Not long ago we shared a viral Reddit thread that asked pregnant women and moms, "What's the worst/most ridiculous advice someone has given you about your pregnancy?"
Well, BuzzFeed readers shared some of the equally infuriating "advice" they've been given in the comments, so we rounded them up here, along with some of the most memorable responses from the original post:
1. "My grandma told me that drinking too much water would drown the baby, and suggested I drink a glass of cola instead. She had four kids."
2. "I was told by my mother-in-law to not look at my dog because it would make my daughter look ugly."
3. "I was told that I need to shave down there or the baby will get carpet burn."
4. "I was eating an apple with peanut butter on it during my lunch break when a coworker told me that eating peanut butter would give my baby cancer."
5. "I was told that I shouldn't watch frightening TV shows or movies because that would damage my baby's brain."
6. "My pregnant friend was told to get rid of all her cats, because the cats will smother the baby. You know, because cats are evil."
7. "I was told my labor should be painless because Jesus died and erased the 'pain during childbirth' penalty humans got from Eve. If I feel pain, it’s because I don’t believe in Jesus’s redemptive powers."
8. "My mother-in-law told me it's OK to drink mixed drinks. She went on to say that my husband was a margarita baby. I now call him that when he gets on my nerves."
9. "The lady at the counter in the village bakery told me that I should smear SEMEN on my face to get rid of pregnancy acne. It was the first time I’d ever met her."
10. "If you raise your arms above your head, it will tangle the baby’s cord and the baby will die."
11. "When I was pregnant past my due date, a coworker advised me to drink cod liver oil mixed with vodka. Apparently this mixture would upset my digestive system, give me horrible diarrhea, and trigger labor contractions."
"I did not drink this combo and instead was medically induced several days later. Labor/delivery was swift and my baby was healthy."
12. "I was told that because the baby grows inside the mother's stomach, everything she eats or drinks just falls right onto the baby."
13. "Someone told my significant other not to bathe because the baby would drown. Their thinking was that the umbilical cord acted as a sort of snorkel from the baby to the mother's navel. If the navel was submerged, the baby wouldn't be able to get air."
14. "My sister had to have an emergency C-section, and her mother-in-law said she wouldn’t be a 'real woman' unless she had a vaginal birth."
15. "Not to drink hot tea because if I did I'd boil my baby."
16. "Someone told me not to drink water because it causes nausea."
17. "My ex's grandma told me that I should be very careful to gain only a pound or two during pregnancy. She had a small frame and had been told by her doctor not to gain weight because she "would definitely have problems delivering a big baby." She dieted fanatically during her pregnancies and ended up having three sons — all long, scrawny babies."
18. "The lady giving me a pedicure suggested I let my husband have extramarital affairs for a few months postpartum so I could recover."
19. "My midwife told me, 'Don’t worry about the swelling and high blood pressure, that's normal,' days before I had to be induced due to preeclampsia."
20. "My mom's friend told me not to eat pineapple or drink pineapple juice or it would cause a miscarriage. Guess what one of my preggo cravings was? I laughed every time as I gulped down my pineapple smoothies."
21. "My mom was told that drinking beer would help her baby develop and be nice and chubby. I was five weeks early and barely six pounds."
22. "My mother-in-law told me that I should spend the weeks leading up to the birth scouring my nipples with a washcloth every time I took a shower in order to get desensitized for breastfeeding."
23. "A random person at work told me I shouldn’t eat Goldfish (the cracker, not the actual fish) because they were bad for the baby. At the time, I was suffering with hyperemesis gravidarum and had been so sick that I'd lost over 15 pounds. Goldfish were one of the only things that I could actually manage to keep down at the time."
24. "When I was around 7 or 8 months pregnant, my mother-in-law told my husband that I needed to stop getting upset with him for any reason because I was going to make my baby colicky."
25. "My mother-in-law told me not to stand under a full moon."
26. "Someone told me to put baking soda in a cup and piss on it first thing in the morning to find out what I was having. They said if it fizzed, I was pregnant with a boy. If it didn't fizz, I was having a girl."
27. "Don't sit on stairs — it will cause you to have a miscarriage."
28. "I was 8 months pregnant when I mentioned at a family dinner that I was scared of labor. My gram shouted, 'You should smoke a blunt!'"
"I just looked at her as she added, 'If you smoke blunts while you're in labor, it will keep you calm and help with the pain. I’ll find you some weed — just smoke in the bathroom of the hospital. But wear socks. You have ugly feet and the doctor won’t want to help you if he sees your cracked heels.'”
Were you given some absolutely awful pregnancy advice? If so, let us know in the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.