Carrying a growing baby in your body for nine months of your life can be stressful enough without being told unnecessary lies and myths as people try to give you advice.
However, thousands of women on Reddit are revealing the worst advice they were given while pregnant, and some of the answers are completely bizarre.
Being told to avoid sitting on stairs and eating peanut butter, as well as being advised to drink beer while carrying a child were just some of the very bizarre pieces of advice users revealed they received during pregnancy.
Crazy! A viral thread on Reddit has received more than 10,500 comments from different women recalling the worst advice they were ever given while pregnant (stock image)
The question was asked by Reddit user @FuzzyTortoise, who wrote: ‘Pregnant women or women who have been pregnant, what is the worst/craziest advice someone has given you about your pregnancy?’
The post received an 89 per cent upvote, as well as roughly 10,500 comments from people revealing their stories.
Food and drink myths were a popular results on the thread, with one user saying that she was advised to steer clear of drinking water, ‘because it causes nausea’.
One user wrote: ‘When I was pregnant past my due date a co-worker advised me to drink cod liver oil mixed with vodka. Apparently this mixture would upset my digestive system, give me horrible diarrhea and thus trigger labor contractions.
‘Edit: I did not drink this combo to help with being overdue. I ended up several days later being medically induced and labor/delivery was swift and baby healthy. He is a grown man now,’ they added.
Another user, who was also given bizarre advice, said that she was told not to drink hot tea because she could ‘boil’ her baby.
One other user wrote: ‘I had a co-worker tell me that eating peanut butter (I was eating an apple with peanut butter on my lunch break) would give my baby cancer.
Bizarre! Many women revealed that they were given bad nutrition advice, such as avoiding drinking hot tea because it could ‘boil’ her baby
‘I already thought she was the world’s greatest idiot so that nugget of wisdom was just confirmation,’ she added.
Another user revealed that someone told her not to eat spicy foods, for fear that they can cause a child to be born with a birthmark, or stand under the moon.
In another hilarious reply, one woman wrote: ‘When I was pregnant with my first, my husband asked me why the baby could have nachos and stuff in my belly but when it was born it could only have milk.
‘I just looked at him,’ she added.
As well as bad nutrition advice, other mothers-to-be were told an array of myths.
A Reddit user commenting on the post said that she was told not to raise her hands above her head, because ‘it will tangle the baby’s cord and the baby will die’.
‘Not to sit on stairs because it will cause you to have a miscarriage… people are crazy,’ another user wrote as she detailed the worst advice she was given while pregnant.
Odd! Other users on Reddit revealed the worst pregnancy advice they received, including one woman who was told to avoid swimming, because her baby might drown in the water
Another user added: ‘Not me but my sister. She had to have an emergency c section when she had my niece. Her mother in law said she wouldn’t be a “real woman” unless she had a vaginal birth.’
As the comments about terrible pregnancy advice rolled in, a user recalled being
Other pregnant women received advice about their appearance while carrying a child.
One user revealed how she was given advice about keeping ‘pregnancy acne’ away.
‘Oh I’ve got this: the lady at the counter in the village bakery told me that I should smear my face with SEMEN to counter pregnancy acne. It was the first time I’d ever met her,’ she wrote.
Another added: ‘Oh! I was told that I need to shave down there or the baby will get carpet burn.’
Strange: One user was told to avoid sitting on stairs for fear that she might have a miscarriage, while another was told that if she gained more than 25 lbs, the doctor wouldn’t deliver the baby
‘The lady giving me a pedicure in my nail salon suggested I let my husband have extra marital affairs for a few months postpartum so I could recover,’ wrote a user, who also received bizarre advice.
Another woman told the story of how her birth was connected to her religion.
She wrote: ‘My labor should be painless because Jesus died and erased the “pain during childbirth” penalty humans got from Eve. If I feel pain, it’s because I don’t believe in Jesus’ redemptive powers.’
Another user recalled someone telling their pregnant partner not to have baths for fear that her baby might drown.
