Being pregnant is a usual thing among people, but the notion, which exists around it, is quite diverse. The folk and the culture traditions experienced around the world, together with the old wives, have flourished around the pregnant stomach. Beginning with the interpretation of shapes of bumps to examining food desires, various cultures have partaken in creating utterly fascinating–and not to mention downright strange–methods of ascending the symptoms of pregnancy and the future of a baby.
In this paper, we will have a light-hearted but decent discussion about the birth beliefs. You will learn what baby bumps supposedly mean in Brazil and why the Filipinas may not consume squids as well as what craving pickles may mean in Germany. In between the lines we will examine the question of whether any science exists behind some of these stories as well as the reason why they are still surviving in contemporary society.
Interested in knowing about the most common old wives’ tales which were employed in predicting the sex of the baby? These are some of the traditional beliefs in a nutshell.
The Bump of Mystery: Gender – Shape….Or vice versa.
Such a belief that the baby bump shape or location determines the gender of the child according to the location of bump or shape falls under one of the longest standing myths in the world. The belief resides in the culture of the U.S. to India and there are differences in its interpretation:
- United States and UK: To be carrying high is considered to mean that it is a girl and to be carrying low indicate a boy. Similarly, when the bump extends to its sides horizontally, that indicates that it is a girl, whereas when the bump is all front and pointed, then it is a boy.
- Mexico: There are similar beliefs and the extra one is that the beauty of the mother can “go away” when she gives birth to a girl baby because the daughter will rob a mother of her beauty.
- Rural communities in India Some rural communities declare that a round belly translates to a girl and a thin, sharp bump translates to a boy.
Scientific Verdict:
All the medical experts are of the same opinion that bump shape is a matter of a body shape of the mother, muscle tone, the history of pregnancies count, and the position of the baby and not sex of the baby. In a nutshell, this myth lacks scientific ground.
Cravings, Culture and Character: What Do They Tell About Your Baby?
It is also common to find people wondering whether the pregnancy cravings are indicators of a baby gender, personality or future. We will now have a visit of some of the most curious cases of cultural interpretation:
Japan: Sour Tongue Sharp Mind.
With the Japanese, the lady who desires umeboshi (pickled plums) is believed to have a fetus that carries a sharp thinking and brilliant mind. They think that the sourness foreshadows the wittiness of the baby. Through the traditional Japanese food philosophies, this is deeply held since sour foods are recommended as clearing the mind.
Nigeria: Clay craving for a Stabilizing Child
Geophagy (the desire to eat clay or soil) is considered to be the spiritual requirement and is not a medical condition in some people of Nigerian communities. They assume that it ties the little one with the past relations, basing him or her in culture and tradition. Knowing that this is a symptom of iron or mineral deficiency (which can be diagnosed as pica by the doctors of modern medicine), the cultural legend persists.
Germany: Goes sweet or goes savory?
There is a historic urban legend in Germany, that a pregnant woman who has a craving to sweet food is pregnant with a girl and a craving to salty or savory food means she is pregnant with a boy. This sexual craving association is widespread in most societies even though it cannot be medically backed.
India: A spicy dish only serves as a boy?
The desire to eat spicy in different states of India is taken as an indicator to male child. The logic? It is said that male infants tend to produce more heat inside the body. It is folklore as we know but it is common and it is heard in countryside.
Forbidden foods and Taboos: Food that you are not supposed to eat
The Philippines: How To Not Get Up close and Personal with Tentacles
Women pregnant in selected regions of the Philippines are told not to consume squid because their infants are likely to be borne with suction like birth marks. The superstition advises that eating the many-legged beast would, possibly, pass on its features to the yet unborn child.
Korea: The dreaming of Dragons and pomegranates
In Korea, pregnancy cravings need not be in the form of food but can also be in the form of taemong; otherwise known as conception dreams. It is believed that desire or a dream of pomegranate symbolizes a lovely girl, whereas a dragon implies a strong boy. Such dreams tend to determine how a family is prepared even before the medically agreed gender is known.
