OB-GYNs Debunk 25 Pregnancy Myths

Laura Riley: Oh, this is my favorite. "Pregnant women need to eat twice as much." Absolute myth. Do not do it. You actually only need about 200 extra calories a day compared to a normal American diet. And that's assuming you start

pregnancy

at a normal weight. "Sex during

pregnancy

harms the baby." Well... Dena Goffman: "Cocoa butter prevents stretch marks." This is a myth. I'm Laura Riley. I am a high-risk obstetrician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell. I'm Dena Goffman. I am a high-risk obstetrician at New York Presbyterian/Columbia. It's very exciting to wonder what will come next. Riley: I know, I know.

Goffman: Oh, my favorite. "It's okay to drink a glass of wine during pregnancy." We know that the recommendation during pregnancy is that you really should not consume any alcohol. Unfortunately, there is no safe amount of alcohol or safe time during pregnancy when we can be sure that alcohol will not affect the developing fetus. Riley: Also, I think it's important to add that we also don't think it's safe to drink while breastfeeding, because alcohol passes into breast milk. And as Dr. Goffman said, we don't know what the safe amount is and that safe amount can actually change for different women.

Goffman: "Your belly reveals the sex of the baby." We certainly hear from patients who come to see us who have heard or have family members say that they can tell if they are having a boy or a girl based on the appearance of the woman's belly. And we know that there is absolutely no evidence that the shape of your belly can give us this kind of information. Riley: I think the other myth that goes along with gender is that heart rate is high or low. My patients always say that, you know, they come, oh, it's 160, it must be a girl.

Like, no. If it is 160, it means the child is moving a lot, and if she is sleeping, she will be 120. So it doesn't tell you if she is a girl or a boy. Goffman: "Cocoa butter prevents stretch marks." This is a myth. While cocoa butter is something that many patients like to use, we don't have any evidence that cocoa butter or anything else we might recommend prevents stretch marks. Riley: It's probably genetic and essentially if you gain too much weight in one place, meaning your pregnancy becomes too large, you are unfortunately more likely to get stretch marks.

But it's not worth spending a lot of money on expensive creams, because it won't work. That was joyful. "You can give your developing baby a cold." This is a complete myth. Your baby won't catch a cold. Although your baby can get sick if you get something like the flu, that's why we recommend getting a flu shot to prevent your baby from getting seriously ill. There are some illnesses you can pass to your baby, but it's probably not a cold. I think people confuse the cold and the flu, which is unfortunate because the flu can make you very sick during pregnancy.

Goffman: "What you eat during pregnancy can influence the baby's palate." Riley: I don't think there's a shred of evidence to support that. I think what you eat during pregnancy is important because, you know, it gets your baby off to a good start in terms of overall nutrition and good health. But it probably won't change the baby's palate. Goffman: We always talk about nutrition, food choices, and healthy weight gain, which can really have a long-term impact on your baby's development, but not specifically on her palate or tastes. Riley: "Pregnant women shouldn't drink coffee." That's a myth. You can have coffee.

This is one where moderation is the most important thing. In the first trimester, drinking excessive amounts of coffee has been associated with an increased risk of miscarriage. Once that first trimester is over, should you go crazy with coffee? Probably not. But it won't hurt anything. Goffman: "Pregnant women should not eat hot dogs." So, this is a myth. I think the concerns with hot dogs are a few. You need to make sure they are cooked thoroughly to avoid the risk of infection. And there used to be quite a bit of talk about the amount of nitrites in hot dogs, but I think the evidence suggests that unless you eat really excessive amounts of hot dogs, it's probably okay to enjoy one.

I think there are probably better things to eat than hot dogs, nutritionally speaking, but I think if people enjoy one every once in a while, I don't have a problem with it. Riley: You're much nicer than me. Frankly, I'm not sure why anyone eats hot dogs, but, you know, you can eat one when you're pregnant, but I think it's really important to make sure it's cooked, because the concern about listeria is a real concern. So, that includes hot dogs, unpasteurized cheeses, and deli meats. All of those things are things that worry us. So I think, you know.

Yes, it is a myth that you can't eat hot dogs, but you need to make sure they are cooked thoroughly. "Pregnant women should not eat smoked salmon." That's a myth. You can eat smoked salmon if you like. I'm not a salmon lover, so. Goffman: I love it. You can eat smoked salmon. This raises concerns about eating fish during pregnancy, which is a very broad topic. And we talk to our patients about the risk of various types of fish. That's why we want to avoid fish with high mercury content. Typically that would be avoiding too much tuna, choosing canned tuna in light chunks, and also limiting the number of cans of tuna in a week.

I guess there is also some concern about some of these fatty fish, because of the potential for toxins. So I would say salmon in general can fall into that category, but I think smoked salmon is safe for pregnant women to eat. Riley: The whole fish story is a little blown out of proportion. And I think people are really going crazy with this whole mercury thing. However, I would say that it is important to also recognize that fish has great nutritional value that pregnant women and babies need and want. So it's unfortunate that somehow the fish story has made people think, "I can't eat fish." It's actually the big fish that worry you about mercury.

