Myths about pregnancy

When I first started to tell people that I was pregnant, I got so many ‘advice’ you wouldn’t even believe!  Most of which were myths surrounding pregnancy. Truthfully, I had bought into some of them. It was when I became pregnant that I realized that some of these myths about pregnancy weren’t true at all.

You’re Eating for two now

One of which was ‘Eat more because you’re eating for two now.’ No such thing. Although your baby will be getting nutrients from you based on what you eat, when you eat something, it isn’t divided and shared in half. The fact is that, you shouldn’t be eating much more than what you had been eating before. The recommended amount, if there is an increase in what you eat, is approximately 200 more calories than normal. Yes, due to hormones and other factors, you will have an increase in appetite. But technically, you eat more because your body is able to consume more, but eating a huge amount of food doesn’t necessarily mean that you will have a healthy baby. Eating a lot, or even overeating can have bad repercussions for both you and baby.

Morning sickness is what the name suggests, it only happens in the morning

Another popular myth about pregnancy is that morning sickness only occurs in the morning. Before pregnancy, I had believed this one too, but in fact, morning sickness can happen at any time of the day. I have heard many tell me that they have even experienced this at night. Some women have experienced this throughout their pregnancies, while others for the first few months. I experienced it randomly on occasions when I was around certain foods that would trigger it.

Bad heartburn means that your baby will have a lot of hair!

How about this one: Having heartburn means that your baby will have a lot of hair. Not true. While there have been studies linking heartburn to the quantity of a baby’s hair, heartburn is common in MOST pregnancies. So, regardless of whether or not you are going to have a baby with a lot of hair, it is highly likely that you will experience heartburn. There have been some women who did not experience bad heartburn but whose baby was born with a full head of or a lot of hair or vice versa, where some women had experienced bad heartburn during pregnancy but whose babies were not born with a lot of hair.  

You can tell if its a boy or girl based on how the bump looks 

One other popular myth is that the position of the baby bump determines whether it will be a boy or a girl. The shape, size and position of a pregnant woman’s belly is no indication of whether it will be a boy or girl. While I was pregnant, people who believed this myth would constantly ask me, or better yet, would tell me that I was having a boy. Surprise, surprise. I had a baby girl. An ultrasound conducted by a professional is the only way one can know for sure.

Throughout pregnancy, everything is picture perfect

There is one myth that I never really gave thought to as being a myth. I just assumed that it would actually be a pregnancy thing.  That is, that it’ll be sunshine and rainbows throughout my pregnancy. I also believed that I will always have the ‘glow’ until delivery and onwards. Ah No!

Boy, did I have my head in a cloud. 

Movies don’t show you everything and books don’t tell you everything. While you do sometimes get a ‘pregnancy glow’ you also get a lot of mood swings, swollen feet and not to mention the superhero ability to worry too much!

Also, that glow that I thought I would still have even after pregnancy, probably didn’t happen. I just remember looking, sounding and even smelling like a zombie in the first few weeks post-delivery. (Check out my stories)

It’s not always pretty mammas! But it sure is worth it!

In the comment section below, share some myths about pregnancy that you heard before and whether or not you think that it is true. You can also share them with me.