Solar Eclipse 2022: If You Are Pregnant, Should You Be Worried? Busting Myths

Soon we are going to experience the Solar Eclipse, and rather than looking at it as a scientific phenomenon, we have associated it with superstitions. So much so, the event has given birth to several myths that people ask pregnant women to follow.

From bad omens to miscarriages, everything is blamed upon the sun as it gets hidden by the moon, a natural phenomenon that occurs when two planetary bodies revolve and rotate in the sky. With this article, we aim to bust all these myths.

Pregnant Women Cannot Use Knives

A popular myth prohibits pregnant women from using a knife during a solar eclipse. The superstition goes that a bad omen will befall on the child who will be born with a cleft lip. It also suggests women must not cook during the time of the eclipse. However, there is no scientific basis for it.

Pregnant Women Must Not Go Outside The House

Another popular myth is that pregnant women must not go out of the house during a solar eclipse. It can leave their baby with birthmarks and facial deformities. If there wasn’t any other way to keep women bound in the house, this might have definitely been a strange attempt to do so.

The only helpful explanation that scientists have been able to provide for this myth to emerge is to avoid looking at the eclipse with the naked eye. Although, it is anyway suggested we do not look at the sun for a long time with our bare eyes on any given day. However, during the eclipse, it can lead to ‘eclipse blindness’. One must use special glasses to watch the solar eclipse.

Myths do not exist only in India. A popular Mexican myth will leave you horrified. It states that if a pregnant woman views a solar eclipse, a portion of her unborn child’s face would be bitten.

Who bites it? How does that happen? Nobody knows, and no one has answers for it. In ancient times, people connected eclipses to the wrath of the gods because they prayed to nature, including trees, rivers, the sun and the moon.

Pregnant Women Must Wear Red Underwear And Metal

This is a Mexican superstition that says a pregnant woman must wear red underwear and metal, that could be as small as a safety pin. The myth goes that it can protect the child from being born with a cleft palate, the logic for which are unknown.

On the other hand, in India, expecting mothers are asked to avoid wearing metal. Many astrologers say it could affect the unborn baby.

Pregnant Women Must Lie In Bed Straight

In Pakistan, an expecting woman (postpartum depression) might be asked to lie straight in bed. People believe that by doing this during a solar eclipse, the baby would not be born with crooked joints. Again, there is no science behind this myth.

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Pregnant Women Can Go Into Labour

Many believe that pregnant women can go into labour during the solar eclipse. Well, that can’t be true because not every expecting mother might be nearing her term.

Pregnant Women Must Bathe Before Or After The Eclipse

Many households withhold the morning bathing ritual, not only for pregnant women but for everyone in the family. Members either bathe before or after the eclipse. They also ritualistically fast, don’t cook or pray during the eclipse. However, many people exempt pregnant women from fasting as they need nourishment.

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A partial solar eclipse will be visible in India in the evening of October 25. Be wary of myths, superstitions but don’t go viewing it with your naked eyes.

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