But don't forget that something like salmon will give you the DHEAS you want. Goffman: "Pregnant women should not pet cats." This is a myth. This would be terrible if all the pregnant women in the world couldn't pet their pets, their cats. There is a concern with pregnant women caring for cats in terms of the litter box, and really the risk is toxoplasmosis. And the risk of exposure lies not in interacting with your cat, but in changing a dirty litter box. Riley: It's actually quite rare in the US for women to come into contact with toxoplasmosis. The most important thing about cat stories is that everyone cares about the cat and the cat litter;

The most common exposure women suffer from toxoplasmosis is actually not the cat or even the liter. It's not about washing the vegetables in your garden, because it's the cat that has the toxin that poops in your garden and then you pick it up and eat it because you don't wash it or whatever. So gardening without gloves is something we tell pregnant women to avoid because of that particular infection. Unfortunately, the cat has a bad reputation. "Pregnant women should not fly." Total myth, get on the plane, have a good time. That being said, there are a few things to think about when flying.

I think one of the main problems is that pregnant women are at higher risk of getting a blood clot in the leg or lung. When you fly, the air is dry. You're also more likely to simply be sitting for an extended period of time. And that further increases the risk of having a blood clot. That's why I always tell pregnant women, be happy, go ahead. Take those trips. But you should hydrate before you go. You should wear supportive tights or at least, you know, running tights or something that will give you a little bit of support in your legs.

You should get up and walk about every hour. People worry about air pressure, which doesn't make sense because it's a pressurized cabin. That's no use, your water won't break. And they're also worried about going through screening, right? Everyone is worried about radiation passing through the checkpoint, but in fact, radiation exposure is greater when you are in the sky on the plane than when you walk quickly through security checkpoints. Goffman: "Exercise during pregnancy can strangle the baby." This is a myth. In fact, exercising during pregnancy is highly recommended. All of our professional organizations, all of us as providers, talk to patients about maintaining physical activity, maintaining exercise throughout pregnancy, really, unless a medical situation arises that changes those recommendations.

So exercise is not dangerous. And in fact, quite the opposite. It's really important. Riley: I think this whole strangulation thing also comes from this crazy nonsense that if you get into certain yoga positions, your baby can strangle themselves. You have no control over the position your baby is placed in. The baby is floating in a puddle of water. And it doesn't matter if you're doing a handstand or just relaxing. "Sex during pregnancy harms the baby." Well, that's a big myth. And it also helps to understand the anatomy a little. I think this is where patients get a little confused.

The baby is floating in a puddle of water, a big bag with balloons. And that balloon sac is surrounded by thick muscle, which is the uterus, it surrounds the entire sac and actually has a thicker portion at the bottom. So there is simply no way for sex to even come close to the baby. Goffman: Dying your hair is harmful to the baby. This is another big myth. And we got phone calls about it. Many questions. There is no testing and once again we turn to testing because that is what we consider your doctors. And there's really no evidence that the products we use to color hair reach the baby or have the potential to cause harm.

Riley: The other thing about hair dye, frankly, I tell people, if it's going to make you feel better, that's really important because, for a lot of us, how we look and how we present ourselves really has a lot to do with our psychological state. And you want to be as healthy as possible during pregnancy. "There are simple tricks to overcome morning sickness." I think that's a myth in the sense that probably none of those things were simple. But I think there are ways to lessen the pain of morning sickness. The first thing is that morning sickness can last all day, so the whole "morning" thing is a myth in itself.

But with that being said, some of the things you can do to help: Try starting your day with something really simple, like crackers, the moment you get out of bed. Saltines, something really bland. Stay away from smells, smells will make you sicker. I think the most important thing I've learned throughout my career, and I've had a personal hand in it, is that we tell people to stay hydrated and that's why they go after the water bottle. And stay away from water. Water makes you sick, I don't understand it, but it makes you sick. So what I tell patients is to put everything on crushed ice.

That way you will get the water but you won't actually drink it or swallow air while drinking from a water bottle. Things that you would put over ice, say lemonade and ginger ale, letting out a little bit of the fizz, will also help. Lemon popsicles, lemon granita, Italian lemon ice. The reason I say lemon is because lemon also helps reduce nausea. I think the other critical thing for morning sickness is that it's important to get outside every day. I think sometimes what happens is you feel a little nauseous, then you feel worse, then you start to feel depressed, and then you can't move because you're tired.

And that's the worst thing you can do is give in to it. I think it's important to get out, walk, even if it's just a block and then back. Goffman: "Caesarean section is always necessary in breech births." So this is a myth, although I think most of us think that C-sections are the most common and safest way to deliver a singleton fetus. So, a single baby in labor, especially full term. So there are certainly situations for which we must be able to individualize. We often talk to patients with twins. If the second twin is breech, that may be a great option for them.

And I think there are rare situations where a woman goes into labor where we may recommend or support a vaginal breech delivery for a singleton fetus. Riley: I think to support a vaginal breech birth, you need to have a provider who has experience with that. And, you know, the reality is that in the US, the number of providers that can do this safely is definitely declining, almost to none. However, I think that the other option, which I think we should put on the table, is a version that, if you know that the baby is breech and you are full term, is to go for a procedure in which, under ultrasound guidance,, place the baby face down. "If you sit all day, you will have a breech baby." A total myth.

