True or Old Wives Tale

[Salad]

Hi, i have been told by four different people recently not to stretch my arms above my head or perform tasks that have me in this position such as taking curtains down and stuff because it can cause the umbilical cord to wrap around the babies neck. has anyone ever heard of this, is it true or an old wives tale

[JordieC]

Oh my god - I doubt it!!! I did heaps of things with arms above head: dancing!! I also hung kids pictures all the time (I'm a teacher). Mackenzie's cord wasn't round her neck. Also when you lay down sometimes your arms go above your head. I really don't think that would be true - otherwise you would have to strap your arms down!

[Nai]

Generally you are advised not to do things that involve lifting your arms above yoru head during pregnancy as it can cause your blood pressure to drop suddenly making you more likely to become dizzy or faint. I don't think it would have any effect on the umbilical cord.....

[~Saram~]

I was told this heaps as well - again another teacher so my hands are always over my head, writing on the board, hanging pictures etc! No hassles here but I have to admit I did think about it everytime I did it and often got a chair so as not to strains so much

[Nelle]

I'd be pretty surprised if that was true. There are definitely other reasons to take it easy and be sensible with what you do while pregnant.

Why not ask your doctor/midwife next time you see them to give you peace of mind? Then if it's not true, you can tell those people that your doctor said it's not true, and then they won't go about worrying people unnecessarily if it's not true.

Unless, of course, you don't want to hang the washing out, and then it's definitely true and you should be very careful.

[Catastrophic]

Hehe - In my case that one was true becuase i didn't want to hang out the washing~! lol! Someone told me that one - so i ran with it hehe

But Honestly i don't think it is true...

[deni]

My mum was warning me against it as well, it must be an old wives' tale from her generation, from books I've read it's definately not true.