Pregnant Women Carrying Infants- Is It Safe?

Updated on August 06, 2008
A.S. asks from Somerset, NJ
24 answers

Hi All,
I may seem to be supersticious here.. But does anybody know if its ok for a pregnant lady to carry small infants??
I have a daughter who is 3.5 months old. Yesterday (and some days back too..) my 9 months pregnant neighbour had come over.. She wanted to carry my daughter. So I let her hold my daughter. Usually my daughter does not like to be held by anybody else other my her dad, grandmother or me, but was supreisingly quite when my neighbour held her. But after she left, my daughter became very restless. We had to do all kinds of tricks to put her to sleep. Even the other day after my neighbour held her for a while, my daughter started throwing tantrums.. She wouldnt drink milk, either directly from my brest, or from the bottle. I didnt connect the 2 incidents until my mother told me that Pregnant ladies have a kind of vibration from them which tend to remind the babies of their time in the womb. And, after they come back to us after that, they kinda want to go back to that safe environment. Has anybody faced any such problems? Is there some truth to this or is it just coincidence? Please share your thoughts on this
My neighbour is a very sweet lady, and I dont want to be rude to her unnecessarily.. So unless there is any truth to this, I will not ask her to not hold my baby.

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B.E.

answers from Houston on

I have not heard about a "vibration" but have heard that babies have an "intuition" sort of thing and can sense when a woman is pregnant.

My daughter has never been the type that would cry or whine when I would leave the room until recently (I am 10.5 wks pregnant now). My mother swears she senses the fact that I am pregnant.

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L.F.

answers from Houston on

I don't belive it's true. When my son was 2 months old I got pregnant with my second child, and when my daughter was 3 months old I got pregnant with my third. My kids were fine. I think it's just a coincidence.

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J.R.

answers from Houston on

Never heard of such a thing. Sounds like an old wives tale to me. Maybe somebody thought the baby would be too heavy for the pregnant mom.

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B.Z.

answers from San Antonio on

You may want to ask your doctor it there are any compilcations or concerns that would keep you from carrying anything heavy. It all really depends on your fitness level prior to your pregnancy.
I was body building when I got pregnant, and my doctor told me I could continue to lift weights, and do anything I was doing before, with the exception of stomach crunches, and jogging. I went to the gym everyday, lifting weights 3 days a week, and stairmaster or walking on the treadmill 4 days a week. No, I wasn't real young either, I was 34 when I was doing all this, but my body was used to it.

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J.T.

answers from Victoria on

Sounds silly to me. Ask your doctor. I have heard of preganant women not holding other chrilden because your not suppose to lift over 30 lbs. Good luck and I would think it was safe for her to hold your baby child.

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A.E.

answers from Austin on

I have never heard anything of the sort. All 3 of my children were held by someone else who was pregnant when they were infants and there were no side effects. Also, during all 3 of my pregnancies I held other people's infants and never had any reaction.

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S.G.

answers from Houston on

I had never heard of that.What about one of those womb machinces that makes the noises of the womb?
Good Luck

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A.S.

answers from College Station on

That is the craziest thing I've ever heard. She is 3.5 mths old and doesn't feel any 'vibrations' from your neighbor. She does, however feel and hear your stress when your trying to calm her and screaming about the pregnant neighbor....

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L.H.

answers from Killeen on

Hi A.,,
well i'm a big fan of old folk lor and i have never heard that one before.So just go on with you daily activiviys and love your baby like you always will and do ,no harm is in valvaled women have been having baby for centries and carries for younger ones .so your great to go just forget it ever happened
good luck L.

C.E.

answers from Dallas on

My boys are 1yr and 2wks apart, so I was prego for most of my oldest sons life. There were no problems at all. Enjoy your helpful neighbor and be thankul that your baby responds so well to her...have her come over, take a nap, go on a date! :)

J.B.

answers from Houston on

I agree with the other ladies, I think that is probably a myth which came from observation, but actually the baby's response was just probably typical baby stuff. I held my cousin's baby when I was big and pregnant and he was little with no problem. If he cried or acted fussy, we never thought anything of it except that he was being a baby:) I don't think you have anything to worry about, you little one is so tiny, day to day or even moment to moment things can change! Best wishes and congratulations on your little bundle of joy!

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M.S.

answers from Houston on

I worked in an infant room until I went into labor (literally) and never had a problem. I work in a child care center now (I am 5 months) and hold babies all the time. I have a 13 month old that sits on my belly. I think its just a coincidence. Older people tend to say things that were truly believed but are not true, my mom tells me things all the time (like don't bounce the baby it'll make his soft spot sink in, I heard that one all the time.) I see no harm in letting her hold the baby, everybody loves to hold them, unless you don't like her or poses a harm I think it would be rude to ask her not to hold your little one. When she has hers you'll want to hold hers too!

