This is definitely one of those sticky issues that you tread with caution around when you speak of it. Pregnancy in the movies and pregnancy in real life are usually very different. There are reasons why Hollywood will play up certain parts of the pregnancy and omit others, but in all likelihood ladies if you are going to get pregnant don’t follow the movies for instruction, you’ll only be risking the health of you and your child. Listen to the doctors in real life and do as they say, they do have your best interests at heart.
Here are a few things you might want to know concerning the differences between pregnancy in real life vs. Hollywood.
5. You won’t start swearing like a sailor during childbirth.
Some women do this out of habit, but most won’t do it just because of the pregnancy. This is a bit of Hollywood drama and comedy that is meant to make you laugh and think that the man is in for some serious trouble when it’s time to get to the delivery room. You’re more likely to hear a lot of heavy breathing, grunting, and various other noises that will come from the woman as she tries to force an object the size of a watermelon through an opening the size of a lemon. Yeah, great visual, I know.
4. Your newborn won’t look all shiny clean when they hand them to you.
Just to put it simply, childbirth is messy. The child is coming from inside the woman and will not be all nice and clean when they are first presented to the mother and/or father depending on the situation. Depending on whether the birth is natural or a C-section they will still be coated in gunk and will need to be bathed before being laid on the mother’s chest for bonding time. These babies you see all clean and swaddled in films are definitely older. Hollywood is getting better about this though.
3. The labor could be smooth and easy, but even if it’s not it won’t always be the ordeal Hollywood makes it out as.
Every woman’s labor is different. It could be hard and painful and last for hours on end, or it could be simple and easy as the child comes into the world. C-sections are supposed to be much easier when the procedure is done right, but the healing process will understandably take more time.
2. Freak-outs by a pregnant woman are not that hilarious.
While they might seem funny at times in movies the freak outs in real life can be very unpredictable and not amusing at all. With their hormones out of whack pregnant moms can be like ticking time bombs, and it will take only a single push in the wrong direction to make them explode. It could be something as simple as a memory, an odor, or even a feeling that sets them off. As the husband or the boyfriend it’s important to just be there and be supportive. And for your sake don’t laugh if she doesn’t.
1. Not every pregnant woman looks that great.
See Katherine Heigl up above? Yeah, she represents the minority of pregnant women. They won’t always look this good or this perky. A lot of them have trouble sleeping and will have bags under their eyes for a good deal of the pregnancy, while others will gain a massive amount of weight as their body goes through the changes. They’re not all going to look like supermodels with a cute little potbelly.
So Hollywood is getting slightly better about representing pregnant women on screen, but it’s understandable why they do some of the things they do. After all, real life isn’t always that entertaining.
