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Curries To Bring Labour!

By Staff

Pregnancy
Motherhood is a sweet feeling, motherhood is a great responsibility said a wise-man, long long ago and it is not wonder that it is this responsibility that drives the mom-to-be to great lengths, doing things that otherwise, they would have thought silly, but now they do it, just for the baby.

So it is not wonder, that many British mum-to-be's stuff themselves with hot spicy curries or drink raspberry leaf tea to bring on labour, says a study. The research conducted by the charity Tommy's and Johnson's Baby, found that at one in five women thought that tucking into spicy food will help bring on labour, while 38 per cent believe that raspberry leaf tea is the answer.

However, despite the growth and development that we claim we have made in our thoughts and habits, still at many levels often due to anxiety or the benefit of clarity of information, we languish over archaic issues that long should have been shoved away.

In the survey at least 13 per cent of the women said that they believe that they will have a boy if they carry the baby "all at the front", while 7 per cent think that drinking coffee in pregnancy affects the baby''s skin.

However, Sharon Broad from Tommy's disagrees to such practices says, "Eating curries or drinking raspberry leaf tea will not, unfortunately, induce labour. There is no evidence to support this. I still speak to many women, however, who continue to eat spicy food and take raspberry leaf tea in late pregnancy hoping that either will bring on labour."

"Carrying a baby boy with your pregnancy bump all at the front, damaging your baby's skin by drinking coffee or hurting your baby by sleeping on your back are also modern myths. Though It's true that in later pregnancy sleeping on your side, supported by pillows, will be more comfortable and help boost your blood circulation," she added.

As regards women's confusion over the types of food that are safe to eat in pregnancy, the survey has revealed that 62 per cent are unsure what types of cheese they can eat, 56 per cent do not know what kind of fish they can have, and 50 per cent are unsure about eating mayonnaise.

According to the study report, women are also confused about whether or not to drink caffeine, and whether or not taking folic acid offers any benefits.

A third of women do not know about what sandwich fillings they can eat, and whether or not pate is safe to consume. "The key to an enjoyable pregnancy that isn't filled with terror is to use trusted sources such as Tommy's or NHS Direct to find out what you can and cannot do," said Broad.

"There is so much information out there that women often can't absorb it.Much of it's quite scary and many of the women feel frightened at a time when they really need to be at their most calm," she added.

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Story first published: Friday, September 11, 2009, 15:48 [IST]