“Don’t dye your hair, don’t wear tight clothes, don’t drive, don’t leave the house…” are common pieces of advice that pregnant women might hear during their pregnancy. “They are unfounded, and there are even studies proving that these kinds of fears are not rationale,” explains the Cairo-based gynecologist, Hussein Gohar.
Aya, is pregnant and she read that cycling or running should be avoided. Gohar explains that some women think that doing any form of exercise is bad for the baby. “On the contrary, doing exercise is good and doesn’t increase the risk of miscarriage, it is recommended to do exercise a few weeks before the delivery date. It is good for the baby’s weight and height.”
Batoul is seven months into her pregnancy; she was advised to avoid X-rays and any kind of radiation or electrical gates, just like Mohal and Aya. Again, “This is not founded,” asserts Gohar. In fact, those machines emit little radiation and if X-rays are recommended, it’s certainly better to have those, to make sure the fetus is healthy. “By the way,” Gohar says, “ultrasound machines do not reveal the fetus’ soul.”
Mohal is a future mother, and she was advised to listen to classical music, such as Mozart. “I should start doing it, as it’s good for the sense of listening” she says. Same for Aya, “I was told that I should either talk to my baby or make it listen to Mozart, but I don’t really have time to do that unfortunately.” To this, Gohar replies, “When Mozart’s mum was pregnant, she obviously wasn’t listening to her son’s future compositions, so it won’t make your baby more gifted by listening to classical music.”
The doctor explains that some women fear that wearing tight clothes or sitting cross legged might suffocate the baby by putting the umbilical cord around its neck. “The fetus is getting oxygen through blood and doesn’t breathe, so there’s no risk of strangling it except during delivery,” says Gohar.
Pregnant women, like Aya or Batoul, were told by their doctors that fasting was ok during Ramadan as long as they didn’t feel dizzy or dehydrated. Both tried; Aya felt fine and so decided to carry on. “I eat bean sandwiches, so they stay in my stomach, and I drink a lot of milk,” says Aya. When Batoul tested herself, “I felt thirsty and tired after the first day, so decided not to fast.” Gohar insists that it’s not ok to fast while pregnant. “The fetus needs to receive proteins and other essential nutriments continuously and not only once per day,” he says. It’s the same deal during breast feeding, he says. A woman feeding her baby through her blood or milk, should have a diet as healthy as possible to fill the baby’s essential needs.
Some of Gohar’s patients believe that sexual intercourse or wearing high heels might be a cause for miscarriage. “High heels will not lead to miscarriage, but they are a reason for back pain. As regards to sexual intercourse, it’s untrue,” says Gohar. On the contrary, sex might be more pleasurable because of the change in the woman’s body, which might ease the vaginal lubrication.
The Cairo-based gynecologist also saw women coming to him asserting that drinking too much water might harm the fetus, as it would increase the water around it. “Yet, the water is actually mainly urine and will not prevent the baby from breathing,” explains Gohar.
Ahmed Fayed, a Cairo based psychiatrist, explains: “Fears like those might happen during the pregnancy because women are more sensitive due the increase of hormones in their bodies.”
“Women probably wouldn’t believe what people advise them to do during pregnancy, but because of their condition, they believe everything related to their baby.”
