Women might think that bad pregnancy advice is just a thing of the past (or from that nosy woman touching expecting women's bellies on the train). She's be wrong. It’s not.

Sure, women are no longer being told to put their feet into harness-like contraptions to have dainty (a.k.a not functioning) feet. But, it wasn’t that long ago those new moms were told to stop eating carbs altogether just to lose a couple of pounds.

In case you don’t remember the Atkins Diet fad, it resulted in health problems and the founder’s death. And, guess what? Women are still given and following advice that can be just as harmful to them and their unborn child.

Even though we’ve been popping out babies for thousands of years, society is always looking for ways to improve it and to make those nine months of carrying a watermelon on our stomachs a little easier. And, in some ways those bits of advice like ginger for morning sickness or breathing techniques have. But, if history can teach us anything, it’s that not all advice is good advice. Some of it is ridiculous and the worst can have irreversible side effects that you and your child will have to live with for years to come.

15 A Cigarette A Day Prevents Stress

1954 was a good year for smokers. If you were pregnant around that time and a smoker, you would have been encouraged to continue your habit. Smoking was all part of the American dream and tobacco companies paid doctors to suggest that smoking is beneficial to unborn babies. Yep, smoking was said to help expectant moms relax. After all, what good are lungs when you’re nervous or jittering about being a new mother? Now that it’s 2018, we’ve learned a few things, like just how bad and addictive those few puffs a day are to your health, not to mention an unborn child’s health. And, yet, it’s estimated that 20% of pregnant women smoke. That puts their child at risk for a lower birth weight, miscarriage, premature birth, and breathing problems.

14 Beware Of Lifting Your Arms!

Once upon a time, it was believed that women shouldn’t lift their arms over their head or else they’d strangle their unborn child. That’s right, this archaic piece of advice was somehow built on the idea that when a woman raised her arms the musical cord would twist around the baby’s neck and strangle the poor child. We’re not sure how anyone seriously believed that a mother’s arm was connected to the umbilical cord, let alone how reaching to the top of the cupboard shelf could make the cord wrap around a baby’s neck in circles, but hey people have believed a lot of weird stuff. And, just so you know, you can lift, stretch, and dance like MJ in ‘Thriller’ if you want to while you’re pregnant, ladies. We’re meant to move our bodies while pregnant. It keeps us healthy and we promise, your child will be safe.

13 Avoid The Sun And Become A Vampire

Somewhere in the world, a woman has been sitting in a dark basement for the past nine months, because she followed this advice. Talk about vitamin D deficiency! Do you know what happens when you don’t have enough Vitamin D? You become sick more often. It might surprise you to know that our bodies actually need this vitamin to help fight off infections. On top of that, getting sufficient Vitamin D helps expectant moms avoid that ‘tired’ or ‘fatigue’ feeling. And, vitamin D also plays a part in preventing bone loss, depression, and back pain. So, the bottom line is that this is absolutely terrible advice. If you love the beach, get out there. If you feel like you need a little walk in the sunshine, enjoy that too. We promise you’ll be a lot healthier than finishing your third trimester in a damp, windowless basement.

12 And, Don’t Bathe

Just how dirty were pregnant women back in the day? Were they allowed to use deodorant at least? Did they have deodorant? This advice for pregnant women not to take a bath had to have been around during the ‘Dark Ages’ because there is no other time in history when women were told not to bathe. That’s right, soap or at least bathing yourself with water has been pretty popular for thousands of years. Even ancient Egyptians bathed. It wasn’t until the dark ages that women wore herbs and garlic under their skirts to mask the smell… from down under. Apparently, the idea was that women who submerged themselves in water could ‘drown’ their unborn child. Yep, we’re not sure how people assumed a pregnant woman’s body would fill up with water either.

