Pregnancy is a life-transforming journey and while there is so much changes that happens during this time, you cannot always be prepared for everything. Here are 10 surprising facts that you did not know were true during pregnancy.

The Nesting Instinct

If you have seen animals look for paper scraps, or take fur out of their own body or collect small twigs and stem to build a nest for their upcoming babies, even if the animals are domesticated, humans do the name. Humans do not take fur or hair out of their body, but we too experience a powerful urge to prepare our home for the baby. We clean it, decorate it and thanks to modern homes, we can now baby proof it do!

Mommy Brain

This happens in the first trimester, when tiredness, morning sickness and other symptoms can make the mother feel worn out and mentally fuzzy, often called the mommy brain. The National Institutes of Health also notes that cognitive function decline in the third trimester of pregnancy, leading to memory problems.

Mood Swings

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and pregnancy share several symptoms, such as breast swelling and tenderness, hormonal fluctuations, and mood swings. If you’ve experienced severe mood swings due to PMS, you may notice an intensification of these emotions during pregnancy. It's common to feel joyful one moment and tearful the next as your body adjusts to hormonal changes.

Breast Growth

An increase in breast size is one of the earliest signs of pregnancy apart from your missed period. It happens in the first trimester due to the higher levels of hormones like estrogen and progesterone. The growth continues throughout pregnancy.

Skin Changes

Have you heard about pregnancy glow? This happens because pregnancy women have an increased blood volume, this happens to provide extra blood flow to the uterus and other organs, especially the kidneys. This greater volume brings more blood to the vessels and increases oil gland secretion.

Hair and Nails

During pregnancy, many women notice changes in their hair texture and growth. Hormonal shifts can make hair grow faster and reduce hair loss. However, these changes are typically temporary, and many women experience some hair loss during the postpartum period or after they stop breastfeeding. In some cases, hair growth may also occur in unexpected areas like the face, belly, or around the nipples. Additionally, hair texture can shift, becoming drier or oilier, and some women even notice a change in hair color.

Nails can also undergo changes during pregnancy. Increased hormone levels may cause nails to grow faster and become stronger, but for some women, nails may become more brittle, splitting and breaking more easily. Like hair changes, these nail changes are usually temporary. If your nails are more prone to splitting or tearing, it’s helpful to keep them trimmed and avoid exposure to chemicals in nail polish and nail polish remover.

Your Feet Grow

If you have heard about it, then you already know that it is not just the clothes that do not fit you, it is your shoes too. Extra fluid in the pregnant body also leads to swollen feet. The joints also tend to be looser during pregnancy.

Joint Mobility

Your body also releases hormones like relaxin that prepares your body, especially the cervix for the birth. This loosens the ligament in your body, which may make you less stable .

Varicose veins, constipation, and hemorrhoids

Varicose veins, common in the legs and genital area during pregnancy, result from blood pooling in veins enlarged by pregnancy hormones. They often disappear after delivery. To prevent them, avoid prolonged sitting or standing, wear loose clothing and support hose, and elevate your feet when seated.

Hemorrhoids, which are varicose veins in the rectum, may develop due to increased blood volume and uterine pressure. They can cause pain, itching, bleeding, or stinging, especially during bowel movements. Constipation, caused by hormonal changes and uterine pressure on the large intestine, can worsen hemorrhoids by straining during bowel movements.

Prevent constipation and hemorrhoids by eating a fiber-rich diet, staying hydrated, and exercising regularly. If needed, consult your doctor about stool softeners, laxatives, or creams for relief.

Labor and what goes out of your body

When you are in labor, your amniotic sac, that has fluid that surrounds the baby, breaks or ruptures, which is what is also known as water breaking. For most women contractions start before their water breaks, if not, then the doctor may have to rupture the amniotic sac, in case the cervix is already dilated. Some women may feel the urge to pee, while for some it may feel a trickling their leg.

Not too long ago, in 2000, 1.6 million girls were missing from the number given at the natural sex ratio at birth, 26 years later, the number is at 200,000, and it is still falling. What has changed? The Economist reported that more and more parents are now preferring girl child over boys.

Earlier, parents were desperate for a boy, or did not just want a large family. In fact, in China, people would routinely terminate females. The practice of aborting girls is now becoming less common. The natural ratio is about 105 boy babies for every 100 girls. This is also because boys are more likely to die young, which could lead to rough parity at reproductive age. Sex ratio at birth has become more even across Asia. In 2006, China reported the peak of 117.8 boys per 100 girls, which went down to 109.8 in 2025. India too fell from 109.6 in 2010 to 106.8. In South Korea, in 1990, it was 115.7, which has now come back to normal.

