Pregnancy tips Modern Pregnancy Myths

Gender selection, what causes miscarriage and what's safe in pregnancy... there's much folklore and sometimes little fact about what's true and what isn't. Here's an article that addresses common pregnancy myths. Read more:

Fueling Modern Pregnancy Myths
One Study Shows How New Research Can Create Modern Day Pregnancy Myths
By LAUREN COX
ABC News Medical Unit


From the article:

Explaining What We Don't Understand
Young feels the same sentiment fueled the study about cereal and the baby's gender.

"There's sort of a bias that comes into this," said Young. "Human beings like a rational explanation; they don't like a random cause."

However, that same search for an explanation may fuel myths about miscarriages, too. Moore said many women, and doctors, have trouble explaining what happened in a miscarriage.


"At this point, science can't give us a clear explanation for why one in nine pregnancies end in miscarriages," said Moore. "In most cases the cause is just unknown, and doctors assume that most likely it was some sort of genetic abnormality."

Just like pregnancy and gender, misconceptions abound about what causes a miscarriage or an early labor.

Spicy food, exercise, any sex at all and sleeping on your back are all popular misconceptions about troublesome labor, or danger to the baby.

Moore once had a patient who preemptively ended a pregnancy because she was convinced she had damaged the baby.

"She had chest X-rays and later found out she was pregnant and then had an abortion because she thought she had caused damage to the baby," said Moore. "Then, tragically, she had complications with the abortion."

While it's not a great idea to get X-rays during pregnancy, Moore said the fetus was likely OK.

"If a fetus is exposed to enough radiation to cause damage, it probably would be major damage like the Hiroshima bomb or Chernobyl," she said.

Moore thinks the myths about miscarriage and damage might be the most damaging.

"It's the opposite of the miracle explanation," said Moore. "As a result of many of these myths, many women suffer from tremendous guilt that they may have done something wrong."