We all know the “myth” that if you have terrible heartburn during your pregnancy then your baby is going to grow a lot of hair. While most dismiss this as an old wives tale, it actually turns out that there is a connection between the two.
Previously, we at Pregnancy Magazine talked about how researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that women who reported more severe heartburn gave birth to babies with hair. In fact, 23 of the 28 pregnant women delivered a child with a head full of hair.
Researchers emphasized that this isn’t necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship. However it may be linked to higher levels of estrogen and other hormones that allow the sphincter to relax, which in turn permits stomach acid to work its way back up into the esophagus. These same hormones also have a role in fetal hair growth.
Since we love conversation, we took to Facebook to ask our readers what they think of the heartburn and hair myth and here’s what they had to say:
Katrina experienced bad heartburn throughout her entire pregnancy, but her son came out with just a little bit of peach fuzz on his head.
Tara didn’t have any heartburn with her first daughter, despite the baby sitting so high that Tara developed a hiatal hernia. Although there was no heartburn, Tara delivered a little girl with a “huge mop of black hair.” She did report having mild heartburn with her second daughter, who was born with very little hair on her head.
Sarah said the connection between heartburn and hair is true. Her first two babies were born without hair and she had no heartburn, but her second two had heads full of hair after she experienced months of heartburn.
Some people believed the heartburn and hair myth to be just that – a myth. Then there were others who thought that there was some truth to the old wives tale.
Do you think there’s really a connection between heartburn and how much hair your baby will have? Join in the discussion below!