Pregnancy Superstitions From Around The World

Indian women believe that being pregnant during an eclipse can be extremely dangerous for the baby. Most women will actually stay inside and shut all the windows and doors during one to keep the rays of the eclipse from touching them. The belief behind this is that eclipses give babies deformities.

There's no telling a mom-to-be she's glowing in Russia. In fact there's no giving a woman compliments at all. Russian women believe most compliments are insincere and can send evil to the recipient. So to ward off these compliments and in-turn keep their babies healthy, moms wear a red thread.

In this West African country touching a pregnant woman's belly is a huge no-no. Lots of cultures believe in the presence of evil spirits and in Liberia, pregnant woman believe these spirits can steal the baby right from their womb. So they guard their bellies and never let strangers touch their stomachs. In fact only close family members are typically allowed near their bellies.

In this state women won't wear a closed lei during pregnancy. The signature neckwear of the islands is believed to symbolize choking the baby with the umbilical chord when worn the traditional closed way. So pregnant women will actually wear an open version of the lei instead.

Women is China have two places they avoid going while pregnant...funerals and weddings. Funerals are often skipped by pregnant women because they want to avoid all of the negative feelings. And as far as weddings go, Chinese women believe they will overshadow the joy for the bride with the joy for their baby, so if they must go they stay as far away from the bride as possible.

Perhaps the one pregnancy superstition you have heard before, in the US and Australia (actually many English speaking countries), it is believed that heartburn can determine the amount of hair your baby has. The belief is that mothers who experience heartburn will have a baby with a full head of hair and those that don't will have a balder baby.

In the Jewish culture the worst thing you can do during pregnancy is buy the baby anything before he or she is born. Baby showers are actually considered to be bad luck and nothing should be bought to prep for baby until their actually is a baby.