We at all times are surrounded with myths and superstitions that bombard us with baseless information. And quite often the fear of the omen just ensures that we follow them. Like, don’t cut your hair on a Thursday or biting your tongue means someone was speaking ill of you. Really? I have spent multiple days in agony over a hurting tongue and a hurting head trying to figure who might be hating on me! Even though we know that quite often these myths and superstitions have little to do with reality, we attempt to be on the safer side and just do what the ‘bade log’ say. How many times have you sat inside the house an additional five minutes because you sneezed right before you left?
So when our everyday life is filled with all these myths, of course they are going to be in abundance when you let the neighborhood aunties, chachis, dadis know about you and your husband's pregnancy. All the year-old advices and cautions come pouring out as they come forth to protect your little baby, and unfortunately quite often these tails of caution are far from any scientific validity. I believe we have all heard the one that says avoid tea and coffee during pregnancy because it could make the kid darker in complexion, or the opposite that consuming saffron milk would result in the kid having a creamy white complexion. It’s obvious that everyone is aware that the physical characteristics of the child are solely dependent on the genes, but there will always be someone rushing up towards the pregnant lady in the house giving her unsolicited advice such as consuming ghee will ensure a smoother delivery. Quite ironically, the consumption of excess ghee actually irritates the intestines resulting in an upset tummy! So while the neighborhood kitty party attempts to protect your baby and its physical characteristics, it is essential for the mothers-to-be to make sure that they don’t just follow the advices provided blindly!
Families too often come forth with their own observations and beliefs about the little growing bundle of joy. The most common scenario being when the new mothers are fed and fed with high calorie food all day long because she is now ‘eating for two’, or when its ensured that no strenuous activity comes her way and she spends most of her time resting. But, what people fail to realize is that pregnancy doesn’t handicap the mother and it definitely doesn’t mean that she should eat more than she generally does. While right nutrition is crucial for a mother while the baby grows, excess food solely makes her unhealthy and similarly lack of exercise may do the same to her.
So, while age old advice is always appreciated as it often trickles down from the cabinets of knowledge of our ancestor’s experiences through the journey of pregnancy, it is also important to be able to differentiate between what is an actual advice and what is solely a baseless myth, because well no matter how much milk you consume your child isn’t turning any fairer while in there!
No mother is safe from this trail of myths that will follow them in every family gathering and meetings with maids, aunties and the remaining lot of ladies! So it would come as no surprise that ROHINI (Chhavi Mittal) too would be facing the same when it comes to baseless myths about her own pregnancy. Watch SITThe Better Half S3 E6 as ROHINI (Chhavi Mittal) , RISHI (Karan V Grover) and BABY (Shubhangi Litoria) come together in an entertaining episode to bust these myths!
SIT presents MYTHS OF PREGNANCY
Written By
Fiza Anand