Preganancy Taboos – Do You Follow or Ignore?

Chinese tradition and culture is always loaded with many taboos (Do’s and Don’ts), for example wedding, Chinese New Year and not surprisingly there is also some for pregnant woman to take care, which I will be sharing today.

List of the Common Pregnancy Taboos 

1. Say “No” to home renovation or moving house

This is a very common taboo that everyone know but do you know why? It is believed that there is a baby spirit (胎神) that is always moving around in the house. It is believed that any major renovation might easily harm the baby spirit.

2. No sharp object on the bed

In Chinese belief, bed represent fertility and marriage, so it is advisable NOT to have scissor or needles as it symbolize cutting.

3. Avoid putting painting/sculpture of wild and fierce animal figure like tiger in the living room

It might affect the pregnant woman mood and you should place adorable baby photo instead.

4. Avoid going to Funeral – Such locations, like graveyard is a place full of “Yin” and negative energy, therefore it should be a forbidden place for pregnant woman too.

5. Do not attend Wedding too – It might seems to make sense to avoid funeral, but why pregnant woman can’t join the joyous event? It is a Chinese belief that mixing two happy events together will create a “clash of joy” (喜沖喜) that is not good for both parties.

6. No Moving of Big furnitures – You might want to move the furnitures around to allocate some space for the coming baby. However it is not recommended, especially your bed. Based on the Chinese belief, if you move the bed, it is just like “moving the foetus (动胎气)”, which might cause pregnancy implications.

You might think that these pregnancy taboos are just superstition or myth, but no harm believing them than to be sorry.