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" When women are pregnant, they are often presented with tips and advice from all directions \u2013 ranging from not eating strawberries to prevent the baby&amp;#039;s skin being splotchy to drinking enough milk to aid strong bone development.  But how much truth is there in these old wives&amp;#039; tales?  Here, we&amp;#039;ve had a look at some of the most common to see if there is any scientific evidence in them to help you to make the best decisions for you and your unborn baby.  Is it true that heartburn means my baby will be born with a full head of hair? One old wives&amp;#039; tale suggests that if a woman experiences particularly bad heartburn during pregnancy, then her baby will be born will a full head of hair.  Often, this was found to be the case, so researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital set out to explore why this might be.  In a 2006 study involving 64 participants, they found that women who reported moderate levels of heartburn throughout pregnancy gave birth to babies with hair on 82 per cent of occasions, while most expectant mothers who did not show signs of digestive discomfort had children that were bald at birth. Oestrogen and progesterone are the main hormones behind foetal hair growth and the doctors discovered that these also relax part of the oesophagus, subsequently causing stomach acid to travel back up through it, resulting in heartburn.  Therefore, evidence shows that it is highly likely that if you do have heartburn in pregnancy, your baby will indeed be born with a full head of hair.  If I eat vegetables while expecting, is it true that my baby like them too? Some believe that consuming high quantities of vegetables during pregnancy can lead to babies having a taste for them as they grow up.  Various studies carried out over the years have shown that whatever a mother eats while expecting, her child is likely to develop a liking for too. In 2012, doctors at the CNRS Research Institute in France published a paper that showed a baby&amp;#039;s food preferences could begin while they were still in the womb.  Flavours, odours and nutrients are present in the amniotic fluid surrounding a foetus, as well as in the mother&amp;#039;s breast milk, meaning babies are more likely to respond positively to tasting something they are familiar with.  In light of this, mothers could potentially train their children to like vegetables, but the opposite side of the coin is that eating chocolate while pregnant can lead to babies having a sweet tooth, so it is advisable to follow a balanced diet both before and after delivery.  Does ginger really prevent morning sickness? Ginger is just one of countless treatments that women have claimed prevents morning sickness over the years, but is there any evidence to support this?  A study conducted by researchers at the Dublin City University School of Nursing involved the analysis of 27 previous investigations that had included more than 4,000 women and numerous supposed morning sickness antidotes, such as ginger, acupuncture, vitamin B6 and prescribed anti-sickness drugs.  However, none were found to be significantly effective in preventing regular vomiting during pregnancy, leading the study authors to conclude that the placebo psychology of taking such supplements is behind the old wives&amp;#039; tale.  Is it possible to correctly predict the sex of my baby? There&amp;#039;s a 50:50 chance of whether or not you can correctly predict the sex of your baby, but some women try everything from looking at the veins in their eyes to analysing their bump&amp;#039;s position and from dangling a ring above their stomach to examining the severity of their morning sickness in an attempt to guess if it&amp;#039;s a boy or a girl.  Yet some women believe that a mother&amp;#039;s intuition is enough to correctly predict their infant&amp;#039;s gender, with research carried out at the University of Tucson in Arizona in 1998 supporting this notion.  Doctors asked 108 women to predict the sex of their baby, with 75 per cent claiming to have a gut feeling about what it would be.  Of these expectant mothers, 60 per cent were correct, indicating that in the majority of cases, women can tell whether they are having a little boy or girl.  Other people also read: Practice makes perfect: your second labour: To give yourself the best chance, follow the advice of your obstetrician or midwife. Would you consider an epidural? : Our experts help you consider the pros and cons, and new mums share their experiences.  Tiredness in pregnancy: Your baby is developing rapidly and while most women find the extreme tiredness lifts. Last updated 08.04.2015 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/parenting/pregnancy/a9304/is-there-any-truth-to-pregnancy-old-wives-tales/>