The Strange Pregnancy Symptom That’s Linked To Smarter Kids, According To Science
That morning sickness has benefits after all.
Ashwin Vaswani | Unsplash It may not be the prettiest part of pregnancy, but all that rushing to the closest trash can to throw up, thanks to the good ol' morning sickness, is actually good for your baby. Yes, that's the secret to how to have a smart baby, believe it or not.
Nausea and vomiting mean fewer miscarriages and birth defects, along with smarter kids. Taking this knowledge and combining it with the fact that Kate Middleton was so sick during her first pregnancy because she was suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum has led us to believe that Prince George is a perfect little genius. And, of course, everyone wants a perfect genius baby.
The studies conducted over a 20-year span by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto observed 850,000 pregnant women in five different countries to see if the most common pregnancy side effect (85 percent of women suffer from it) serves a purpose or has any effect on the child.
The strange pregnancy symptom that’s linked to smarter kids, according to science
Although it's not definite, the thinking is that the nausea is caused by hormones released from the placenta, most specifically gonadotropin, which kicks into overdrive when a woman is pregnant. It was found that moms who just couldn't stop puking up their meals had healthier babies, both in weight and length, and their risk for premature births decreased, too.
Prostock-studio / Shutterstock
Mothers who didn’t suffer from morning sickness had a 9.5 percent rate of having a premature birth compared to 6.4 percent of those mothers who did spend some of their pregnancy being sick to their stomachs. Miscarriages were found to be three times higher in mothers who had a smooth-sailing pregnancy, compared to those who suffered from the dreaded, daily upchuck factor.
Later on, when the children of the women were old enough to take I.Q. tests and really prove to the world how great the results of morning sickness can be, the kiddos whose moms really struggled to keep things down, had a higher I.Q., a greater grasp of language, and were just better behaved all around.
That's right! Every time you have to dart out of a meeting or pull your car over to throw up during your pregnancy, just remind yourself you are only one more vomit away from birthing a child prodigy, a future Harvard grad, or the person who will cure Ebola.
If you're one of those who tried everything you could to keep your morning sickness as minimal as possible, no one will blame you. Being that sick all the time will definitely take a toll on your body, even if your future Nobel Laureate is benefiting from it.
Since that’s the case, you're probably asking yourself, "Well, I would have morning sickness if I wasn't sucking on these ginger candies 24/7. So have I decreased my fetus's chances at health and smarts?"
No, you have not. You may have tried to cure your morning sickness, but if it's there, it's there, and mini-you still has a chance at greatness.
It's so nice when you can have your cake and eat it, too, isn't it? Not that anyone even wants to think about cake when they have morning sickness, of course.
Amanda Chatel has been a wellness and relationship journalist for over a decade. Her work has been featured in Glamour, Shape, Self, and other outlets.
