One of the most fascinating experiences a woman can go through is pregnancy. Imagine a new life growing inside you, breathing the air that you breathe and drawing nutrition from the food you eat. But there are many more surprising and weird things happening during pregnancy and the subsequent delivery, that even experienced mothers are not aware of.
- Amongst one of the most amazing facts about pregnancy, this one surely ranks pretty high. Your unborn baby in your womb can see, hear and feel all that is going around it. You can talk to your baby and even stroke your belly to give it a similar feeling.
- You should be careful about what you eat during pregnancy since babies can taste your feed. This is probably why doctors ask mothers to be vigilant about their diet. Strong flavours like onion and garlic can be passed to the womb through the amniotic fluid.
- Pregnant women and new mothers can lactate automatically when they hear babies cry. It can even happen if the baby does not belong to them.
- Your uterus is capable of handling extreme pressure. The force generated in the uterus due to pushing translates into about 397 pounds per square foot on the baby’s head. That’s amazing.
- The first time a woman delivers her child, her pelvic bone separates in the middle as the cartilage stretches to its maximum. Although the bone does not break, it doesn’t go back to its original position ever.
- Although sex during pregnancy is supposed to be free of risk, a woman can get pregnant while she is already pregnant. On rare occasions, a woman can carry two babies with two different due dates.
- You will be familiar with that dark line known as linea nigrea which appears out of nowhere in the middle of the stomach during pregnancy. This line was always there but the pigmentation because of hormonal changes makes it visible.
- After you enter the second trimester, your baby releases about a litre of urine every day. If you are wondering where all this urine goes, well, the baby drinks it. Weird! And you thought you had to visit the bathroom so many times.
- Increased blood flow in that pregnant body, by almost 50% and overactive oil glands are responsible for the glow and the soft, shiny look. However, this enhanced blood flow can cause your gums to bleed and lead to bloody noses too.
- You know that your body produces large amounts of oestrogen during pregnancy. But did you know that the placenta produces more oestrogen in one day than a woman could produce in three years?
- A normal pregnancy lasts for approximately nine months. However, it is possible to remain pregnant for over a year. The record for the longest pregnancy is 375 days, way back in 1945. Modern mothers are induced as soon as they are a few days overdue.
- Baby faeces are known as meconium. This is made by the 21st week of your pregnancy, but it won’t pass until after the baby’s birth.
- Contractions are common during pregnancy, but they do not stop even after the baby is born. They continue for a few days after delivery and helps the mother’s body in stopping excessive blood loss.
- The first woman to survive a C-section was during the 16th century in Switzerland. Her husband who was a pig castrator by profession performed this operation on his wife.
- Pica is a peculiar disorder that affects pregnant women in which they crave for non-food items like paper, hair, ice, paint, metal and glass. The word Pica is Latin for magpie the bird, who is known to eat anything.
- Carrying a baby high or low is considered to be one of the facts about pregnancy gender, but it is just a myth since it is more related to your body type, uterus structure and abdominal muscle strength.
- A woman’s uterus can expand to nearly 500 times of its normal size during pregnancy.
- A pregnant woman develops a completely new organ in her body, known as the placenta and is the only transient organ in the human body. It releases hormones like oestrogen, progesterone and hCG while acting as a protective barrier.
- When a pregnant woman’s partner experiences symptoms like weight gain, morning sickness and growth hormone levels, it is known as Couvade syndrome or sympathetic pregnancy.
- During the Middle Ages, childbirth was considered fatal which is why women often wrote their wills as soon as they realised they were pregnant.
- Rarely, women suffer from “Pregnancy Denial” when women refuse to acknowledge they are pregnant. They ignore all the pregnancy symptoms that they experience.
- The world’s highest fertility rate is 6.76 children per woman in Niger, and lowest is 0.86 in Singapore.
- In 1591, a woman called Eufame was burnt alive because she asked for pain relief while giving birth to her twins. Religious leaders thought that God wanted women to feel pain for Eve’s act in the Garden of Eden.
- One of the baby boy pregnancy myths says that if a woman craves for salty foods like chips and pickles, she is likely to give birth to a male child.
- Male seahorses are the only species in the animal world to become pregnant and develop embryos like female mammals.
There are quite a few mysteries and myths surrounding pregnancy and childbirth but with growing awareness and knowledge, it is easier to dispel them. As a modern mom, you should check the facts and verify the truth before acting on them.
