SUMMARY:
- Humans are social beings.
That’s why our environment and interpersonal interactions have a huge impact on
our decisions. When a woman sees a pregnant friend, she can easily get a
subconscious message that pregnancy is a good thing.
- Surprisingly enough, this
“pregnancy contagion” thing doesn’t occur when it comes to siblings. Some
scientists put it down to the fact that people have stronger emotional bonds to
their friends than with their siblings.
- One study revealed that
about 80% of expectant mothers have memory impairment. But what causes these
mommy memory lapses still remains unknown.
- Her heart also gets
bigger because blood volume increases up to 50% to supply enough oxygenated
blood to the baby. The heart has to pump all that extra blood around the body,
which means double the work.
- An expectant mother has a
perfect excuse to go on a shoe-shopping spree because quite often, her regular
shoes become too small! It happens because of a hormone called relaxin that’s
produced during pregnancy.
- An increase in estrogen
and progesterone levels may result in swelling of the vocal cords.
- Most women usually deliver within 10 days of
their expected due date. But some of them get to carry their newborns much
longer. There are cases of 10- or even 11-month pregnancies!
- Unpleasant odors may
become more intense than before, and the smells a soon-to-be mom once liked can
make her nose wrinkle.
- Hormonal spikes can cause
changes in her sense of taste as well, and that’s why she starts having food
cravings that may seem weird to others.
- A partner of a soon-to-be
mom or even her close friend or relative can also gain weight, have morning
sickness, and experience back pain during her pregnancy.
Aaaachoo!
Oh, excuse me.
Seems I’ve given you the
baby bug.
Hey, don’t look at me like
that!
Scientists have confirmed
that pregnancy is contagious!
Well, something must’ve
been going around in the US in 2010 because that’s when pregnancy
rates reached their highest
at 6.2 million expectant mothers!
So, what could’ve caused
this sudden and unexpected baby boom?
Well, a 2014 study by The
American Sociological Association suggests that pregnancy can, in
fact, be contagious… but
only on a psychological level.
Over a 10-year span, the
researchers interviewed and studied 1,720 women in an attempt to figure
out what the connection was
between close friendships that started back in school and
a desire to have a child.
In the end, half of the
women ended up having kids, and they admitted that their decision
was partly based on the
fact that their female friends had already given birth.
If you think about it, the
results of this study aren’t all that strange.
Humans are social beings,
after all.
That’s why our environment
and interpersonal interactions have a huge impact on our decisions.
When a woman sees a
pregnant friend, she can easily get a subconscious message that pregnancy
is a good thing.
Otherwise, her friend
wouldn’t have done it, right?
Some other factors also
come into play that may affect a woman’s fertility intentions.
It’s no secret that taking
care of a baby is anything but easy.
I know, “Understatement of
the Year Award goes to…”
Anyway, it’s extremely
demanding trying to juggle so many commitments all at once.
Add a lot of sleepless
nights to it, and you get the idea.
But when a woman sees that
her friend with a kid is managing her life just fine and feels
so rewarded by it, well, it
boosts her confidence and interest in her own parenting abilities.
But friends can influence
not only if or when a woman decides to have a baby, but also how
many children she has.
A 2014 report in the
Journal Demographic Research states that there’s a strong correlation
between friendship and
birth rates.
It can be explained with
the same reasons – if a woman’s friend with 3 kids is managing
the mommy lifestyle like a
champ, then she’ll feel like she can do it too.
Plus, there’s always that
desire for your children to have playdates with your friend’s
kids!
Surprisingly enough, this
“pregnancy contagion” thing doesn’t occur when it comes to siblings.
Some scientists put it down
to the fact that people have stronger emotional bonds to their
friends than with their siblings.
That is, our friends play a
more prominent role in our lives than our brothers or sisters
do, especially as adults.
So, all this means that a
woman’s chances of getting pregnant increase with every friend
who has a baby.
And if she does get pregnant,
her body is up for a 9-month journey full of fascinating
changes!
For example…
#1.
“Pregnancy brain” can
ensue.
Have you ever heard of
“momnesia”?
It’s pretty much an onset
of constant absentmindedness that many pregnant women experience.
They tend to forget stuff
and may find it hard to concentrate.
One study revealed that
about 80% of expectant mothers have memory impairment.
But what causes these mommy
memory lapses still remains unknown.
Some researchers believe
that it might be because of hormonal changes or because a woman
feels stressed out during
pregnancy.
Ya know, worrying about how
drastically her life will change after the baby is born.
Yeah, she’s got a lot to
think about!
#2.
Her heart gets bigger.
