Pregnancy myths

You can control and kick off labour yourself and if you eat salt then it will be a boy. What….? No, that’s not true. Old wives’ tales and rumours have always created and added to myths about pregnancy and childbirth. No wonder, because it is a wonder!

Neither running up the stairs nor eating pineapple affects inducing labour. The baby arrives when he/she is ready to arrive. Really?… But, babies born on an aeroplane do get free air travel for the rest of their lives, don’t they? Sorry… Rather the contrary. Airlines tend to discourage or even stop pregnant women from travelling when they have reached a certain stage in their pregnancy. You may have heard that the word Caesarean Section comes from the Roman emperor Julius Caesar as he was delivered that way – that’s why it is called Caesarean section. But no, not even that is true. Don’t eat spicy foods, your child can become a colicky baby. Nope, not true. It may give you heartburn though. Playing Mozart means your baby will become highly intelligent. Unfortunately, it does not work like that. Music affects children, that’s true, but in what way and if it has to be Mozart is unclear. What is true, however, is that infants need to feel the warmth and direct contact with real and loving people!