20 Interesting Pregnancy Facts

There are many interesting facts to know when you are expecting a baby. We suggest you should learn the most interesting of them.

1. Most healthy women get pregnant during a year of active sex life without using contraception.
2. Pregnancy lasts 280 days, which is 40 weeks, or exactly 10 lunar months (28 days each), or 9 calendar months and 1 week.
3. In calculating the expected birth date, the first week of the woman’s menstrual cycle is considered the first week of pregnancy. In fact, a woman is not pregnant during the first and the second week because conception can occur only at the end of the second week of the cycle, but because most women do not know the exact date of the conception, gynecologists adopted a rule to consider the term of pregnancy from the first day of the menstrual cycle.
4. About 10% of pregnancies end in miscarriage (spontaneous abortion). Doctors believe that this figure is much higher – many pregnancies are interrupted at such an early period that a woman does not have time to learn that she is pregnant.
5. During a pregnancy, a woman‘s uterus increases almost 500 times! 6-8 weeks after birth, it returns to its normal size.
6. Only in 1 of 10 cases a woman’s “water breaks” before labor pains. Normally the amniotic sac is ruptured at the end of the second phase of labor.
7. Only 3% of women who conceive naturally will be expecting twins. At the same time 33% of babies will be identical twins having the same set of genes, 67% of babies will be twins produced from two different eggs and different sperm cells, and will therefore be similar to each other no more than ordinary brothers and sisters.
8. The average weight of a full-term baby in the developed countries is 3.5 kg.
9. 30 years ago the average birth weight was only 2.7 kg.
10. Tuesday is a popular day for births. Scientists have studied the dynamics of birth and found that most babies are born on Tuesday. Least of all children are born on Saturday or Sunday.
11. Despite the fact that not all women experience craving for pickles and ice cream, many of them will experience similar acute desires. These quirks can be explained by the increased need for trace elements and the desire to relieve stress with “pleasure hormone”, serotonin, which is produced when the desired food is eaten.
12. Contrary to persistent rumors, a microwave in the house of a pregnant woman does not harm the unborn baby’s health.
13. Milk production in mammary glands begins in the second trimester of pregnancy. Belly location (high or low), its shape (round or “sharp”) is in no way associated with the sex of the child. It entirely depends on the pregnant woman’s figure.
14. Approximately 70% of mothers experience toxicity during the first trimester of pregnancy.
15. At the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, a woman’s sense of smell sharpens. Some scientists believe that this is nature’s way to protect a woman and her baby from eating stale, poor-quality or dangerous food.
16. A woman’s foot may increase one size during the pregnancy. This occurs for two reasons: firstly, the hormone relaxin relaxes the ligaments and joints to prepare the woman’s body for the upcoming labor. Secondly, many women are prone to edema during pregnancy. And legs swell above all.
17. Most pregnant women notice that their hair becomes thicker, longer and silkier. Unfortunately, after giving birth the hair gets back to its normal state. That is because during pregnancy hair grows in a different cycle and does not fall out as usual.
18. Babies born in May are, on average, heavier than children born in other months of the year. This is probably due to the abundance of holidays (Christmas, Easter) and generous holiday tables.
19. Almost all children are born with blue or gray-blue eyes. The gray-blue eye color of most babies is due to the temporary lack of melanin pigment. In about six months, the color may be changed. If there is little melanin, the eye color will remain blue, and vice versa – if there is much melanin, the eyes become brown or green. The amount of pigment is set genetically.
20. Every 3 seconds a new human being is born on planet!