#22 Does 9 months of "eating for two" give you a bigger baby or a bigger bum?

FACT OF THE DAY: Women in some cultures near starve themselves during pregnancy in hope of giving birth to a smaller baby that is safer to deliver

What’s one of the first thing people say to you once you’re pregnant? After the initial congratulations, often the next reaction along with your celebratory cup of tea is encouragement to eat more, saying “Go on, have another biscuit, now that you’re eating for two”.

Our culture’s obsession with feeding up pregnant women probably relates back to the days when food was scarce. But food is not so scarce these days, in fact for most of us it’s more than plentiful!

The current NHS advice specifically says “you don’t have to eat for two” during pregnancy. Making sure you eat sufficient vitamins and minerals while pregnant is now recognised as more important than extra food.

Exact figures vary, but it seems that for the first six months of pregnancy you don’t need any extra calories as your body becomes more efficient, and for the final three months just an extra 200-300 calories per day are needed (equivalent to a couple of slices of toast, or one Mars Bar).

That’s really very little excuse to be putting our hands in the cookie jar too often. It also explains why even in famine conditions women are able to produce babies.

#21 Don't change your bedding on unlucky days

FACT OF THE DAY:  Women in Hong Kong, China, are encouraged to follow a list of over 75 superstitions during pregnancy, believed to protect them and their baby

In the last post I described some of the more extreme pregnancy superstitions found around the world.

From what I’ve read, generally the more Westernised (and medicalised) a culture, the fewer the number of superstitions that are followed, in daily life as well as during pregnancy.

But it seems this is not always the case.

I’ve been reading a fascinating account of the superstitions that are still going strong in Hong Kong, even among women who are receiving Western obstetric care.

#20 Pregnancy superstitions around the world

Are you superstitious?

Even though I think of myself as a rational person with a scientific approach to life, I still can’t help following superstitions which I know to be totally ridiculous - I admit to feeling slightly uncomfortable if I have to walk under a ladder. And during pregnancy I probably gave in to my superstitions more than normal.

In our culture we seem to be particularly driven by the fear of tempting fate during pregnancy, for example not bringing the cot or pram into the house before the baby is actually born.

#19 Stress & Infertility

So my question is, do any of these infertility rituals actually work?

Religious or spiritual rituals, often aimed at banishing an evil presence which is preventing conception from happening, are a very common approach to solving infertility in many non-Western cultures.

#18 She put a spell on me

FACT OF THE DAY: Spells and sorcery are common explanations for infertility in some African cultures. Women unable to have children are often accused of being witches themselves.

Today, I am staying on the witchcraft theme – shame it’s not Hallowe’en.

Last post I shared a 2009 Gallop poll which shows the amazingly high number of people who believe in witchcraft in various African countries. Of the 18,000 people polled in 18 countries, on average 55% said they believed in witchcraft.

Given the high prevalence of these beliefs, I guess it’s not surprising that witchcraft comes to mind for women who are having difficulty getting pregnant. Maybe it’s only one step further from us saying we feel so unlucky, or even ‘cursed’ in the same situation.

#17 Witch babies

FACT OF THE DAY: The Bariba culture believes that witch babies can be detected by certain signs at birth. This has a huge impact on the mother’s experience of childbirth

The Bariba are one of the non-Western cultures I mentioned where the cultural ideal is for women to give birth alone; post #16  http://pregnancyandchildbirtharoundtheworld.blogspot.com/2012/01/16-freebirthing-dude.html

The Bariba number about half a million straddling the borders of Benin, Nigeria and Burkina Faso, and are nominally Muslim. However, like many cultures they have not abandoned their traditional ‘pagan’ religion, and daily life is influenced by both religions.

Their traditional religion gives the Bariba a strong belief in witches and sorcery (this is the part of the world where voodoo originated).

#16 Freebirthing, Dude!

FACT OF THE DAY: It may sound like an high adrenaline sport, but freebirthing is actually a movement started in the USA encouraging women to give birth alone.

I was doing some reading about giving birth alone in non-western cultures and came across quite a few websites about freebirthing, (also sometimes called Unassisted Birth or even a Do-It-Yourself birth) about women in the west who give birth alone.

I had never heard of freebirthing before. These women decide to give birth at home, specifically choosing not to have any medical staff present, and often choose not even to have their husband or partner present.

I joke about it being like high adrenaline sport, but actually it turns out some women do equate it to an adrenaline rush – the ‘thrill of the catch’ as they grab their own baby on it’s way out.

#15 Pity the hyena mother

FACT OF THE DAY: It turns out that our bodies are not the only ones that are badly designed for childbirth. Hyenas give birth through their CLITORIS!

In a previous post I wrote about us humans being relatively badly designed for childbirth compared to the other great apes. (Post #3 http://pregnancyandchildbirtharoundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/10/childbirth-are-our-bodies-designed-for.html).  Because of our large brain size our babies have big heads, and because we walk upright our pelvis has a small hole – the combination of these two factors can be lethal for mother and baby.

When you think about it, this is a pretty major design fault. No doubt some population geneticist could explain the costs and benefits to me, but from a species point of view (never mind the individual woman’s point of view) it seems odd to kill off one generation in producing the next.