Also, when doing some research, I thought that these myths were quite funny. These were also found on WebMD. I think that many people don’t think about these kinds of things, but many people do. I chose this one, mainly because it’s funny, but I do think that some of it is informative. So, enjoy!!
Sex and Pregnancy Myths
Pregnancy Myths: Keep Your Fingers Crossed, or Your Legs?
One pregnancy myth many teens believe is "if I don’t ejaculate inside the vagina, you won’t get pregnant." Or "If I pull out, or just put it in a few times, you won’t get pregnant."
Wrong. Did you know there is such a thing as pre-ejaculation? It's fluid that seeps out of the penis before the guy ejaculates. This fluid contains sperm, and the sperm are going to do whatever they can to get to the egg. If any semen is present around the penis and it comes in contact with any part of the vaginal area, there is a risk of pregnancy.
Some couples use the "rhythm method" of birth control, where they try to have sex only during "safe" periods of the female’s monthly menstrual cycle. Unfortunately, there is still a high risk of pregnancy. There is also a risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD), since you're still having unprotected sex.
There are many more sex and pregnancy myths out there. Here are a few of the most common. Sure, some of them might be funny, but it’s always surprising what some people actually believe:
Pregnancy Myth: Having sex standing up prevents you from getting pregnant.
Reality: False. Having vaginal sex in any position carries the risk of pregnancy.
Pregnancy Myth: If a girl does "jumping jacks" after sex, she won’t get pregnant.
Reality: False. You can jump up and down all you want, but if one sperm makes contact with one egg, bingo: someone’s pregnant.
Pregnancy Myth: If a girl doesn’t have an orgasm, she won’t get pregnant.
Reality: False. Female orgasms have no bearing on whether an egg can be fertilized.
Pregnancy Myth : Having sex in water prevents you from getting pregnant.
Reality: False again! Any sperm contact with the vagina increases your risk of getting pregnant. If the water temperature is proper, sperm can survive outside the body for several minutes. Many babies are born about nine months after a guy and girl had sex while swimming around in a lake or the ocean.
Pregnancy Myth: A girl can’t get pregnant if she has sex while on her period.
Reality: Again, untrue. Remember, a sperm can survive for up to a week inside the female.
Pregnancy Myth: Douching or washing my vagina out after sex will prevent me from getting pregnant.
Reality: Nope. Remember, sperm are designed to do one thing – fertilize the egg. Even washing thoroughly after sex does not prevent you from becoming pregnant.
Pregnancy: Weight Gain During Pregnancy
Gaining the right amount of weight during pregnancy by eating a healthy, balanced diet is a good sign that your baby is getting all the nutrients he or she needs and is growing at a healthy rate.
It is not necessary to "eat for two" during pregnancy. It's true that you need extra calories from nutrient-rich foods to help your baby grow, but you generally need to consume only 100 to 300 more calories than you did before you became pregnant to meet the needs of your growing baby.
Ask your health care provider how much weight you should gain during pregnancy. A woman of average weight before pregnancy should gain 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy. Underweight women should gain 28-40 pounds during pregnancy. Overweight women may need to gain only 15-25 pounds during pregnancy. You may need to gain more or less weight, depending on what your health care provider recommends.
In general, you should gain about 2 to 4 pounds during your first three months of pregnancy and 1 pound a week for the remainder of your pregnancy. If you are expecting twins you should gain 35 to 45 pounds during your pregnancy. This would be an average of 1 ½ pounds per week after the usual weight gain in the first three months.
Where Does the Extra Weight Go?
| Baby | 8 pounds |
| Placenta | 2-3 pounds |
| Amniotic fluid | 2-3 pounds |
| Breast tissue | 2-3 pounds |
| Blood supply | 4 pounds |
| Fat stores for delivery and breastfeeding | 5-9 pounds |
| Uterus increase | 2-5 pounds |
| Total | 25 to 35 pounds |
Is It Safe to Lose Weight During Pregnancy?
No. It is never safe to lose weight during pregnancy -- both you and your baby need the proper nutrients in order to be healthy.
How Can I Gain the Appropriate Amount of Weight During Pregnancy
If your health care provider recommends gaining more weight during pregnancy, here are some suggestions:
- Eat five to six small, frequent meals every day.
- Keep quick, easy snacks on hand, such as nuts, raisins, cheese and crackers, dried fruit, and ice cream/yogurt.