If you sit all day, you will gain a lot of weight and have back pain, but your baby will do whatever he does. Most babies are not breech when they come to term. So only about 3% of babies will be born breech when they reach term. These babies will turn around several times until they reach 36 or 37 weeks. So it has nothing to do with whether you're running a marathon or sitting on your butt. Goffman: "Pregnant women should sleep on their left" I think pregnant women should sleep however they feel comfortable, although we know that women, as they become more pregnant in the second and certainly the third trimester, may not They can sleep on their backs.

And that's because as the pregnancy grows, the fetus grows, the uterus grows, the weight that the uterus will put on the blood vessels and some other structures can make that really uncomfortable and not ideal for the baby. So, women can sleep on their left side. They can sleep on their right side, they can sleep on their back, tilted a little bit, but we're usually not so strict as to say just the left side. Riley: I think people are worried about, oh my God, I woke up. and I'm face up, did I kill my baby? You didn't kill your baby.

If you sleep on your back, as Dr. Goffman said, the structure we are most concerned about is the inferior vena cava. , then it is this large blood vessel that carries blood back to the heart and head. And most people will feel very nauseous, right? And I feel dizzy and weird. And then you will naturally turn, so you won't have to wake up to do it. "Your hair and skin look better when you're pregnant." Ha, I wish. I guess your hair could look better, right? Your skin probably won't necessarily look better. Some women say they shine. I think they're... they're dreaming.

Unfortunately, the high levels of progesterone you get when you're pregnant to support pregnancy can actually cause acne you haven't seen since you were 13, and all the expensive creams in the world aren't going to fix that. . So I don't suggest you spend your money on it. Goffman: "Pregnant women become flexible." You know, we recognize that many changes occur in women's bodies when they are pregnant, but I wouldn't say that becoming flexible is one of them. There are certain things that happen in terms of your posture, how you stand and definitely some relaxation of different parts of your body to prepare your pelvis to be able to have a vaginal birth.

But I don't think that kind of traditional flexibility is what we typically see. "Eating spicy foods will induce labor." Riley: Ha! Goffman: So if this were true, it would be wonderful because we could help women induce labor whenever we wanted. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find any particular food, physical activity, drink, or supplement that can actually induce labor. We have medications to induce labor, but as far as we can tell, there is no evidence that any of those things that women want to try are actually effective. Riley: I think people are just looking for something to get out of Dodge at 40 weeks, which I can totally relate to.

Goffman: Yes. It won't hurt. Riley: It probably won't hurt. Spicy food probably won't hurt you. You can do whatever you want, but your baby is in charge. She only remembers that. Goffman: "Yoga can induce labor." We believe there are many benefits to doing yoga and participating in pregnancy, but inducing labor is not one of them. Certainly, more women are using yoga, which can help with relaxation, can help relieve stress, and can help with stretching. So I think there are many reasons why it can be a great activity to do yoga, but there is no evidence that it induces labor.

Riley: If only. "Yoga makes childbirth easier." I think in general, exercise probably provides a better birth in the sense that it tends to be more efficient. But yoga itself doesn't necessarily make you smoother. Goffman: There are some things about yoga that are similar to other labor and delivery preparation things, right? I think breathing and mindfulness are similar to some things about preparing for childbirth. So I think in that sense, some of those things can help you be more centered, be able to concentrate, be able to use some of those strategies to help, but certainly not make the birth itself go more smoothly. "Natural births are better." So, this is a myth.

There are certainly women who spend time thinking about what they would like their birth experience to be like. And I think for some women, natural childbirth, and the way we think about it, is often childbirth without pain medication, and for some women, this can be a wonderful experience, but we all know that we need to individualize care for our patients. . And for many women, a natural birth may not be better. There may be real medical benefits, depending on the situation and underlying condition, to taking pain relievers or an epidural. Riley: I have to say, I'm a big fan of natural birth, but I think it takes some preparation, and I think it takes mental preparation, and I think it's no better or worse.

I also believe that there is another myth associated with natural childbirth, which is that if you are induced you have to anesthetize because the pain is worse. The pain is intense, whether we give you the contractions or your child gives them to you, or whether it happens naturally, whatever. It is painful. And some people can cope better because they've practiced mindfulness or hypnobirthing or whatever. And then sometimes people can deal with it better because it's faster. But, again, I think it's about everyone being able to make their own decisions about birth. I love this. "There are ways to predict the exact due date." When we give you your due date, it's about two weeks away.

And the reason is that your child is in charge of when you go into labor. We are not. Although I have to say that we are much more accurate in knowing what your dates are than before because we use ultrasound, early, early ultrasounds, much more frequently. Obviously, there are people who have undergone IVF and know even more. But, I repeat, even if you know when it all started, you don't know when it will end. Because the person who knows that is your baby and right now we can't talk to that person. Goffman: It's very exciting to wonder what comes next.

Riley: I know, I know.