8 Pregnancy Myths Debunked
From:
Jill Daniel
15 days 5 hours 22 minutes ago
Now that you’re pregnant, everybody and their mother is sharing with you all their beliefs about what will happen in the next nine months. We suggest you take all that “friendly” info with a discriminating ear. To help decipher what’s true and what’s not, we took 8 infamous pregnancy myths and debunked them.
1) Myth: Morning sickness only happens in the morning.
Fact: “Despite the name morning sickness, it can happen all day long,” says Giuditta Tornetta, birth and post-partum doula and author of Painless Childbirth: An Empowering Journey Through Pregnancy and Birth.
“One of the reasons why we call it morning sickness is due to two important factors--it often happens at an empty stomach and it happens when we change position or activity fast. Thus when we wake up with an empty stomach and jump out of bed it is more likely that nausea and or vomiting will happen.” Here are some solutions from Tornetta’s book:
* Keep crackers at the side of your bed.
* Don’t wake up and get going. Rather, first open your eyes and munch on a cracker.
* Don’t drink with your meals as this sometimes increases nausea. But remember to drink plenty between meals.
* Sip tea or carbonated waters (no sodas) or try fresh lemonade.
* Stay away from excessive motion or loud noises.
* Have your honey play some quiet classical music when you wake up. Tension is directly connected to your stomach. Even a wristband for seasickness can really help.
* Ginger can do wonders. You can get it as candy, ginger pills, or ginger tea with lots of honey and a little lemon. Ask your doctor first if this is all right for you.
2) Myth: Having sex will hurt my baby.
Fact: “If you enjoy sex, so will your baby. That's how he got here in the first place, “says Tornetta. “Sex during pregnancy is fine as long as your doctor or midwife has not told you to specifically abstain. In fact, during the last phase of pregnancy, it can be successfully used to induce labor, but it will not do so in the early stages,” says Tornetta.
3) Myth: Everyone gets stretch marks.
Fact: Only 50 percent of women get stretch marks. It’s usually hereditary, so if your mother survived pregnancy without the stretch marks, chances are good you will too. Keeping the skin around your tummy moisturized can help prevent them during pregnancy and in post-partum when you are working on losing the weight.
4) Myth: After pregnancy, your body will never again look as good as it did before pregnancy.
Fact: This myth is up for debate, depending on who you talk to. If you’re speaking to Catherine Zeta-Jones, Gwyneth Paltrow, or Halle Berry who worked their bellies off with fitness trainers and made it a priority to look even better post-partum than pre-pregnancy, then yes, you can see it’s possible.
But is it realistic for us everyday moms? Yoga teacher and mother of one, Anna Getty, says no. “I think you can get a body very close to what your body was before, though not everyone can do this. A woman’s body changes through pregnancy. I think it’s part of stepping into motherhood, and that new stage of womanhood has a lot to do with acceptance that we’re growing and changing. And a body that looks different is part of that lesson and the growth. You can extrapolate that further and if you can embrace that and welcome that and surrender to that change in your body, that bleeds into the way that you are mother. There is plenty of surrendering in motherhood to things you can’t change,” says Getty, who recently founded Pregnancy Awareness Month.
What are the most common changes in a women’s body after pregnancy?
Getty is quick to answer. “The breasts are definitely never the same! Mine retained a nice shape, but they’re smaller. Some women’s breasts get bigger and stay that way. Whether you nurse or don’t nurse, your breasts are usually different than they were before.” Getty adds, “And my abdomen, even though it’s pretty firm, when I bend over, the skin is different. There are more rolls there and it’s just softer.”
Any advice for making peace with your new body?
1) “Focus on the things about your body that are still a source of pride for you. If you have great muscle tone in your arms, do a great workout to enhance that. If you are concerned that people are looking at your body, know that they’re looking at those toned arms,” says Getty.
2) Getty suggests also having a grateful focus on what your body was able to do. “Part of surrendering and accepting and loving yourself in your new form and doing your best to welcome these changes, is to remember you gave life to the world and that’s the most amazing, beautiful thing—a baby grew inside of you, look at what your body was able to do.”
5) Myth: Pregnant women have a distinct glow.
Fact: “I think first-time pregnant women definitely have that glow,” says Getty. “Your whole body is functioning at heightened capacity to support the growth of this child.”
Medical Science does show that blood flow to all the cells is increased, which can improve the appearance of hair, skin, and nails. In addition, most women improve their diet and nutritional supplements during pregnancy, improving their health, and therefore appearance.
“But,” says Getty, “I’ve also seen second, and third, and fourth-time moms, and they don’t look very glowy to me! I think they’re dealing with a toddler or a young child and are sleep-deprived. They’re not eating the way that they took the time to in their first pregnancy. They’re finishing off the scraps of their other kids’ meals, barely sitting down to eat sometimes in the effort to save time. I think it really depends on your situation. I have a good friend who is completely glowing, and she is pregnant for the second time around.”
6) Myth: Carrying high means a girl, carrying low means a boy.
Fact: This is one of the most widely known myths about pregnancy, yet studies have shown that there is no scientific merit to this myth. However, many people around the world swear by its accuracy.
7) Myth: Pregnant women should not bathe.
Fact: The caution here is twofold. You shouldn’t take an overly hot bath (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit) and once your water breaks you shouldn’t take a bath of any kind. Other than that, you are free to enjoy much bathing as much as you would like.
8) Myth: Pregnant women must eat for two; they must gain at least 25 pounds.
Fact: In our western society, portion sizes have long been sizeable enough to feed two people. If a pregnant woman eats adequate amounts, with a balance of protein, carbs, vegetables, fruits, and minimal fats, the baby will gain weight as needed. The pregnant woman doesn’t need to overeat or stuff herself for the health of her baby.
Generally, in the last trimester, the baby gains half a pound a week. If, during this time, the pregnant woman is not gaining a bit more than that, her doctor may be concerned and her diet could be re-examined.
