'Grapefruit juice helps you get pregnant and eating yams leads to twins': The old wives' tales couples still believe

Hoping for twins? Eating a yam won't make any difference

It is not just children who may be confused about where babies come from. A survey has revealed British couples also hold on to a number of old wives' tales when it comes to getting pregnant.

Popular myths include drinking grapefruit juice or cough syrup and planting a rosemary bush.

Even in this day and age some women trying for a baby say they think they have a better chance of conceiving if they avoid mints and will have twins if they eat yams.

Others fear that eating strawberries or seeing mice during pregnancy could give their babies birthmarks.

Another superstition is that a woman who gives gifts of silver will get pregnant, said family planning experts FPA as they launched specially created Fertility Awareness Kits.

While much of the advice dates back centuries, some are more modern and scientific - such as advising men to wear boxer shorts to keep sperm at a more ideal temperature.

Surprisingly, the survey found half of all couples do not know many of the basic facts about the best ways to conceive, such as when a woman is at her most fertile for instance.

And because they get it wrong many couples then start to believe their lack of success is down to a medical problem, said the FPA, who surveyed 1,000 couples.

TOP TEN MYTHS ABOUT BEST WAYS TO GET PREGNANT

1. Yams help give you twins
2. Boxer shorts make men more fertile (looser clothing may actually help)
3. Drink grapefruit juice to get pregnant
4. Plant a rosemary bush to get pregnant
5. Women, give a gift of silver to get pregnant
6. Avoid strawberries - they give babies birthmarks
7. Don't look at mice, they give babies birthmarks
8. Drink cough syrup to get pregnant
9. Men should take their socks off in bed
10. Avoid mint

The health charity has launched new fertility guidance packs via its website in order to try and shatter some of the myths around pregnancy.

The packs include basic information and guidance plus products like folic acid supplements - more useful to women trying for a baby than a rosemary bush or grapefruit juice.

Natika H Halil, FPA director of information said: 'Many people trying to conceive have never been taught the basic facts about their own reproductive cycle.

'As a result couples may mistakenly believe themselves to be infertile, causing them to seek expensive fertility treatments and suffer a great deal of stress, when there is really no need.

'Equally, couples with a genuine problem may be waiting for nature to take its course, when in fact there is a fertility issue and they need professional help without delay.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2205506/Drink-grapefruit-juice-pregnant-The-old-wives-tales-couples-believe-help-conceive.html#ixzz26wCI9Gtw 
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