9 Strange but Very True Facts About Pregnancy That Doctors Rarely Talk About

What do we know about pregnancy? Nausea, back pain, unusual food choices — all of these are well-known facts about pregnancy. But do you know, for example, that unborn babies can cry? Or that the widespread belief that newborns don’t have kneecaps is just a myth? Are you ready to face the fact that pigment spots might appear on your face and body?

Bright Side put together the most remarkable facts about pregnancy and newborns which neither your mother friends nor your doctors will tell you about.

• Carrying a baby in the womb for a whole year is not a myth. Normally pregnancy, from the moment of conception to the moment of childbirth, lasts for 266 days, or 38 weeks. However, in reality this number can be bigger or smaller. For example, Beulah Hunter was pregnant for an entire 375 days. Her fetus grew slower than usual that was why her pregnancy took more than a year, but eventually a healthy girl was born.

• During the second half of pregnancy, the fluid inside the mother’s belly is almost entirely comprised of the fetus’ urine, which they later swallow.

• A uterus grows 500 times bigger than normal during pregnancy, but after childbirth, it can become smaller or bigger than its original size. The uterus before pregnancy is about the size of a peach, and by the end of the pregnancy, it reaches the size of a watermelon.
• A woman will produce more estrogen during pregnancy than in her entire life if she never gives birth.

• During pregnancy, a woman’s waist and breasts are not the only things to grow in size, but her feet will as well. There are a few reasons for this: excessive liquid accumulation in an expectant mother’s body, joints softening due to hormonal changes, increased pressure on the foot arch due to increased weight.
• Babies can cry in their mother’s womb, even before they are born. They develop this ability in the third trimester and crying usually happens in response to a low-decibel noise played on the mother’s abdomen. Video-recorded ultrasound images show babies displaying crying behavior, like opening their mouths, depressing their tongues, and taking several irregular breaths before exhaling.

• A frequent “companion” of pregnant women is pigmentation. 90% of mothers encounter this problem. Specific spots might appear on their faces, especially in the areas of the forehead, nose, chin, cheekbones, and eyes. The color of this pigmentation depends on the mother’s initial skin color: fair skin becomes darker and dark skin becomes lighter.

• Babies’ fingerprints begin to form by the sixth month of gestation. Once they are formed, they will not change until the end of their life.
• An unborn child can feel, taste, and smell food that its mother consumes. They are absorbed by amniotic fluids and can form a future person’s food preferences.

Pregnancy is an amazing time when a woman’s body goes through transformations that are hard to imagine. Which facts did you find the most surprising? Tell us in the comments below.