You might think that when a
woman gets pregnant, only her belly grows in size.
But that couldn’t be
further from the truth!
Her heart also gets bigger
because blood volume increases up to 50% to supply enough oxygenated
blood to the baby.
The heart has to pump all
that extra blood around the body, which means double the work.
And without an increase in
size, that’d just be impossible!
But it’s not only her heart
(and belly!) that get bigger…
#3.
Her feet can grow.
An expectant mother has a
perfect excuse to go on a shoe-shopping spree because quite
often, her regular shoes
become too small!
It happens because of a
hormone called relaxin that’s produced during pregnancy.
Its main task is to make
the pelvic joints more flexible for childbirth.
But it loosens joints
throughout the whole body as well!
That’s why a foot (which
has more than 30 joints, mind you!) can get as much as a whole
shoe-size bigger!
Sometimes weight gain or
swelling can contribute to this too.
#4.
Her voice can change.
Believe it or not, all
those hormones pumping through a pregnant body can cause some changes
in a woman’s voice as well.
An increase in estrogen and
progesterone levels may result in swelling of the vocal cords.
That’s why higher notes are
lost, and a pregnant woman may speak with a deeper voice.
It can also happen because
there’s a significant increase in body fluids, which make vocal
cords vibrate at a slower
rate than before.
What’s more, pregnancy
causes the pelvis, back, and chest to shift, and this can affect
a woman’s posture, which,
in turn, can cause her to have a hard time singing during the
last trimester.
No, not sitting, singing!
Fascinating stuff, right?
#5.
Pregnancy can last longer
than 9 months.
If all these changes
weren’t hard enough, guess what?
They can last longer than
the 9-month term we’ve all come to associate with pregnancy.
Normally, a pregnancy lasts
for 280 days (or about 9 months), and only 4% of women give
birth to a child after
that.
Most women usually deliver
within 10 days of their expected due date.
But some of them get to
carry their newborns much longer.
There are cases of 10- or
even 11-month pregnancies!
And the longest time on
record that a woman was pregnant for is 375 days.
Yeah, crunch the numbers,
and that’s one year and 10 days.
I guess some buns need a
little more time in the oven!
#6.
Sense of smell heightens.
More often than not, a
pregnant woman’s senses become much sharper, kinda like a superhero!
That’s especially the case
with the sense of smell.
It could be anything from
foods and drinks to the scent of other people that a pregnant
woman can suddenly feel
much stronger than usual.
Unpleasant odors may become
more intense than before, and the smells a soon-to-be mom once
liked can make her nose
wrinkle.
But other scents become a
lot more pleasant, so it’s not all bad!
It’s still not fully
understood why this happens, but some experts believe that it’s
kinda like the body’s way
of beefing up an expectant mother’s ability to detect
environmental dangers to
her baby, like unsafe or spoiled foods, for instance.
Speaking of food…
#7.
The bizarre cravings…
How about hot sauce on a
spoonful of peanut butter?
Yeah, most people wouldn’t
find this combo appealing, but a pregnant woman just might!
Hormonal spikes can cause
changes in her sense of taste as well, and that’s why she starts
having food cravings that
may seem weird to others.
For most women, that urge
to eat a particular food is so strong that they simply can’t
shake it off, and they need
to give in.
Some experts suggest that
this is a way for the body to get what it needs.
For example, if a pregnant
woman craves a lot of red meat, it can be a sign that she
has an iron deficiency.
#8.
A partner can experience
pregnancy symptoms too.
Yup, you’ve heard that
right!
A partner of a soon-to-be
mom or even her close friend or relative can also gain weight,
have morning sickness, and
experience back pain during her pregnancy.
This is called Couvade
syndrome or “sympathetic pregnancy”.
Scientists can’t agree on
what causes it, but the most logical explanation lies in the
human ability to be
empathetic.
Those partners or loved
ones who are very supportive and caring feel so emotionally
involved in the pregnancy
and spend so much time with a future mom that it triggers their
body to mimic the same
changes.
It’s also a way for
partners to develop an attachment to the baby.
But once the woman delivers
the child, all those symptoms that her partner had usually
disappear!
So try to stay strong, all
you expectant mothers, fathers, grandparents, best friends, neighbors,
and anyone else taking care
of a “contagious” pregnant woman!
So, how many kids would you
like to (or do you!) have, if you want kids at all?
Feel free to share in the
comments down below!
Remember to give this video
a “like,” share it with your friends (hey, apparently
they’re sharing their baby
bug with you!), and click that subscribe button to stay on
the Bright Side of life!
s
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