Until the mid-1960s in Britain, pregnancy tests were done by sending a woman’s urine to a lab, where it would be injected into a toad. The toad was checked two hours later and if it had laid eggs, the woman was pregnant.
pregnancy
Charles Vance Millar, a Toronto lawyer…
Charles Vance Millar, a Toronto lawyer, died in 1926 with no relatives. In his will, he left all his remaining assets (equivalent to $9 million CAD) to the woman who had the most babies within 10 years of his death, creating a “baby race” where woman competed to have the most babies.
An Egyptian man tried…
An Egyptian man tried to bypass a mandatory drug test by using his wife’s urine. He found out he failed when his boss handed him the results and said, “congratulations, you’re pregnant.”
Pregnancy physically changes…
Pregnancy physically changes a woman’s brain structure. Grey matter volume is decreased in certain areas, giving mothers a higher capacity for empathy to help better understand their baby.
In 1948 in the US, pregnant women…
In 1948 in the US, pregnant women were not allowed to be teachers in 57% of public school districts because “the sight of pregnant women would unfavorably influence students” and because “pregnant teachers’ minds would not be on their work.”
Puppy Pregnancy Syndrome: an illness where people believe they are pregnant…
Puppy Pregnancy Syndrome is an illness where people believe they are pregnant with puppies after being bitten by a dog.
Women in ancient China were told that drinking hot mercury would prevent…
Women in ancient China were told that drinking hot mercury would prevent pregnancy. Which is kind of true, since drinking mercury can lead to organ failure and death, so those women definitely wouldn’t be carrying a child anytime soon.
The Vlasic pickle Stork mascot was an attempt to capitalize on pregnant…
The Vlasic pickle Stork mascot was an attempt to capitalize on pregnant women’s craving for pickles.
In 1991 a woman was kept “alive” although…
In 1991 a braindead woman was kept “alive” because she was pregnant. The baby was born alive.
You can get pregnant while being pregnant…
You can get pregnant while being pregnant. In 2009, Todd and Julia Grovenburg of Fort Smith, Arkansas, received international media attention for Mrs. Grovenburg’s conception of an additional child while already pregnant with a child conceived two and a half weeks earlier. If it were possible to carry both children to term, the birth of the first child would be expected in December 2009, whereas the second child would be due in January 2010. Grovenburg’s obstetrician reported that cases of superfetation “can only be confirmed after delivery by chromosomal and metabolic studies on the baby.” Both healthy babies were delivered through Caesarean section on 2 December 2009.