Skip to content

Top Navigation

Parents Parents
  • GETTING PREGNANT
  • PREGNANCY
  • BABY NAMES
  • BABY
  • TODDLER
  • BIG KID
  • FUN
  • HEALTH
  • PARENTING
  • FOOD
  • HOLIDAY
  • News
  • Moms Run the World
  • THE STAY AT HOME GUIDE
  • SHOP
  • OUR MAGAZINES
  • MORE

Profile Menu

Join Now

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Cozi Family Organizer this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout
My Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Cozi Family Organizer this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Parents

Parents Parents
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 22 Chore Ideas for Every Type of Kid

      22 Chore Ideas for Every Type of Kid

      Find a chore your kid loves to do, and start a habit of wanting to help out that'll last a lifetime. Read More Next
    • Top 5 Mom Friend Problems—And How to Fix Them

      Top 5 Mom Friend Problems—And How to Fix Them

      Parenting is so much easier with good pals. Learn to overcome friendship hurdles and bond with women who get you. Read More Next
    • How to Sleep Train Toddlers and Big Kids

      How to Sleep Train Toddlers and Big Kids

      I’m a pediatric sleep specialist who has seen it all, and I’m here to tell you that it’s not too late to get your child to (happily) stay in his own bed all night long. Read More Next
  • GETTING PREGNANT

    GETTING PREGNANT

    See All GETTING PREGNANT
    Your Chances of Getting Pregnant Every Day of the Month

    Your Chances of Getting Pregnant Every Day of the Month

    When sex coincides with your most fertile ovulation days, you'll increase your chances of getting pregnant. Get to know each phase of your cycle to make conception faster and easier.
    • Ovulation
    • Reproductive Age
    • Maximizing Your Fertility
    • Pre-Pregnancy Health
    • Trying to Conceive
    • Dealing With Infertility
    • Genetics
  • PREGNANCY

    PREGNANCY

    See All PREGNANCY
    Signs of Approaching Labor: How to Tell Your Baby is Coming Soon

    Signs of Approaching Labor: How to Tell Your Baby is Coming Soon

    Anxiously awaiting your baby’s arrival? Learn to recognize the first signs of labor approaching, which signal that your little one might make an appearance soon.
    • Signs of Pregnancy
    • Pregnancy Week-by-Week
    • Giving Birth
    • Labor & Delivery
    • Pregnancy Symptoms
    • Due Date Calculator
    • Pregnancy Complications
    • Fetal Development
    • Gender Prediction
    • Baby Showers
  • BABY NAMES

    BABY NAMES

    See All BABY NAMES
    These Are the Most Popular Baby Names of 2020

    These Are the Most Popular Baby Names of 2020

    Curious which baby names stole the show this year? From new classics like Noah to tried-and-true faves like Ava, here are the top boy and girl names of the year so far, plus more naming trends to consider.
    • Baby Girl Names
    • Most Popular Names
    • Names by Origin
    • Twin Names
    • Baby Boy Names
    • Names by Religion
    • Celebrity Baby Names
    • Baby Name Quizzes
  • BABY

    BABY

    See All BABY
    How to Decode Your Baby's Cough

    How to Decode Your Baby's Cough

    Caring for a baby with a wet or dry cough? Listen for wheezing, hacking, or barking first, then read on to find out what's normal and when it's time to worry.
    • Newborn Care
    • Crying Baby
    • Health
    • Baby Development
    • Safety
    • Gear
    • Breastfeeding
    • Diapers
    • Sleep Issues
    • Feeding
    • Nursery
  • TODDLER

    TODDLER

    See All TODDLER
    • Preschool Activities
    • Behavior & Discipline
    • Toddler Development
    • Milestones
    • Potty Training
    • Starting School
    • Health
    • Safety
    • Childcare
  • BIG KID

    BIG KID

    See All BIG KID
    How to Deal With Bullies: A Guide for Parents

    How to Deal With Bullies: A Guide for Parents

    Mean kids aren't just a middle-school problem. The trouble has trickled to the youngest grades. Learn how to spot it—and how to protect children of all ages from bullies at school.
    • Education
    • Health
    • Food & Nutrition
    • Bullying & School Problems
    • Child Development
    • Safety
    • Manners & Responsibility
  • FUN

    FUN

    See All FUN
    17 Budget-Friendly Kids’ Birthday Party Ideas

    17 Budget-Friendly Kids’ Birthday Party Ideas

    A fun celebration doesn’t need to cost a pretty penny. Throw a memorable bash with these clever cost-cutting kids’ birthday party ideas.
    • Birthdays
    • Indoor Activities
    • Outdoor Activities
    • Arts & Crafts
    • Printable Coloring Pages
    • Kids' Entertainment
    • Best Toys
    • Holidays
    • Family Vacation Ideas
  • HEALTH

