4 social situations to brush off during pregnancy

From food restrictions to genetic testing, pregnancy provides its own list of things to worry about. During the next nine months, while you focus on keeping baby healthy, we suggest leaving all other stresses on the cutting room floor – that includes angsting over your pushy mother-in-law’s hurt feelings. Here are four perfectly reasonable things to brush off while you wait for baby:

Your mother-in-law’s request to be in the delivery room

For a first-time mom especially, the labor and delivery ward calls for every ounce of strength and focus she can muster. The more people you have at your side, the more distracted you may be – not to mention you may want to safeguard your privacy during a truly vulnerable time. All this to say, if you’re not super close with your mother-in-law, there’s no need to have her there while you labor. Choosing who you’ll have at your side should be about who makes you feel safe, comforted and confident – not about who’s going to have hurt feelings if they’re not invited.

Asking your cubicle-mate to take it easy on the tuna

It’s a well-known fact: Pregnant women have a bionic sense of smell. Any person with half a brain should know not to bring something so offensive-smelling within 30 feet of an expectant mom. Of course, there’s no reason to be rude about it – simply explaining your queasy stomach woes to your co-worker should put the kibosh on future fishy smells.

Stopping a horror story in its tracks

Moms-to-be do not need to hear stories of births gone terribly wrong. If a co-worker or pal launches into a scary story about her labor and delivery, feel empowered to put on the brakes. Tell her simply that you value her experience, but at this time, you’re choosing to focus on all the ways birth can be a beautiful, peaceful and life-changing moment. Once your baby is earth-side, tell her you’ll be happy to swap stories.

Ignoring people’s unsolicited advice

There’s your doctor’s advice, and then there’s the unsolicited words of wisdom from that random woman in the checkout line. There’s something about a burgeoning belly that inspires strangers to shower a mom-to-be with advice – some of it useable, some of it straight up loony. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the dos and don’ts of pregnancy, feel free to tune those strangers out. Offer up a friendly smile and go on your merry way.

By Lizzie Goodman

Lizzie Goodman is a writer living in the Midwest. Since becoming a mom, she's learned to do everything one-handed, often while letting her baby daughter pull her hair and poke her in the face. She believes in the strength and power of women - and really enjoys writing about pregnancy and motherhood.