby gifts while pregnant. It is said to invite evil spirits or bring misfortune. Similar tales also mentioned about baby spirits being scared away causing miscarriage to happen. 

19. Ring test

A common test of old wives tales is the ring test. To predict the gender of your baby, tie your wedding ring to a string, and hang it above your pregnant belly. If it swings in a circle, you’re having a boy. If it swings back and forth, get ready for a girl!

What are the symptoms of having a boy

• Carrying low stomach
• Glowing and flawless skin
• Icy and cold body temperature
• Lack of morning sickness
• Swollen ankles or legs
• Clumsy like elephant during pregnancy
• Frequent headaches
• Bright yellow pee
• Happy mood

Is a heartbeat of 150 a boy or girl

According to old wives tales, a heartbeat of 150 seems destined to be a girl. However, a study done based on 1000 sonograms showed that there is totally no correlation between heartbeats and gender. (Source)

Does heartburn mean your baby is hairy

This myth about having more heartburns during pregnancy will churn out a hairy baby is debatable. Some mummies in forums and social media agree there is some connection that it is true while others debunk the myth. 

Courtesy of reddit.com

To Conclude Old Wives Tales About Pregnancy

These beliefs have been pass on for generations. Some are common sense while others are just plain absurd. It is recommended to listen to your medical care provider instead of these tales without scientific backing. Do you have any old wives tales about pregnancy to share? Drop a comment below.

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