    HEALTH

    See All HEALTH
    All About Coronavirus COVID-19: A Concerned Parent's Guide

    All About Coronavirus COVID-19: A Concerned Parent's Guide

    Here’s everything you need to know about the disease that originated in Wuhan, China.
    • ADD & ADHD
    • Allergies
    • Autism
    • Cold & Flu
    • Coronavirus and COVID-19
    • Cough
    • Down Syndrome
    • Emergency Aid
    • Fever
    • Medication & Vitamins
    • Obesity
    • Rashes
    • Stomach Aches
    • Vaccines
  • PARENTING

    PARENTING

    See All PARENTING
    The Stay at Home Guide for Parents

    The Stay at Home Guide for Parents

    Everything you need to thrive at home as a family.
    • Positive Parenting
    • Parenting Style
    • Celebrity Parents
    • Family Dynamics
    • Divorce
    • Home
    • Adoption
    • Just for Mom
    • Money
    • Toy Recalls
    • Stroller Recalls
  • FOOD

    FOOD

    See All FOOD
    • Family Recipes
    • Baby Food
    • Toddler Finger Food Recipes
    • Hints & Tips
    • Healthy Eating
    • Birthdays
    • Holiday Recipes
    • Quick & Easy Meals
    • Food For Pregnant Women
  • HOLIDAY

    HOLIDAY

    See All HOLIDAY
    19 Mother's Day Gifts Kids Can Make

    19 Mother's Day Gifts Kids Can Make

    Moms love nothing more than a handmade present on Mother's Day. Help the kids make mom feel special with a creative gift from the heart!
    • Christmas
    • New Year's
    • Valentine's Day
    • Easter
    • Mother's Day
    • Memorial Day
    • Father's Day
    • 4th of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Hanukkah
  • News
  • Moms Run the World
  • THE STAY AT HOME GUIDE
  • SHOP
  • OUR MAGAZINES

    OUR MAGAZINES

    See All OUR MAGAZINES
    • Parents
    • Parents Latina
    • Ser Padres
  • MORE

    MORE

    • Newsletters
    • Contests
    • #ParentsIRL
    • Adulting
    • First Year Playbook
    • Celebrate Your Way

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Join Now

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Cozi Family Organizer this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout
My Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Cozi Family Organizer this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

LIVE
  1. Home
  2. Pregnancy & Birth
  3. My Pregnant Life
  4. 7 Pregnancy Superstitions

7 Pregnancy Superstitions

By Jenny Deam
July 14, 2015
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
Pregnancy Myths: What Should You Believe?
Expectant women will go to great lengths to keep their baby safe. New moms explain their intriguing superstitions.
Start Slideshow

1 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

I'm a Believer!

pregnant woman
Credit: Image Source/ Veer

As I sat nervously in a clinic, waiting to undergo a round of genetic testing early in my pregnancy, my husband slipped out to a nearby 7-Eleven to get me something to drink. He also picked up a 99-cent ring from a basket by the cash register. The sign promised they were "lucky." (A few months earlier, we'd lost a pregnancy, and he figured we could use the extra luck.) When the test results were good, I vowed to wear the ring until my son was born. And I did, even as my poor finger swelled around it.

"We tend to look for things to believe in during periods of high uncertainty and when the outcome is of huge importance," explains Erika Brady, Ph.D., a professor of folk studies at Western Kentucky University, in Bowling Green. And for all of the medical advancements women enjoy today, having a baby still comes with no guarantees.

We asked readers to tell us about the traditions they abided by (or in some cases, rejected) while expecting.

1 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Watch Out for Moonlight

Watch Out for Moonlight
Credit: Peter Ardito

All through her pregnancy, Gloria Reynada, of Tempe, Arizona, wore a set of keys around her neck during the full moon. Reynada's Mexican mother said that without the keys to deflect the moon's rays, the lunar light could eat her baby's lip and cause a cleft palate. Reynada ordinarily believes in science and facts, but she wasn't willing to take any chances: "You can't prove it's right, but you can't prove it's wrong either." Historians of Chicana culture say the key custom began hundreds of years ago with the indigenous tribes in Mexico.

2 of 9

3 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Pregnancy Myths: What Should You Believe?

3 of 9

Advertisement

4 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Lay Off the Lei

Lei
Credit: Peter Ardito

Kimberly Brooks, of Doty, Washington, has never even been to Hawaii. But at a Hawaiian-themed bash, an aunt warned the mom-to-be to skip the party favors: Leis could harm an unborn baby. The notion is widespread in Hawaii and in Polynesia. "Pregnant women should leave their leis untied because the fear is that a completed loop can cause the baby to be strangled by the umbilical cord," says Keali'i'olu'olu Gora, an expert on Hawaiian customs at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. "All five of my sisters cut their leis when they were pregnant."

4 of 9

5 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Play the Odds

Baby shower
Credit: David Tsay

When it came time to plan Shobha Tummala's baby shower, a close friend (who, like Tummala, is Indian) insisted that they hold the shower in either the seventh or ninth month of pregnancy. According to a 5,000-year-old Hindu belief, the numbers seven and nine are considered lucky and the number eight is not, says Kailash Upadhyay, head priest of the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Denver. So it was settled: Tummala, a mom in New York City, was feted in her seventh month!

