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The Knife Under the Bed and Other Pregnancy Superstitions
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Do pregnancy superstitions give you pause? Credit: Getty Images
If there's one thing a woman loses while pregnant (besides her waistline), it's any sense of control. Will it be a boy or a girl? Will my baby have 10 fingers and 10 toes? Will labor be easy or difficult? With so many unknowns out there, it's no wonder pregnancy and birth superstitions have proliferated for as long as they have.
Thanks to advancements in science and technology, some of these superstitions are losing their relevance. For example, moms-to-be no longer have to rely on dangling a wedding band over their bellies to determine their baby's sex. Sure, they may have had a 50/50 chance of being right, but ultrasound is much more accurate and DNA is, well, pretty hard to contest.
Did you know that one in 10 newborns are diagnosed with a vascular birthmark, those dark red or purplish marks more commonly known as strawberries, port-wine stains, stork bites or angel kisses? Before we had the science to explain that they are simply a mass of extra blood vessels in the skin, many cultures saw them as something sinister, referring to them as "the mark of the devil," while other societies explained away the unsightly marks by claiming the mother had indulged in red berries while pregnant.
Another medical phenomenon ancient cultures attempted to make sense of is the harelip, a colloquial name for cleft palate or cleft lip, which occur in approximately 1 per 500 to 700 births worldwide, according to Operation Smile. Ugandans believe if a pregnant woman sees an eclipse, her baby will have a harelip. In Mexico, harelips occur if she's out during a full moon and in China, if she eats rabbit.
Chinese culture abounds with such myths. If a Chinese woman wants a boy, she should munch on carrots and lettuce. For a girl? Feast on fish and pickles. Other Chinese superstitions: An expectant mother who rubs her stomach ad infinitum will produce a spoiled child, and the first object a baby grabs upon entry to the world (a finger? nose? stethoscope?) signifies the child's destiny (pianist? perfumer? doctor?).
Perhaps, the weirdest of the bunch? Chinese women are told to rub a chicken's tongue on their baby's lips so he or she will be a good talker.
And some superstitions are stranger still. According to a commenter on a Yahoo board who goes by the name "curious savage," if a Turkish woman steals something while pregnant, the baby will have a birthmark in the shape of the stolen object. Think of all the possibilities for a mom to bestow her child with an awesome "tattoo" -- an anchor, an eagle with the American flag wrapped around it, a skull and crossbones.
Mother-of-two and CaféMom member RanaAurora tells ParentDish in an e-mail that she's "heard some very odd superstitions, from the typical 'raising your arms above your head ties the umbilical cord around the baby's neck" to the extremely odd 'eating carrots is what makes your baby be born with hair.' "
She goes on to say that "the only one I know that is held as a superstition that I believe in is that heartburn increases your chances of having a baby with hair -- but that one is actually scientifically backed."
Another CaféMom member who goes by the name of housefullofkidz (indeed! She has seven, ranging from 12 years to 2 months) says, "My most favorite crazy one that my mom told me is 'Don't look at a monkey or your baby will have a monkey face.' "
As for the knife under the bed? That's also from the Chinese culture, and advises pregnant women to do so in order to protect their unborn babies from evil spirits.
Oh, and if she wants an easy labor? A woman should refrain from using glue throughout her pregnancy. Guess that means no scrapbooking until after the baby arrives.
Got any pregnancy superstitions floating around your world? Tell us!
This article was originally published on Apri 1, 2010.
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 2)
8-14-2010 @ 8:59PM
Sandy said...Actually, you have it backwards. "Male" or "Y chromosome" sperm tend to swim faster than female sperm due to the fact that the Y chromosome sperm tend to carry less genetic material; a lighter load so to speak. However, "female" or "X chromosome" sperm tend to outlive the the Y chromosome sperm. This is why you would better your chances of having a girl by having intercourse a couple days before ovulation (hopefully by then all the Y sperm are pushing up daisies). If you would like a better chance of having a boy, it would be best to have intercourse the same day or within about 6 hours after ovulation (hopefully in this case, the Y sperm win the race to the egg). Either way, however, this only slightly raises your chances of having either gender.
4-17-2010 @ 9:02PM
Melissa said...What an angry boy you are. This is all in good fun, if you don't like it don't read it love. No need to get angry:)
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4-05-2010 @ 2:46AM
Michele said...What is your problem? Sounds like you are the one who shouldn't post...get offline if you can't find some MANNERS!!!!
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4-19-2010 @ 2:14PM
Christa said...Sorry Susan but its not true i lived on Tums for most my pregnancy and my baby at 6 months old is STILL bald as can be!!
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8-13-2010 @ 12:28PM
Alicia said...These are all very interesting, but the woman contributes nothing to the gender of the child because. No matter what, she will provide an X chromosome. It's up to the man to provide either an X or a Y, so eating pickles, wearing men's underwear or vinegar douches (which cannot be good for you at the best of times) will do nothing. It's all up to the men, ladies.