- Spread peanut butter on toast, crackers, apples, bananas, or celery. One tablespoon of creamy peanut butter will provide about 100 calories and seven grams of protein.
- Add nonfat powdered milk to foods such as mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs and hot cereal.
- Add condiments to your meal, such as butter or margarine, cream cheese, gravy, sour cream and cheese.
What Should I Do If I Gain Too Much Weight?
It’s important to keep track of your overall weight gain during pregnancy; the amount of weight you need to gain depends on your weight when you became pregnant.
Too much weight gain during pregnancy can increase the risk of having a large baby or early delivery. According to the March of Dimes, if you were overweight when you became pregnant you should gain only about 15-20 pounds. The March of Dimes adds that while gaining too much weight is not something you want to do during pregnancy, “you should never try to lose weight during pregnancy because that could harm your baby.”
Be sure to eat a variety of foods to get all the nutrients you and your baby need. Here are some tips to slow your weight gain:
- When eating out at a fast food restaurant, choose lower fat items such as broiled chicken breast sandwich with tomato and lettuce (no sauce or mayonnaise), side salad with low-fat dressing, plain bagels or a plain baked potato. Avoid fried foods such as French fries, mozzarella sticks or breaded chicken patties.
- Avoid whole milk products. You need at least four servings of milk products every day. However, using skim, 1% or 2% milk will greatly reduce the amount of calories and fat you eat. Also choose low-fat or fat-free cheese or yogurt.
- Limit sweet or sugary drinks. Sweetened drinks such as soft drinks, fruit punch, fruit drinks, iced tea, lemonade or powdered drink mixes provide many calories with little nutrients. Choose water, club soda, or mineral water to avoid extra calories.
- Do not add salt to foods when cooking. Salt causes your body to retain water.
- Limit sweets and high calorie snacks. Cookies, candies, donuts, cakes, syrup, honey and potato chips provide many calories with little nutrition. Try not to eat these types of foods every day. Instead, try fresh fruit, low-fat yogurt, angel food cake with strawberries, or pretzels as lower calorie snack and dessert choices.
- Use fats in moderation. Fats include cooking oils, margarine, butter, gravy, sauces, mayonnaise, regular salad dressings, sauces, lard, sour cream and cream cheese. Try the lower fat substitutes that are available for these foods.
- Prepare meals using low-fat cooking methods. Frying foods in oil or butter will increase the calories and fat of that meal. Baking, broiling or boiling are healthier, lower fat methods of cooking.
3 comments:
Very interesting blog. This ties into my blog very well. Myths about pregnancy always make me laugh, they seem so out there and wrong when thinking through them with even the smallest bit of common sense. However, people (especially teens)believe these myths and base their sexual expereinces around these myths. This is why sexuality education is soooo important to implement in public schools, obvioulsy teens are not getting the education at home. I like that you added information about pregnancy and where the weight gained is distributed. It is important for people to understand that weight gain is a crucial aspect of pregnancy and that it is important to have a healthy baby.
well that was actually pretty interesting and relevant for me and I'm sure many other college students. One thing I would like to know, however, are the percentages (if any) of these possibilities of pregnancy in the different circumstances described in your post. Honestly, some of these things I have also taken for granted and just sort of believed without putting any real research into it (thank God my girlfriend isn't pregnant! Hopefully I'm not speaking too late...) but that's a different story. Some of those myths find hard to believe at all whatsoever just by using a little of that common sense. But it's definitely a good thing to let the public know about, even if most people probably won't ever see this outside of our classroom. It's a little sad how much little sex education we receive in our schooling and how much accidental pregnancies and STD's and other intercourse mishaps occur because of this lack of education, but again, that's a little too much of a tangent. The second half of your post was also interesting, but it was rather irrelevant for me as a reader, considering that I'm indeed of the male gender (I know I said that weird, but I like it) But still, if I were ever in that situation, just like Arnold Swartzeneggar (spelling?) was in that one movie where he got pregnant, I would know exactly how much weight to gain and still be within healthy birthing limits. Anyway, it was all very interesting, which really is the goal of any blog post.
This is actually great advice. To me, these seem like they're obviously false, but there are those people who believe them. This is a scary thing and publicizing them as myths will hopefully educate people to the wiser. Pure niavity and neglegence to understand what causes a woman to get pregnant is a big reason that such young kids have babies. I think that another problem is that people want to have a baby, and don't realize that it's not just a baby, it's a person that you have a resposibility to raise into a responsible, well rounded adult.
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