11 Do Not Have A Baby Out Of Wedlock (Terminate It)

From the generations that made suggestions for pregnant women to smoke and never let water touch their skin, we have this other piece of disturbing advice. Have you ever heard of women ‘disappearing’ with their families and then coming back from that long vacation with a ‘sibling’ several months later? Those poor women who had to tell their neighbors that their child was their sister, grew up in a time when having children out of wedlock was considered the end of the world. In fact, some women were forced to have abortions. Rumor has it Hollywood was a place of frequent abortions back when Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe graced the screens. The studios forced their stars to have them to avoid a ‘baby scandal’ tarnishing their image! Thankfully, we’ve moved on from those ‘moral standards’ to value human life over a woman’s virginal image.

10 Smoke The Green Stuff For Morning Sickness

Okay, here’s what we know so far. Cannabis is illegal. Smoking tobacco was terrible advice that was found to cause health problems in infants. So, smoking cannabis sounds like a doubly bad idea. And, yet some women do it to help them with morning sickness. Apparently, it’s something that 21.8% of teens who find themselves pregnant do. Although, we’re not going say that there isn’t some pregnant mom in her office lighting it up by her window just to get through her morning meetings. After all, there isn’t concrete evidence that smoking the green stuff causes birth defects or other problems during pregnancy. Although, why not wait to use the stuff until the studies allow your doctor to suggest it to you and it’s considered legal on a Federal level? Maybe, enjoy a cup of ginger tea in the meantime?

9 A Pregnant Woman Should Never Go Outside

Moms today probably laugh about this one. Seriously, when a woman has to work and put food on the table, you gotta do what you gotta do. Yet, at some point in history, pregnant women were put on a pedestal. Our feet were placed on a footstool and we were waited on hand-and-foot while someone else put food on the table. It must have been nice, except the not going outside part seems pretty extreme. We’ve already mentioned what happens when you get a lack of vitamin D. Now, let’s chat about what happens when you don’t get enough exercise. It negatively affects your lungs, muscles, and mood. A brisk walk is considered healthy when you’re pregnant. Fresh air and sunlight are considered healthy too. So, while a little rest is nice, don’t completely hibernate for nine months, because this isn’t 1918.

8 Never Ever…Ever Gain Weight!

It seems like skinny has always been in - since forever - and pregnant women aren’t immune to the ‘ideal skinny woman’ measurements. In fact, women were once told to gain as little as possible when pregnant. And, in some countries they still do. While that’s perfectly healthy for some women, it’s just not practical for every body type. It’s unhealthy for a woman who is a natural and healthy size 10 to try to diet herself down to a size 00. It’s just not gonna happen without headaches, broken bones, and a few fainting episodes. The same can be said for pregnant women who try to force their bodies to do something other than what it’s programmed to do. The best weight advice is to follow a healthy diet, exercise lightly, and enjoy your pregnancy. Seriously, gain those 35 pounds. It’s not going to kill your scale.

7 Or, Get All Of Your Calories From Chocolate Bars

Even for women who love chocolate, eating five chocolate bars a day sounds like an excessive way to get a tummy ache. And, just when you thought this advice couldn’t get any worse. Women were told to make those five bars, milk chocolate. Apparently, the thinking behind it is that by eating five bars during the last few weeks of pregnancy would make a mother’s milk ‘richer’. Right. While it’s okay to indulge from time to time, this amount sounds ridiculous! You’re better off indulging in a piece of dark chocolate every now and then. A mother’s milk is most likely to only become sweeter, not richer from all the sugar from too many chocolate bars. For the ‘richest’ milk, a healthy and well-balanced diet is the best advice. That means lean meats, whole grains, fruits, and veggies. Oh, and don’t forget about the occasional piece of chocolate.

