Piece by: Naomi Waweru

17 October 2022

• An expectant woman should completely avoid passing by, visiting, or attending a burial ceremony.

• This s a common term that a lot of pregnant women get whenever they are encouraged to eat more.

In Africa in general, there are a couple of taboos laid up concerning pregnant mothers and infants in general that have been on since the ancestral period but social media has come to defy almost all of them.

Over the weekend a report was done about a heinous act of a coffin that was left in the shamba of a pregnant woman's parents who had previously shown her baby bump on social media.

This story raised lots of reactions from Kenyans who condemned the act by dedicating the child to God asap to avert 'the curse' brought by the coffin.

See story below:

Following that story here are some superstitions and taboos surrounding pregnancy in Africa.

1. Avoid cemeteries

An expectant woman should completely avoid passing by, visiting, or attending a burial ceremony.

This is to shield and protect the infant from impure/sinful matters carried and associated by the dead.

2. Avoid stepping on ropes

It is believed that when a pregnant woman steps or crosses a rope that the baby's umbilical code will tangle around the baby's neck.

3. Avoid showing the baby's face

It is believed that showing a baby's face before they are between 6 months to 1 year is taboo because of 'bad eyes'.

This is being nullified by celebrities nowadays like the new celebrity parents Nameless and Wahu who unveiled their baby's face right after birth.

4. Avoid showing off the baby bump

In South Africa, pregnant women are urged to hide their baby bumps to prevent the good news from reaching the ears of the enemy who will bewitch the baby.

In turn, causing stillbirth or miscarriage or eventually the death of the mother.

5.'You are eating for two

This s a common term that a lot of pregnant women get whenever they are encouraged to eat more.

Well scientifically, what really matters is what the mother eats rather than the amount of food.