Morocco: Henna and Harmony
According to the Moroccan culture, it is dangerous to consume the meat of rabbits when one is pregnant. Rabbits are regarded as jittery animals and the worried wondering is that the child that eats them up would prove a fidgety or jittery kid. On the other hand, pregnant women are believed to be safeguarded against the due baby by rubbing a substance called henna.
Hue and Folklore meet on Craving Colors
Not only flavors, there are also beliefs, which relate certain cravings to color. Some of the cultures in Caribbean believe that when one craves red in nature (such as strawberries or tomatoes) one causes birthmarks unless the individual satisfies the craving. There is an opinion that disregard the realization of craving will lead to the appearance of spots on a baby body in the form or color of a product.
Global Gender Divinations
In addition to desires and bump preferences there are lengthy rituals that societies have invented to discover the gender of their unborn child:
China: the Lunar Test Calendar
The ancient Chinese lunar calendar has one of the most well-known ways to predict gender. Depending on the age at which the mother conceived and the lunar month, a gender chart is used to determine the gender of the baby, whether it will be a boy or a girl. It is not scientifically accurate; however, lots of parents turn to it just because it is fun.
Italy- The Swinging Ring Trick
An old wife’s tale in Italy is to tie a wedding ring to a piece of hairs and hang it over the belly. Circular movement indicates that the baby would be a girl whereas pendulum business indicates boy. Such a belief has even transferred to the other western cultures and it is continued even at the baby showers.
About Physical Looks Superstitions
The manner, in which the cultures discuss the look of woman in pregnancy, is also interesting:
- Arab Countries: In case a woman has a spreading nose or a bloated face during pregnancy, she is believed to be carrying a lady. The notion is that the female babies rob you of beauty.
- South America: Healthy looking skin? This is one of the indications of a male child. Pale, balmy and pimples? Should be female.
Once more, such concepts are closer to the cultural narratives rather than scientific evidence. All women react to hormonal changes differently irrespective of whether the baby is a boy or a girl.
Do These Fairy Tales Have any Truth?
Most of these beliefs fail to stand the test of scientific methods, yet they have great uses:
- Sisterhood: The sharing stories about craving or bump prognoses helps women build bonds with other women traveling through the same situation and cultures.
- Cultural Identity: Such myths represent the values, fears and aspirations of various groups in the society and have pregnancy entrenched in cultural contexts.
- Entertainment and Empowerment: Entertainment and empowerment The empowering element of the ritual (such as the ring test or making food predictions) helps the women to joyfully own the experience.
One should however be able to draw the line between fun that may not cause harm and advice that can be harmful. Mother and baby are at risk because of myths that discourage proper nutrition, medical treatment or hygiene. Innovate to strike a balance between cultural practices and evidence-based healthcare at all times.
Why Then Do These Beliefs Survive?
Although in the present days the modern technologies have already given birth to another life, pregnancy remains a strange and emotional phenomenon. Ultrasounds and blood tests tell a lot, but they do not kill the excitement of attempting (or just fingers-crossing), imagining and/or to spiritually interpret what is going on in the womb.
The unknown leaves room to interpretation in most of the cultures. Myths provide the means of explaining the unexplainable like strange food cravings and why a belly appears like so. The beliefs provide comfort, tradition, and story-telling which are necessities in a major life event even in highly medicalized societies.
Concluding Ideas: The Sorcery of the Legend
The unscientific assumptions of whacky birth beliefs have a more serious cultural and emotional meaning. These are associated with the quest of mankind to understand the process of astonishing adventure known as pregnancy. You may laugh at them, you may get moved or even feel weird, they vary the manner in which different people rejoice through life before it is born.
Therefore, the next time you hear a person say that you are carrying a boy because you desire to eat potato chips, smile and laugh because it is a tradition just do not forget to go to your prenatal checkup.
