Pregnancy is one of the most important events in a woman’s life.

Pregnancy is one of the most important events in a woman’s life. It is also the time when she gets all the extra care and attention from her near and dear ones. So it is always better to follow the doctors advice at each step of the pregnancy to have a healthy baby.

Lets look at some of the most common myths related to pregnancy in India:

1. Eat for two – A woman with a normal pre-pregnancy weight needs about 300 extra calories per day to promote her baby’s growth, A woman of normal weight should gain 11 to 15 kg during pregnancy and less if she’s overweight.

2. Eating papaya leads to miscarriage – Papaya is believed to cause abortion and this belief is so deep-rooted in the Indian culture that even the well-informed tend to keep away from it. Papaya controls and prevents constipation and heartburn. It also relieves bloating and gastric disorders, which are common during pregnancy.

3. Saffron makes the baby fair-skinned – The skin color of the baby is purely determined by genes and nothing else. It is a tradition in India to gift pregnant mothers with small boxes of saffron. Milk flavored with a pinch of the powder or few of its strands are given to pregnant mothers, in the hope that it would make the baby light-skinned.

4. Consumption of ghee eases delivery and quickens healing of uterus – Ghee neither eases delivery nor helps in swift healing of uterus. Ghee is saturated fat and its consumption in excess will only lead to undesirable body weight and subsequently other related ailments.

5. No activity during an eclipse – Pregnant women are told not to indulge in any activity during an eclipse else the baby will be born with a deformity. An eclipse is a natural phenomenon. It will definitely not cause any defects or deformities in the baby. This does not mean you look at one with the naked eye. General precautions need to be taken by everyone.

6. Stay away from Caffeine – Pregnant women are often warned to give up caffeine because it might cause miscarriage, preterm birth or low birth weight. But the case against caffeine isn’t strong. So you can still enjoy a mug of coffee every now and then but make sure that you don’t have more than 200mg of caffeine in a day.

7. No sex please – You can have sex during pregnancy. Sex doesn’t physically hurt the baby, who is fully protected by the amniotic sac and strong uterine muscles. What you do need to watch out for are sexually transmitted infections.

8. Don’t sleep on your back – Pregnant women should never sleep on their back during pregnancy or always sleep on their left. The belief is that sleeping on the back will cuts the oxygen supply to the fetus. For normal, healthy with an uncomplicated pregnancy, the best position for sleeping is the one that’s the most comfortable. Reducing blood flow from the lower body back to the heart.

9. Exercising will harm my baby – This isn’t true as exercising not only has a positive impact on the mother but the baby too. You can safely start an exercise program during pregnancy after consulting the doctor under trained professionals.

10. Do not fly during pregnancy – Air travel before week 36 of pregnancy is considered safe for women who have healthy pregnancies. Your doctor might caution against air travel if you’re experiencing any complications that might be worsened by air travel.