10 craziest pregnancy old wives tales ever told

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Old Wives seem to have tales on just about every subject, but they especially favor pregnancy "advice". Sometimes there is a hint of truth in these tales, but other times the old wives are just plain goofy! There are literally hundreds of do’s and do not’s stemming from those nutty old wives with too much time on their hands, but these are my top ten favorites.

Strawberries

Have you eaten strawberries during your pregnancy? If so, then you only have yourself to blame when your child has a strawberry birthmark.

The correct term for this specific birth mark is hermangioma and they are very common (about 1 in 10 babies have it). Eating strawberries is also very common which is probably where the connection was made. However, strawberry eating, expecting mothers, your guilt should subside soon enough as these marks usually lighten and sometimes completely fade within ten years.

Spicy foods

As if eating strawberries didn’t cause enough grief to poor expectant mothers, I recently heard that eating too much spicy foods causes one’s child to be blind! I can live with a strawberry mark, but causing my own baby’s blindness would just be too much….if it were true.

The supposed logic behind this is that the spices will get into the placenta (without being digested at all I guess) and burn the infant’s eyes to the point of blindness. However I am here to tell you that I craved nothing but hot sauce and jalapenos while I was pregnant with my daughter and her sight is perfect.

Heartburn leads to hairy babies

Spicy food doesn’t cause children to go blind but it definitely causes heartburn! Then again, when pregnant, it seems that some days just breathing causes heartburn. One very popular old wives’ tale is that heartburn is a sign that your child will be born with lots of hair. If this was even slightly true, bald babies would be very, very rare as most pregnant women suffer from heartburn. Coming from the woman who kept the antacid industry thriving for the entire 9 months of my first pregnancy, I can assure you that this tale is false.

A boy...or a girl?

Heartburn is also supposed to be an indicator of the sex of your unborn child. Lots of heartburn? Congrats on your baby girl! It just happened to be true in my case, but if it were anything more than an old wives’ tale, there would be an extreme shortage of baby boys. Heartburn is only one of a million supposed ways to tell the sex of your child before birth or even ultrasound. There is also the key trick, baby’s heartbeat, moods, cravings, etc, etc, etc. For my daughter, every single test said girl so I became a believer. With my second pregnancy, I stopped believing as every test said something different which gave me a 50/50 reading, which is what I started with anyway.

Gender prediction depends on your hairline

During my first pregnancy, I thought I had heard all of the gender predicting wives’ tales. Turns out I missed one due to only having one child. According to the craziest old wives, you can tell the sex of your future children by the next oldest child’s hairline. A pointy hairline on the older sibling means girl, while a straight hairline means boy. This completely throws genetics and DNA as well as sperm/egg interaction out the window. Who cares about these things when hairline gender prediction is such an exact science?!

High heels causes bad vision?

Who needs genetics or DNA when it comes to cross-eyed children either? Everyone knows that wearing high heels while pregnant is the true cause of eye troubles (on top of spicy foods of course). Say hello to another wonderful crazy old wives’ tale! I have to admit, I see absolutely no correlation between wearing high heels while pregnant and having a cross-eyed child….none at all! I’m thinking that it must have started as a scare tactic. With that being said, it’s probably not a good idea to wear high heels while pregnant due to back strain and loss of balance. Rest assured though, footwear while pregnant in no way determines eye health.

Erm...say no to necklaces?

So say goodbye to high heels for 9 months, but you can still be fashionable by accessorizing right? Well, not exactly. The wives’ also say that necklaces during pregnancy are a no-no. Why not? Because when an expectant mother wears a necklace, it somehow makes the umbilical cord wrap around the baby’s neck. How is this even possible you ask? I’m not sure. We must consult an old wife for the answer. Either way, do not wear necklaces during pregnancy! The wives say so.

Drink lots of water

The wives also say to drink lots of water while pregnant. Actually everyone recommends that pregnant women drink a lot of water to keep hydrated. This isn’t really an old wives’ tale in itself. What makes it an old wives’ tale is why the wives recommend it. They say to drink lots of water to ensure a clean baby. If an expectant mother does not consume enough water, she may run the risk of birthing a dirty baby! My daughter had to be wiped off right after labor. I must have missed a few drinks.

Honey is bad for the baby...apparently!

Even if you drink enough water while pregnant, you still might end up delivering a sticky baby if you don’t listen to this humorous old wives’ tale. Apparently, you are not supposed to eat any honey while pregnant or the honey will get stuck to the baby. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the baby could possibly even get stuck inside the womb due to a pregnant woman eating large amounts of honey. So that’s why labor lasts so long sometimes!

Don't stare at mice!

I saved the best, most humorous, craziest old wives tale for last. Apparently, the old wives strongly discourage staring at mice during pregnancy. Because I know all of you pregnant women are so disappointed that you will no longer be able to partake in this fun event, I will tell you why. It’s very serious. The wives warn that staring at mice during pregnancy will cause your child to have large hairy moles at birth. Now that I’ve ruined all of your evenings, can anyone top my list of crazy old wives tales about pregnancy?

Written by

Christy Rasmussen

Pregnancyold wives talessuperstition