Varying pregnancy beliefs

During pregnancy, women naturally welcome all good suggestions concerning their babies and willingly take them for granted, especially those related to consumption of foods which are believed to be supportive for the baby’s physical and intellectual development as well as a smooth delivery of the baby. However, such beliefs are not completely correct. So, let’s find out the truths of these varying pregnancy beliefs.

Belief : Consuming spicy foods during pregnancy causes the baby born with little amount of hair

Truth : The baby is born with a lot of hair, or a little amount of hair, depending on its heredity. The beliefs of forbidding pregnant women from consuming spicy food may be reasoned by the fact that spicy foods may cause stomachache, constipation, or diarrhea, which could seriously affect the health of pregnant women because of their unusual digestion system, due to changes of hormones, making them more sensitive to problems of digestion, excretion, and flatulence. Therefore, pregnant women should better avoid consuming spicy foods during pregnancy in order to prevent undesirable health problems.

Belief : Drinking a lot of coconut juice will make the baby skin beautiful and without greasiness.

Truth : Grease on baby skin actually make the baby delivery easier because it lubricates baby’s body during the labor while the baby passes through the vagina to the outside. This kind of grease is produced from the baby’s skin cell and Sebaceous glands. As the baby grows during pregnancy, the amount of this grease increases. Besides, this grease is very useful after the baby delivery because it coats the baby’s body skin and prevents the acute drop of the baby’s body temperature. As such, doctors usually keep the body grease for a while, in order to ensure that the baby can control its body temperature, before cleaning the baby’s body. Immediate cleaning of the baby’s body grease may cause the baby’s body temperature unusually low and may endanger the baby. Regarding drinking of coconut juice, it should be noted that the coconut juice contains very high amount of sugar and saturated fatty acid. Too much consumption of coconut juice with these substances will result in big, but unhealthy baby. Moreover, pregnant mothers will have higher risk of cholesterol blocking the blood vessels (Hypercholesterolemia). Therefore, if possible, when your body weight is already increased, drinking coconut juice should be avoided.

Belief : Consuming vining vegetables is prohibited, because they can cause difficult birth

Truth : This is an ancient belief that blames vining vegetables for causing difficult birth, indicating that their vines can restrain the baby. In fact, there is no restriction for pregnant women to consume any kind of vegetables, especially those with green leaves such as morning glory, ivy gourd, cowpea, tomato, and pumpkin. Being able to consume these vegetables will be very useful because they provide essential vitamins for the baby’s conjunctiva development and functioning of the eyes.

Belief : Drinking tea and coffee are prohibited because they can cause abortion.

Truth : There is a research on drinking coffee or drinks with caffeine ingredients of more than 1,063 pregnant women indicating that consuming caffeine  more than 200 milligram per day, which is equivalent to two cups of coffee per day, may result in abortion up to 25% among pregnant women. This does not mean that drinking coffee is strictly prohibited but, however, it should be limited to only one cup in every 2-3 days. It could be just a sip, only to satisfy your desire, or switch to drinking the decaffeinate coffee. The reason is that pregnant women need to have enough rest. Drinking too much coffee may cause difficulty to sleep and result in inadequate rest or constipation, which adversely affect the mother’s health and the baby’s growth and development. Please be reminded that, when drinking tea and coffee is already avoided, pregnant women should also not consume soft drinks and other drinks that contain caffeine.

Belief : Consuming fish oil will retard the blood coagulation

Truth : Fish oil is different from fish’s liver oil. It is the oil of fish which contains saturated fatty acids essential for our body. Such fatty acids include Omega 3 that is an important component of body’s cells and tissues, the brain, and blood cells. Omega 3 also helps to create the body’s immunization and reduce the symptom of bone inflammation from which pregnant women suffer. However, fish oil, both in form of pills and capsules, should not be overly consumed. Instead, pregnant women should consume fish oil via a variety of fishes such as salmon, tuna, and mangrove red snapper. Besides, the essential fish oil is also available in sea foods, such as prawn and crabs, and cereals such as soya beans, oat, almond, and pumpkin seeds. These foods not only contain balanced amount of fatty acids but they are also less expensive. Besides, pregnant mothers should stop consuming the fish oil pills or capsules when entering the 6^th-7^th month of pregnancy because fish oil reduces formation of the blood platelets. Although this does not cause blocking within the blood vessels, it retards the blood coagulation when having wounded cuts or during operations.

Having known the aforementioned truths of food consumption beliefs, it is hoped that pregnant mothers could clearly understand the matter and comfortably select nutritious foods during the pregnancy, ultimately for safety of both the mother and the baby.