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8-13-2010 @ 1:47PM
Christina said...In my last pregnancy, my ex mother in-law would tell me all these superstitions, but the craziest one had to be the one after the baby was born. She told me I have to wipe the newborn's pee from the diaper onto my face to "younger" my skin and face. I didn't really want to look younger since most people think I'm still a teenager, and I'd rather not put baby pee on myself purposely.
Also, my mom told me a myth about birthmarks. She told me that when a woman spills something on herself while she's pregnant the baby will have that birthmark of the spill in the spot she spilled it. I for one have many birthmarks and they just seem to keep popping up everywhere as time goes by.. so I'm not sure if my mom was a messy eater, or my skin has just decided to permanently change color a little bit at a time lol.
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8-14-2010 @ 2:42PM
Gayle said...Mother's body pH:
Ovulation has an effect on the pH of the body. When a woman is getting closer to her ovulation time, her body will be more alkaline. Since alkaline environment will give an advantage to Y chromosome, it really makes sense that you must have your sexual intercourse at this time to get a boy. On the other side, if you want a girl, you have to have your sexual intercourse 2 days before and 2 days after your ovulation time. This is the time when a woman's body is very acidic.
As a conclusion, even though the father provides the chromosomes X and Y, he CANNOT determine the sex of the baby. It is all depending on the woman's body at the time of conceiving.
ezinearticles.com Does-a-Father-Really-Influence-the-Sex-of-Baby?
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8-14-2010 @ 8:58PM
Patty said...im from mexico and one myth that i have always heard is that a pregnant woman should wear some type of red clothing during an exclipse to protect her baby from any deformations. red can be a shirt , underwear or what ever. the same belief is for trees that bear fruit. they say the fruit will not grow if it is blooming during an eclipse so when ever u walk by and see a tree with a red knot hanging on it. u know why
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8-14-2010 @ 8:54PM
Dr. G said...This works, if the last child's read hair line is straight across, it will be a girl; if it is dipped it will be a boy. You can do this before pregnancy too. Check your siblings (but there cannot be a break in the line, line stillbirth or abortion, etc.)
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8-14-2010 @ 9:01PM
patty said...one thing i have heard from my grandma many of times is that when u give birth the umbilical cord has knots in it. if u were to count the knots thats how many children u will have. when my grandma had her first child the midwife counted 15 and many years later she gave birth to the 15th child and after that she didnt get pregnant again.
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8-14-2010 @ 10:09PM
john said...If you want a healthy pregnancy get lots of sun exposure (without burning.) Vitamin D which you produce from UV exposure is used in every cell in your body. Lack of vitamin D during pregnancy is associated with fertility, miscarriages, birth defects, gestational diabetes, low birth weight and pre term deliveries. Your child is also less likely to have diabetes, MS, allergies and asthma later in life.
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8-14-2010 @ 10:31PM
fruityanimal said...I craved carbs, milk, and cereal... never had heartburn or morning sickness and had a baby girl with tons of hair. :-)
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8-14-2010 @ 11:07PM
Cathy said...I have 2 pregnancy things:
1. If the baby bump is barely visible at 3 months gestation (you can still zip up your jeans) it is a boy.
If the baby bump is visibly pronounced at 3 months gestation (your already wearing maternity clothes) it is a girl.
This one is very reliable.
2. Gender of offspring is determined by temperature of the sperm at conception.
If you want a girl, warm the sperm.
If you want a boy, ice the sperm.
Of course getting your guy to agree to this can be difficult....
This one is as yet unproven to me, but does make sense.
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8-15-2010 @ 3:06AM
Louise said...I had 3 girls and carried all of them more than 10 months. Anyone else so lucky?
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8-15-2010 @ 3:53AM
Bobbi said...i have to say i don't beleave in "If you have heartburn though your pregnancy your baby will have hair" I had heart burn for my whole pregnancy and my daughter didn't start growing till she was a 18 months.
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8-15-2010 @ 12:42PM
K said...I recently heard a new one to me from a family member. She informed me that the reason my husband and I have two girls is because we are too "methodical" by each having our own "side" of the bed. She says that couples who have a side of the bed they always sleep on will always have all the same gender children - all boys or all girls. My husband and I got a good laugh out of this and more than likely won't remember to switch sides before we try for a boy next time.
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9-29-2010 @ 9:21PM
pregnancy miracle said...Isn't it funny that people still worry about superstitions and place so much belief in them when pregnant - my sister's naturopath told her that her pulse rate was what determined the sex of her child....and because it was beating at a certain rate, he was certain she was having a girl....which didn't turn out to be true and left her fairly devastated as she badly wanted a daughter...sometimes they are really just a lot of words with no actual back-up.....
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