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When I wrote a brief blog post about the three weirdest pieces of pregnancy advice I had gotten so far, I didn’t realize what a response it would provoke. Our generous (and humorous) readers gave us nuggets of wisdom they’d been offered while pregnant, everything from the merely bizarre to the downright dangerous. My three favorite reader submissions are below. Thanks to all who contributed. It’s been illuminating, and I certainly hope someday MythBusters will do an episode devoted to busting the most common falsehoods, like that a cat will “steal a baby’s breath.” Until then, MythBuster Kari Byron does a great job debunking some of them.
#1: “While pregnant with my first child, my great Aunt Myrtle told me that if I wanted to have ‘boy children’ I should douche with Tide… yes, Tide—the laundry detergent.” [MotherJones.com commenter K Trampus]
#2: “I was told if I crave a certain food and didn’t eat it right away I had to touch my butt because the baby would get a birthmark in the place I would touch first…. so better to have a birthmark on the butt than the face.” [Facebook commenter Tricia Rudd] The craving/birthmark association was mentioned by more than one reader.
#3: “Don’t raise your arms above your head because the umbilical cord will get wrapped around the baby’s neck!” This myth was submitted by several readers.
Honorable mention: “My mother was told by her doctor ‘Don’t drink… because you might fall down and hurt the baby'” [Facebook commenter Carolyn Peace]
