Townsville Bulletin

Taking a pregnant pause over bizarre advice

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WHEN you’re carrying a child for the first time, any advice for how to make pregnancy easier is more than welcome.

But mothers-to-be and new mothers have been revealing all the most ridiculous tips they’ve been given too – including not bathing while pregnant, shave “or the baby will get heartburn” during labour, and to drink “vodka mixed with cod liver oil” to trigger contractio­ns.

A Reddit user asked: “Pregnant women or women who have been pregnant, what is the worst/craziest advice someone has given you about your pregnancy?”

And the responses were rather hilarious.

One woman replied: “I was told that I need to shave down there or the baby will get carpet burn.”

Another commented: “One of my work colleagues was obsessed with recommendi­ng that I eat citrus fruits, especially the easy-to-peel cutie tangerines.

“She was convinced it would give the baby a higher IQ in the long run.”

A third 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 diarrhoea, and trigger labour contractio­ns.”

The same woman noted: “I did not drink this combo and instead was medically induced several days later. Labour/ delivery was swift andmy baby was healthy.”

Some suggestion­s were particular­ly silly, and included, according to one contributo­r: “Don’t take a bath, you’ll drown the baby!”

 ?? Photo: istock ?? TUB TROUBLE: One expectant mother was told not to take a bath or she could drown her baby.
Photo: istock TUB TROUBLE: One expectant mother was told not to take a bath or she could drown her baby.

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