"Pregnant women need to eat twice as much."

Absolute myth.

Don't do it.

You really actually only need about 200 extra calories a day

over a normal American diet.

And that's assuming that you're starting pregnancy

at a normal weight.

"Sex during pregnancy hurts the baby."

Well...

Dena Goffman: "Cocoa butter prevents stretch marks."

This is a myth.

I'm Laura Riley.

I'm a high-risk OB

at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell.

I'm Dena Goffman.

I'm a high-risk OB at New York Presbyterian/Columbia.

This is so exciting,

wondering what's gonna come next.

Riley: I know, I know.

Goffman: Oh, my favorite.

"It's OK to drink a glass of wine when you're pregnant."

We know that the recommendation in pregnancy is that

you really should not consume any alcohol.

Unfortunately, there is no safe amount of alcohol

nor a safe time in pregnancy when we can be sure

that alcohol won't affect a developing fetus.

Riley: Also, I think it's important to add

that we don't think it's safe to drink

while you're breastfeeding, either,

because the alcohol does get into breast milk.

And as Dr. Goffman said,

we don't know what the safe amount is, and that safe amount

may actually change for different women.

Goffman: "Your belly reveals the baby's gender."

We certainly hear patients coming in to see us

and having heard or having family members say

that they can tell whether you're having a boy

or a girl based on how the woman's belly looks.

And we know that there is absolutely no evidence

that the shape of your belly can tell us

this type of information.

Riley: The other myth that goes along with gender

I think is the heart rate is high or low.

My patients always say that, you know, they come in,

oh, it's 160, it must be girl.

Like, no. If it's 160, it means the kid's moving a lot,

and if it's sleeping it's going to be 120.

So it doesn't tell you whether it's a girl or boy.

Goffman: "Cocoa butter prevents stretch marks."

This is a myth.

While cocoa butter is something

that many patients like to use,

we don't have any evidence that cocoa butter

or anything else that we can recommend

will prevent stretch marks.

Riley: It's probably genetic, and, essentially,

if you gain too much weight in one spot,

i.e. your pregnancy gets really big,

you're more likely to get stretch marks, unfortunately.

But it's not worth spending a ton of money

on expensive creams, because it's not gonna work.

That was cheery.

"You can give a cold to your developing baby."

This is a complete myth.

Your baby is not gonna get the cold.

Although your baby can get sick

if you get something like the flu,

which is why we tell you to get a flu shot,

to prevent your baby from getting really sick.

There are some illnesses you can transfer

to your baby, but probably not a cold.

I think people get the cold and the flu confused,

which is unfortunate because the flu

can make you really sick in pregnancy.

Goffman: "What you eat during pregnancy

can influence the baby's palate."

Riley: I don't think there is a shred of evidence

to support that.

I think that what you eat during pregnancy is important

because it does sort of, you know,

set your baby off to a good start

in terms of its overall nutrition and good health.

But it's probably not gonna change the baby's palate.

Goffman: We always talk about nutrition and food choices

and healthy weight gain,

which really can have long-term impact

on your baby's development, but not specifically the palate

or what they have a taste for.

Riley: "Pregnant women shouldn't drink coffee."

That's a myth.

You can drink coffee.

This is one where moderation is the most important thing.

In the first trimester, having excessive amounts of coffee

have been associated with a higher risk of miscarriage.

Once that first trimester is over,

should you go crazy with the coffee?

Probably not.

But it's not gonna harm anything.

Goffman: "Pregnant women shouldn't eat hot dogs."

So, this is a myth.

I think the concern with hot dogs are a few.

You want to make sure that they are well cooked

to avoid infection risk.

And there used to be a fair amount of conversation

about the amount of nitrites in hot dogs,

but I think the evidence suggests that unless you're eating

really excessive amounts of hot dogs,

that it's probably OK to enjoy one.

I think there are probably things

better than hot dogs to eat, nutritionally,

but I think if people enjoy one once in a while,

I don't have a problem with it.

Riley: You're way nicer than I am.

I'm not sure why anybody's eating hot dogs, frankly,

but, you know, you can have one in pregnancy,

but I think it's really important

to make sure that it's cooked,

because the concern about listeria is a real concern.

So, that includes the hot dogs,

the unpasteurized cheeses, the deli meats.

All of those things are things that we worry about.

So I think, you know.

Yeah, it's a myth that you can't eat hot dogs,

but you should be certain that it's cooked well.

