When I was pregnant, friends and family had all sorts of advice and warnings for me. If I had listened to all the pregnancy old wives' tales I had been told, I probably would have sat and worried myself silly for the whole nine months.
Many old wives' tales, especially those surrounding pregnancy and childbirth, have been proven false or irrelevant by advances in medicine and technology but no pregnancy is complete without the tales being dished out.
The shape of your belly
“If you're carrying your baby high, it's a girl. If you're carrying your baby low, it's a boy.” Many people still give credence to a rather sexist bit of English folk wisdom that states that boys are carried down low and out front because they need greater independence while girls are carried up high and across their mother's body because they need greater protection.
My tummy was low and pointed and everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, said it was a boy, and boy were they WRONG.
Morning sickness
“If you are experiencing severe morning sickness, you're having a girl.” Theories such as this one have been tossed around for years.
I didn’t experience any morning sickness and I had a beautiful baby girl.
The baby is active
“If the baby is very active, you're having a boy.” Here's yet another theory based on some rather sexist assumptions: Males are boisterous while females are placid.
My baby girl was giving me the most energetic of foetal kickboxing.
The Chinese conception chart
“The Chinese conception chart can tell you if you're having a boy or girl.” The Chinese conception chart - the brainchild of a 13th century scientist - claims to be able to help you predict the gender of the baby by linking your age and the month of conception to the gender of the baby.
According to my chart I was supposed to have a boy.
Weight gain
“If your husband puts on weight during your pregnancy, then you will be having a girl. If he doesn't put on a pound, then you're carrying a boy.”
My husband didn’t gain weight at all and we still had a girl.
Scottish old wives tales that did come true for me (but are still a myth):
Face round and full
“If your face is round and rosy you are having a girl.”
The old heartburn myth
“If a pregnant woman frequently experiences heartburn, her baby will have a full head of hair.”
Ah, well, two out of the many myths did come true for me!
Mary Anne Stephen
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