6 Or, Gain As Much Weight As You Can

When pregnant women weren’t being told to eat as little as possible, they were told to eat twice as much to pack on those pounds. It was once believed that a well-padded woman would better protect the baby and a woman’s metabolism increased while she was pregnant. Turns out that getting a woman hooked on late night tubs of ice cream is just a bad idea. Whoever came up with the ‘eat for two’ phrase anyway? Yes, your body needs and absorbs more nutrients. But, guess what? That doesn’t mean that your body will absorb and magically get rid of all those extra calories. Science says, that all you really need when pregnant is an extra 340 calories in the second trimester and 450 calories in the third trimester. To put into perspective, that’s a cup of edamame or a small frozen yogurt with nuts.

5 Do Not Have A V-Birth

Women's fun tunnels were doing just well continuing the human race since the dawn of civilization thank you very much. However, some doctors seem to think that slicing a woman’s stomach open and pulling out her child is a better idea. In fact, in 2016 women were given the ‘official advice’ that Caesareans are safer than v-births! Now, there are risks with both, because let’s face it, childbirth is a brutal and violent action. However, C-sections come with a host of health risks to the mother such as - infections, anaesthetic complications, blood clots, cardiac arrest, chronic pain, wound disruption, and in some cases death. Sounds like a commercial for a new drug doesn’t it? So, unless a woman needs a C-section for various health concerns, why in the world are doctors across the pond recommending women to undergo surgery?

4 Cinch In Your Waist

No, this advice isn’t to help you slip back into a bikini after giving birth. This was advice for pregnant women; you know just so that they wouldn’t look pregnant while they were pregnant. Makes all the sense in the world right? Thankfully this was advice given in the Victorian era when corsets and 15’’ waists were all the rage. Today’s pregnant woman doesn’t have to worry about tightly lacing her stomach to look like she has washboard abs in her second trimester. We have Spanx girdles. Although, they have stretch to be more comfortable and not completely hide a baby bump. Although, why would a pregnant woman even wear body shape wear? We guess that in the end some advice and trends don’t change. They simply evolve into something else.

3 And Pass Out

Okay, so women weren’t exactly told to pass out when pregnant or giving birth. Yet, what they were given would basically knock them out. Long before epidurals, women were given a nice dose of chloroform or ether. You know, whichever poison they had on hand. We imagine that it was just like movies. A rag soaked in chloroform was put over the woman’s face. She wiggled and then her body became limp and unconscious. And, then we’re not entirely sure what happened next. Maybe, her body ‘pushed’ for her? It was dubbed the ‘Twilight Sleep’ and often sold as a combination of morphine, an amnesiac, and chloroform. Sure, it might have slowed down contractions, the baby’s breathing, and increased the risk of haemorrhaging, but at least women didn’t remember the pain of childbirth.

2 Be Sure To Get Your Daily Dose Of Lead

One thing that women may not know, pregnant or not is that you shouldn’t drink warm water from the tap. Yet, pregnant women might be at a higher risk considering that there is advice out there warning pregnant women to never drink anything cold! That means some pregnant women might be exposing themselves to harmful metals when they turn their faucet to warm for a glass of water. Drinking water is from the boiler and it sits around in lead and copper pipes. Some studies have shown that babies who drink warm tap water can have physical and mental development delays. In adults, they are at risk for high blood pressure. So, it’s healthier for pregnant women to heat cold tap water if they need a warm drink or just endure the temporary shivers and enjoy a nice glass of cold water.

1 Drink Up

We’re not sure which is worse- stagnant water in lead pipes or alcohol. Yet, across the pond, our British neighbors have concluded from some study that a glass of wine a day is good for pregnant women. It helps the mom relax and doesn’t seem to hurt the child. Yet, that’s only one glass of wine per day maximum. Any more than that and the studies showed that pregnant women are putting their children at risk for birth defects. Kind of scary considering that in Italy it’s estimated that 50% of pregnant women drink wine. However, it should be mentioned that these findings were just to see if drinking alcohol while pregnant negatively affects children. Also, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists state that ‘there is no safe level of alcohol use during pregnancy.

Sources: Healthline.com, Mom.me.pregnancy.com, MentalFloss.com, TheBump.com, NewScientist.com, TheNewYorkTimes.com, NPR.com