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Old Wives Tales About Pregnancy
By Rachel Newcombe
During the course of your pregnancy, you may find yourself bombarded with seemingly helpful tips, ideas and theories by friends and families. Whilst some may be grounded in commonsense and experience, others may be less than informative.
Old wives tales have been handed down the generations and, amazingly in some instances, are still bandied around today. Typical topics include how to tell the sex of your unborn baby, what food cravings really mean and how active an infant you'll have – all discovered in weird and wonderful ways. But how many tales are based on fact and do they have an ounce of truth in them?
Boy or Girl?
The theme of one of the most popular type of tale is whether an unborn baby will be a boy or a girl. "Girls are carried high; boys are carried low", "If a needle on a thread held over your stomach moves in circles, you will have a boy," "If you are carrying the extra weight out front, it's a boy," and "If the hair on your legs is growing faster during pregnancy, it's a boy" are all common phrases that have been passed from generation to generation.
The ring test involves a ring suspended on a piece of cord above the stomach. If it moves in a circular motion, it means you’re having a girl, but if it moves backwards and forwards like a pendulum, you’re carrying a boy. It may sound strange to the uninitiated, but some people who’ve tried it, do believe in it. One such believer is Marian, who has three young children. “I tried the ring test with every pregnancy, and it always came up with the right result,” she says.
Gillian followed the advice of another tale that suggests eating strawberry/rose tablets creates baby girls. "My sister and I did this religiously to get a girl," she says, "And we both did. All our other children were boys and we did not eat those wretched tablets!"
A study published in the journal Birth and carried out by researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health looked at the methods used to predict the sex of babies. They asked 104 pregnant women to use a method of their choice, from old wives' tales and folklore, to intuition and dreams, to predict their child's sex. In 55 per cent of cases, the women were right.
So was it their chosen methods proving their worth? Probably not, say the researchers. "It's more likely to be a reflection of the general 50-50 chance".
Cravings and Movement
Like celebs such as Davina McCall, who developed a craving for cream crackers, many women find themselves fancying certain foods. According to old sayings such as "if you have been craving meats or cheeses, it will be a boy" or "if you're craving sweets, you're having a girl" the type of food you like could be highly significant.
Belinda Phipps, chief executive of the National Childbirth Trust, doesn't agree. "No-one knows for sure what causes cravings," she says, "But it's unlikely to be related to the sex of your baby." Pregnancy can alter women's normal sense of taste and smell, she says, so these changes could affect food preferences.
Womb movement also has its own set of views, with babies who are particularly active being said to be active for life. Although it may prove true in some instances, it's not the case for everyone. "A woman's experience of feeling her baby during pregnancy is very individual," said a spokesperson for the Royal College of Midwives. "The position of the baby in the womb can influence movement and how it's felt by a woman. Feeling little activity from your baby doesn't mean he'll always be still and quiet!"
The Origins of Tales
"Knowing the sex of a baby was crucial for some societies and cultures, especially in times gone by," says folklore expert Bryan Fleet. "They didn't have the technology to tell the sex in advance, so looked for any sign that may give an indication - however mad some of them seem." He adds that the idea that girls are carried high and boys low stem from the rather sexist folklore that girls need greater protection.
There are clearly a lot of theories flying around, but only a few contain a degree of truth. If you're going to listen to anyone, says Belinda Phipps, then regard the old wives tales with a pinch of salt and instead, "take note of what your doctor and midwife say."
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