How true are these old wives tales? According to research conducted by Yale University, they are completely baseless and the tales are nothing more than fanciful rumours. Let us take a look at some common old wives tales.Old wives tales about pregnancy abound, and almost every pregnant woman is inundated by them. Even though you may not know the sex of your baby, you are sure to hear lots of people telling you whether you will have a boy or a girl based on the shape of your stomach, on the way you are carrying your baby, or on the position you had sex in when your baby was conceived.
Baby's Sex
If your stomach sticks out, it means nothing more than the fact that you have a small upper body, so your baby is pushing out since she has nowhere else to go. If you are carrying the baby wide, it is because your baby has positioned himself horizontally. If you are carrying the baby high, it is because your stomach muscles are not very strong; it does not that you are having a boy.
Child Size
According to some tales, bigger belly signifies healthy and a tall child. A big belly does not mean a big, tall child. The tallest of people may have been born to women whose bellies increased almost imperceptibly during pregnancy.
Increased Odds
Of all the old wives tales out there, this possibly takes the cake: "To get pregnant, stand on your head after intercourse. Gravity will ensure that the egg gets fertilized." Well, you can stand on your head all you want. It is good for you, but it will not help you get pregnant. Simply placing a pillow under the pelvic region and lying down in this position for a few minutes after sex should give you the extra push that is needed.
Mother's Pregnancy
Although women get many characteristics and physical attributes from their mother, their pregnancy normally does not depend on how their mother's pregnancies were, unless of course it relates to a genetic disease. No, just because your mother had stretch marks does not mean you will have them too. If you look after your skin, moisturize it well, you just may be lucky and not develop any stretch marks at all! On the other hand if your mother had no stretch marks, do not think you will automatically escape them. Yes, if you take the benefit of your mother's knowledge, like her, you too could get lucky!
Baby’s Looks
According to one of the old wives tales, if an expecting mother looks at the picture of a particular person during her pregnancy term every day, her baby’s looks turn out be like that person. However, the fact is that baby’s looks on the other hand depend completely on the genes that are received from parents.
The Guessing Game
During a Hindu baby shower ceremony a game is played to guess the gender of the baby. In this game Pedhas and Burfis are kept in two spate boxes. If the mother chooses a box with Pedhas she will deliver a boy and if she chooses Burfi, she is suppose to deliver a girl. This game is just to add a fun element to the ceremony. We know that this is just the game and it is not really going to affect whether you are carrying a girl or a boy.
Why then place so much belief in old wives tales? Essentially such sex-determination tales have a fifty percent chance of being right. So, if you are pregnant and someone tells you that you are going to have a girl because you are carrying her low, and if you really do give birth to a girl, you will remember with amazement and wonder that your aunt had predicted your baby's sex accurately and your own faith in the tail is bound to increase. But on the other hand if you give birth to a boy, you will forget who said what and no one would broach the topic again.