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K.M.

answers from Sherman on

As a mother of 5 and 2 of them very close, my advice is put the superstitions in the trash-heck women used to have babies so close together they had to carry one while pregnant with another. No disrespect to your Mom but it was probably coincidental that your daughter acted up after your neighbor held her, she's just getting used to letting someone else hold her. And why take the joy of holding a beautiful baby girl away from your neighbor,who is probably getting a little anxious and a lot excited, over a superstition. If anything else I's say your daughter may have picked up on yor neighbors emotions more than anything else. Hope I didn't insult or hurt anyone's feelings, but thats just the way I see it.

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G.B.

answers from Houston on

Dear A.,

I came from an Italian family and my grandmother was very superstitious, but we never heard anything like that before. I worked in a neonatal intensive care when I was pregnant with both of my girls many years ago and went into labor with my second one in the intermediate care nursery. All the newborns I worked with, even though they were premature infants showed no problems at all. They were calmed, fed, changed and content when we finished our sessions. God bless you and be at peace.

G.

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K.B.

answers from Houston on

Hi A.-

I have never heard this at all. I even took a minute to check snopes.com and to google this and I found nothing at all! I'm not sure where you mom picked this idea up, but don't worry about it. It is perfectly safe for your daughter to be held by a pregnant woman.

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H.H.

answers from Houston on

I have seriously NEVER heard this before! My sister and I have "stair step" babies: her oldest is 4.5, my oldest is 3, her young one is 2.5, my little one is 1, and we are both pregnant. We have held each other's babies their entire lives, and lots of that has been while one or both of us was pregnant! I've also been holding my friend's baby a lot and I've been pregnant since he was born! No problems. I would just chalk it up to coincidence and enjoy the fact that your daughter responds well to a lady that wants to hold her! No offense to Mom, but I have never ever heard this!

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A.J.

answers from Killeen on

i have NEVER heard of anything even remotely like this! i mean, i know so many women who get pregnant while they still have babies of their own! i've held babies when i was preggo and other women have held my babies while preggo. the only reason pregnant women shouldn't hold babies a lot is because they shouldn't lift more than about 20lbs because it can hurt their already burdened body. even so, my daughter was about 15 mo. old when i got preggo with my 2nd and i carried her around the whole time i was preggo just fine.
so basically, i'm saying you have absolutely nothing to worry about

L.A.

answers from Austin on

Sounds like your infant was just excited from the visit. You just need to swaddle her tightly and hold her. You do not need to even speak to her, so that she is not stimulated. The time spent may have interrupted her schedule. The more you allow others to hold her the better she will respond.

New parents are given all kinds of reasons that their infants respond to situations. If you are unsure, call your Pediatrician's office or look through your child care book.
You are doing a good job. Hang in there.

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A.D.

answers from San Antonio on

Hi there,
This is just superstition. My mother in law (she is from a very small village in Mexico) has this same superstition. Most pregnant women love to hold babies! My husband and I have 5 children and the the oldest is 6, I always had infants or toddlers to carry while I was pregnant. I am sure it was coincidence that your daughter had a bad day. At only 3.5 months she has lots of bad days still to come! Don't worry!

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V.B.

answers from Houston on

Chalk this one up to coincidence. I have never heard of anything like this either. I know several people who have kids that are a year apart, which would mean mom was pregnant with a 3 month old. Don't worry yourself about this and let your friend hold your baby. I'm sure you will want to hold hers when she has it! :-)

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M.B.

answers from Houston on

I was preggo with my third while I was pregnant with my 3rd, (they are 13 mos apart) So I think it's probably one of those old wives tales we can probably ignore!!!!

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R.

answers from San Antonio on

What a strange superstition. I have never heard such a thing and certainly would not belive it to be true.

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B.P.

answers from San Antonio on

YES! It's perfectly fine for a pregnant woman to carry a baby. And even if it did remind your baby of being in the womb, that would be a very peaceful soothing thing for her, I would think. The only thing I have heard about holding a baby when you're pregnant is that if you hold a cute baby you will have a cute baby!

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M.D.

answers from Houston on

No, there is no harm done by your neighbor. I think the vibrations that your mom is referring to is the heart beat. I do recall that when my children where infants, I had bought this little pillow that made a heart beat sound. Whether it soothed them anymore than not, I don't know, but it was definitely soothing for me to know that it may be doing the trick for them to rest well. I never had problems with them sleeping, so who knows. But, typically babies can sense when they are with a pregnant woman and are usually very calm, just as yours was with your neighbor.

Enjoy your little one!!

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