5 of 9

6 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Avoid Cemeteries

cemetery
Credit: Jason Lindsey

Natasha Rosenstock, of Washington, D.C., encountered an odd dilemma while she was expecting. Modern Orthodox Jews believe that pregnant women should avoid funerals and burials. Midway through her pregnancy, however, two close family friends died within weeks of each other. Should she attend the burials and honor them, or stick with the traditions of her faith? Her grandmother (who was of Eastern European heritage) was horrified that Rosenstock even considered going to the funerals. Some Eastern European and Mediterranean Jews believe that it's potentially hazardous for a pregnant woman to be in such close proximity to death, and that recently departed souls may sometimes even linger around at cemeteries, explains Samuel Cohon, senior rabbi at Temple Emanu-El in Tucson, Arizona. In the end Rosenstock elected to attend the memorial services but skip the graveside ceremonies. She's unapologetic about her decision: "I didn't think anything bad would happen, but it felt so natural to follow tradition."

6 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Be Wary of Water

Water with fish
Credit: Peter Ardito

When Minneapolis mom Janette Xiong was pregnant, her mother (a first-generation Hmong from Southeast Asia) advised her to avoid large bodies of water -- otherwise, she'd miscarry. That's a tough one in Minnesota, "The Land of 10,000 Lakes." Hmong culture holds to a 1,000-year-old idea that an evil spirit lives in the water and jealously guards it, explains Txongpao Lee, executive director of the Hmong Cultural Center in St. Paul. If a pregnant woman gets too close, the spirit will take her baby as punishment. Xiong didn't truly buy it, but still, late in her pregnancy, when friends invited her to the beach, she declined. "If I'd gone and something had happened, I would have felt so guilty."

7 of 9

8 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Keep the Peace

Couple hugging
Credit: Image Source/Veer

Between raging hormones and the general discomfort of carrying twins, Bridgette Shade-Epps, from Shelby, North Carolina, was understandably cranky during her first pregnancy. Her mother reminded her, though, that she'd better be polite: If she got into arguments, her babies would look like her adversary. Biting her tongue for nine months was quite a challenge, and Shade-Epps admittedly bickered with a few relatives. The surprise came when her sons were born -- strongly resembling the two family members she'd tussled with the most. Pregnancy superstitions, like many superstitions, often reflect the values of a region or culture. "This belief fits into the moral code of Southern gentility," explains Ashley Fogle, associate director of Carolina Women's Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Shade-Epps remains more than slightly spooked. "I didn't believe it at the time," she says, "But I do now."

8 of 9

9 of 9

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Heed Your Cravings

pregnant woman looking for food in fridge
Credit: Shannon Greer

Many women view pregnancy as permission to eat with abandon, but for some, it's practically a mandate. When Tammy Padgett, of Tarboro, North Carolina, was expecting, her mother urged her to obey all her cravings. If not, her baby would have a birthmark in the shape of the food she'd denied herself. This tale gets passed around not only in America's rural South but, with different variations, in other cultures, says Dr. Brady. Many people believe that pregnant women crave food their body truly needs, and the birthmark superstition is a twist on that: If you don't follow your hunger cues, the baby may suffer. Ultimately, Padgett rejected the superstition when her fear of tipping the bathroom scale trumped her fear of birthmarks. "If I'd eaten everything I wanted, I would've been as big as a house," she jokes. Luckily, her son was free of birthmarks shaped like all those tacos she skipped while carrying him.

Originally published in the March 2011 issue of American Baby magazine.

9 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 9 I'm a Believer!
    2 of 9 Watch Out for Moonlight
    3 of 9 Pregnancy Myths: What Should You Believe?
    4 of 9 Lay Off the Lei
    5 of 9 Play the Odds
    6 of 9 Avoid Cemeteries
    7 of 9 Be Wary of Water
    8 of 9 Keep the Peace
    9 of 9 Heed Your Cravings

    Share options

    Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

    Login

    Shop | Parents

    • Diaper Bags
    • Maternity Clothing
    • Prenatal Vitamins
    • Car Seats
    • Breast Pumps
    • Maternity Dresses
    • Baby Shower Gifts
    • Baby Gates
    • Pregnancy Pillows
    • Kids Backpacks
    • Shop More Next

    Parents may receive compensation when you click through and purchase from links contained on this website.

    Parents

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • About Us
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
    • Cozi Family Organizer this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • From Our Sponsors this link opens in a new tab
    • Affiliate Program this link opens in a new tab
    • Sitemap

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Other Meredith Sites

    Other Meredith Sites

    • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
    • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
    • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
    • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
    • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
    • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
    • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
    • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
    • Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
    • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
    • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
    • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
    • More this link opens in a new tab
    • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
    • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
    • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
    • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
    • People this link opens in a new tab
    • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
    • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
    • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
    • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
    • Shape this link opens in a new tab
    • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
    • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
    • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
    • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
    MeredithParents.com is part of the Parents Network. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.parents.com

    View image

    7 Pregnancy Superstitions
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.