"Pregnant women shouldn't eat smoked salmon."

That's a myth.

You can eat smoked salmon if you like it.

I'm not a lover of salmon, so.

Goffman: I love it.

You can eat smoked salmon.

This gets into concerns around fish consumption

in pregnancy, which is a huge topic.

And we talk to our patients about the risk

of various types of fish.

So, we want to avoid fish with high mercury content.

So typically that would be avoiding excessive tuna,

choosing chunk-light, canned tuna,

and also limiting the number of cans of tuna in a week.

There is also some concern about some of these oily fish,

I guess, about the potential for toxins.

And so I would say salmon in general may fall

into that category, but smoked salmon I think is safe

for pregnant women to eat.

Riley: The whole fish story is a little

blown out of proportion.

And I think people get really crazy

about this whole mercury thing.

I would say it's important to also recognize, though,

that fish has great nutritional value to it

that pregnant women and babies need and want.

So it is unfortunate that somehow the fish story

has resulted in people thinking, "I can't have any fish."

It's really the large steak fishes

where you're worried about the mercury.

But then, don't forget that something like salmon

is gonna give you the DHEAS, which you want.

Goffman: "Pregnant women shouldn't pet cats."

This is a myth.

This would be terrible if all pregnant women

in the world couldn't pet their pets, their cats.

There is a concern with pregnant women caring

for cats in terms of the litter box,

and really the risk is toxoplasmosis.

And the risk of exposure isn't with interacting

with your cat, but with changing a dirty litter box.

Riley: It is actually fairly rare in the US

for women to come into contact with toxoplasmosis.

The more important thing about sort of the cat stories,

everyone worries about the cat and the kitty litter;

the most common exposure

that women get to toxoplasmosis

is actually not the cat or the liter even.

It's not washing your garden vegetables,

because it's the cat that has the toxin

that poops in your garden

and then you pick that up and eat it

because you don't wash it or whatever.

So, gardening without gloves are things

that we tell pregnant women to avoid

because of that particular infection.

The cat's got a bad rap, unfortunately.

"Pregnant women shouldn't fly."

Total myth, get on the plane, have a good time.

That said, there are a few things

to think about when flying.

I think one of the major issues is that pregnant women

are at increased risk for getting a blood clot

either in their leg or their lung.

When you fly, the air is dry.

You're also more likely just to be sitting

for a prolonged period of time.

And that just further increases your risk

for getting a blood clot.

So I always tell pregnant women, be happy, go ahead.

Go on those trips.

But you should hydrate before you go.

You should wear support hose

or at least, like, you know, running tights

or something that gives you a little bit of

support in your legs.

You should get up and walk around every hour or so.

People worry about the air pressure,

which makes no sense because it's a pressurized cabin.

That doesn't do anything,

you're not gonna break your water.

And they also worry about going through the screener, right?

Everybody's worried about the radiation

going through the screener,

but in fact the radiation exposure is actually higher

when you're in the sky in the plane than it is

when you're walking quickly

through the security.

Goffman: "Exercise during pregnancy can strangle the baby."

This is a myth.

Exercise is actually strongly recommended during pregnancy.

All of our professional organizations,

all of us as providers talk to patients

about maintaining physical activity,

maintaining exercise throughout the pregnancy,

really unless there's a medical situation

that comes up that changes those recommendations.

So, exercise is not dangerous.

And in fact, the opposite.

It's really important.

Riley: I think also this whole strangling thing comes

from this crazy nonsense that if you get yourself

into certain yoga positions,

your baby can strangle itself.

You don't have any control

over the position your baby gets into.

The baby is floating in a pool of water.

And it doesn't matter whether you're doing a headstand

or you're just, like, chilling.

"Sex during pregnancy hurts the baby."

Well, that's a big myth.

And it also helps to understand

sort of the anatomy a little bit.

I think this is where patients get a little bit confused.

The baby is floating inside a pool of water,

a big balloon bag.

And that balloon bag is surrounded by thick muscle,

which is the uterus, surrounds the entire bag

and has, actually, a thicker portion at the bottom.

So there's just no way

that sex is gonna get even near the baby.

Goffman: Dyeing your hair is harmful for the baby.

This is another big myth.

And we get phone calls about it.

Lots of questions.

There is no evidence, and again,

we keep coming back to evidence

because that's what we look to as your physicians.

And there really is no evidence out there