For generations, advice such as “don’t eat pineapples when you are having your period” to “dry off well after you shower” have been passed on from grandmothers to mothers to many young women.
You may not remember offhand what your mother said about not cutting your fingernails at night, but chances are, if you talk to any girlfriend of yours, you might find troves of health tips you had both received at one point or another from the many women (your mother, grandmother and aunties) in your lives rolling off the tip of your tongues.
“My mom used to tell us not to shower after midnight,” said a colleague. “She says because our pores open up at night, if we bathe, the water will leech into the lungs and we will get pneumonia or cold or something like that,” she recalled.
“Of course, she also tells us not to drink drinks that are ‘cooling’, such as barley, at night,” she mused. Another quipped, “Oh, and also ‘don’t eat oranges when you are coughing or have fever. I don’t know why, though.’”
And as if that triggered our collective memory banks of similar trivia, they started to pour in.
Don’t eat rice when you have fever. Don’t wear clothes that leave too much of your skin exposed when you are menstruating – because you are perceived to be weak at that time and evil spirits may affect you. Don’t sit with your legs apart because no one will want to marry you later.
The list is long and mostly not proven, but our columnist, consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar, is no stranger to such motherly advice. “As I deal with a lot of women, usually pregnant mothers, I have heard my share of stories and pantangs (superstitions) before.
“Understandably, they are mostly about things women can or cannot do before, during, and after pregnancy. “Usually, women want their babies to grow up pretty, so there’s this belief that by looking at beautiful pictures, their baby will also be pretty when they are born,” she said.
Also, women would want their babies to have fair skin, said Dr Nor Ashikin. So, as they belief that taking kicap (soy sauce) will make their baby’s skin darker, they usually avoid taking it. Although this claim has not appeared in any scientific journals so far, some women will still frown at any addition of kicap to their food.
“Malays also believe that pregnant women should not kill animals either accidentally or intentionally because their child will take up the features of the animal, while Chinese ladies believe that when they are pregnant, they must not attend funerals,” said Dr Nor Ashikin.
But even when these are mostly superstitions, some of the other things that our mothers say (although they might not know the actual reason behind it) actually make common sense. So, after checking with Dr Nor Ashikin and a few Internet sources, we found out that there are indeed, times when we should listen to our mothers. And these are some of them:
When she says... dry off well after you shower. As moist skin encourages fungal infections. Drying off well after a shower and avoiding wearing clothes that do not allow sweat to evaporate can keep these away.
When she says... try to look at beautiful baby pictures during pregnancy so your baby will have good looks when he or she is born. While the direct link between a pregnant mother’s exposure to beautiful baby pictures and the physical appearances of the baby is still unclear, doctors and researchers know that the emotional state of a mother can affect the wellbeing of the baby. So, in that way, pleasant surroundings may help improve pregnant mothers emotional wellbeing, and in turn, help them give birth to healthy, happy children.
When she says... if you can, don’t strain yourself too much while you are in confinement after childbirth. According to Dr Nor Ashikin, this is to protect the mother from injuries as it will take up to three to six months to recover from the physiological changes associated with childbirth.
For instance, it takes at least six weeks for the mother’s uterus to return to its normal size and up to three months for her kidney function to return to normal. That is why it is always good to let the body rest to allow it to recover.
When she says... you don’t have to go for a pap smear unless you have already been sexually active. Your mother is right on this one. In response to a question on whether virgins need Pap smears on Mayoclinic.com, Mayoclinic internist Dr Sandhya Pruthi replied that while Pap smears are vital in helping doctors detect early changes in the cervix that may lead to cancer, if you haven’t had vaginal intercourse before, you probably won’t need one. This is because cervical cancer in women who had never had sexual intercourse is very rare. However, it is still an option if you want to go for the test, said Dr Nor Ashikin.
And there are times when we should be more discerning:
When she says... don’t eat pineapples during menstruation because it will make you bleed more. While some studies find bromelain, a type of enzyme present in pineapples, has some anti-coagulant activity and can be useful in reducing platelet clumping and blood clots, Dr Nor Ashikin said, “there is, so far, no concrete evidence to prove this”.
When she says... childbirth is the most painful experience a woman can have. Among the pain caused by natural processes in the body, childbirth has been found to be one of the most excruciating.
However, as women have vastly different pain tolerances, the experience of that pain is highly individual.
“Pain should not deter women from experiencing having a natural childbirth,” said Dr Nor Ashikin. “Even though it is painful, many women have gone through it despite the pain.”
When she says... mammograms are painful. Again, not every person will feel the pain the same way, and some mammograms are now more comfortable, said Dr Nor Ashikin. “The more you focus on the pain, the worse it often becomes,” she added. “To me, mammograms are just a little uncomfortable. A cut is probably more painful.”
When she says... having sex during pregnancy can harm your baby. This is medically wrong, said Dr Nor Ashikin. “Unless the mother has placenta praevia (a pregnancy complication also known as “low lying placenta”, where the placenta is attached at the lower part of the uterus, closer to the cervix) or have a history of preterm delivery or preterm labour, sexual activity is perfectly fine.
In one of her Women’s World column about sex during pregnancy, Dr Nor Ashikin even encouraged couples to have sex, especially for pregnancies that are postdates. “Most couples are pleasantly surprised to hear that sex may help to induce labour because seminal fluids contain prostaglandins (hormones) that can cause contractions of the uterus.”
You may or may not agree with the above. But in the end it is up to you to decide what is best for you, and bear in mind that other people’s experiences should serve as references, not absolute examples of how you can lead a healthy, happy life.
Happy International Women’s Day!
