Pregnant Women Are Allowed Everything But Yard Work

Pregnant women can drink alcohol and coffee, as stated in a new book disproving the myths associated with motherhood. The author believes that millions of pregnant women are given incorrect advice.

Economist Emily Oyster from Harvard University in the United States reviewed hundreds of scientific studies and studied a huge number of medical journals. She found that many of these studies have certain flaws due to which their findings cannot be considered reliable. For example, coffee, wine, and meat products such as ham are usually excluded from pregnant women’s diet, but Emily does not agree.

Oyster says that pregnant women can drink alcohol and coffee, as well as dye hair, but they should avoid yard work. According to Emily, one glass of wine a day does not hurt either woman or the fetus, as well as plenty of coffee. But if the expectant mother gains too little weight during pregnancy, it is much more dangerous than gaining extra kilos .

Emily says her book is only a set of scientific evidence for women based on which they can make their own choices. When she summed up the results of her work, counted all the numbers, she felt relieved. Now she can include lot coffee and one glass of wine a day in the diet, she can exercise whenever she wants. For example, the Pediatrics journal contains information that drinking one glass of wine leads to the development of behavioral problems in children. But 18% of women participating in the study, did not drink, and 45%, in addition to wine, sniffed cocaine. And such is the situation with many other studies.

Emily says that in the first 2-3 months of pregnancy, a woman can drink 1-2 drinks a week, and then –a drink in a day. But yard work means a risk of exposure to parasites causing toxoplasmosis, which the mother can transmit to the child.