Why Is There A Shift In Baby Preference?

There was a sexist tradition that believed that men mattered more. This came from the expectation that daughters will grow up and serve her husband's family. This is why parents preferred baby boys who would look after them in old age. Another idea is of dowry, to marry off a woman, the parents needed to have a stronger financial and economic backing, so the dowry could be paid at the time of her marriage. This is why many families did not want girl child. While these sexist ideas have not completely vanished, there are evidences that they are slowly fading away.

Secondly, this selective abortion has become a weapon against men, as it has led to lifelong bachelorhood. In China, they are known as "bare branches", and they were the ones who resented it intensely. Their anger also had wider social consequences. Large numbers of young, unmarried men are more likely to fuel instability and violence. Studies across several Asian countries have linked distorted sex ratios to higher rates of rape, violent crime in China, stricter policing to control unrest, and even greater risks of civil conflict or war elsewhere.

In India, especially in Haryana, bride buying, a controversial practice was found as a substitute for the lack of girls to marry the sons. These brides were purchased from backward economic background, which often led to exploitation.

As son preference declines, many societies are becoming safer.

At the same time, a subtle shift toward preferring daughters is emerging in some regions. This trend is far less extreme: parents are not eliminating boys, nor does any major country show a surplus of girls. Instead, the preference appears in attitudes and behavior. In Japan, couples wanting just one child tend to favour girls. Globally, parents often want both sexes, but in the US and Scandinavia, couples with sons are more likely to have additional children, suggesting a desire for daughters. Adoption data show families willing to pay more for girls, and where sex selection through IVF is legal, more women are choosing female embryos.

What Makes Parents Prefer Girl Child?

People are preferring girls for all sorts of reasons, which are:

• Some thing they are easier to bring up
• Some cherish what they see as "feminine" traits
• Some think that daughters are better at looking after elderly parents

The emerging preference for daughters also mirrors growing anxiety about how boys are faring. Boys have long been more likely to run into trouble, globally, 93% of the prison population is male. In many countries, they are also falling behind girls in education. In wealthier nations, 54% of young women hold a tertiary degree, compared with 41% of young men. While men remain overrepresented at the very top, in boardrooms, they are also increasingly overrepresented at the bottom, disengaged, isolated, and angry.

These trends have put boys’ struggles on governments’ radar. Because boys tend to mature later, some experts argue for starting them a year later in school. Others suggest more male teachers, especially in primary education, where they are scarce, to provide role models. Stronger vocational training could also steer boys toward careers traditionally avoided by men, such as nursing. Supporting struggling boys does not mean disadvantaging girls, just as giving glasses to someone with poor eyesight does not harm those with perfect vision.

Looking ahead, technology will give parents more choices. Some will be widely accepted, such as editing genes to prevent severe inherited diseases. But expanding access to sex-selection technologies raises harder questions. Couples undergoing fertility treatment can already choose sperm or embryos by sex, and as these methods become cheaper, their use may spread. Even more concerning, early blood tests can reveal an embryo’s sex within weeks, potentially enabling sex-selective abortions through medication, even among parents who conceive naturally.

After Australia's social media ban for children under 16, New York is also considering a mental health warning for the young social media users. Social media platforms with infinite scrolling, auto play and algorithmic feeds will now be required to display warning labels about the harm to young users' mental health. This is under a new law, announced New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

“Keeping New Yorkers safe has been my top priority since taking office, and that includes protecting our kids from the potential harms of social media features that encourage excessive use,” Hochul said in a statement. This law aims to create a warning on platforms that offer "addictive feeds" auto play or infinite scrolls and applied to conduct occurring partly or wholly in New York. This however does not work for users when used outside the state. Hochul also compared the social media warning labels with products like tobacco, where there are labels like the risk of cancer on the packaging itself.

Not just this, but even India could be considering brining in a social media ban for teens.

What Is Happening In India With Teen Ban On Social Media?

While hearing a write petition, the Madras High Court asked the Union Government to look for possibilities in passing a legislation similar to the ban of under 16s using social media in Australia. The petition was to emphasize on the awareness of the stakeholders and parental windows in the device that could control the menace of pornographic material which is easily accessible to children. The court asked Centre to order internet provider service companies to provide a 'Parental Window' to prevent children from accessing such content.

The Madurai Bench of Justices G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan told the authorities of child rights to accelerate this matter. The bench also noted that children could only be prevented from consuming such content only if there is a parental control app on the device. Judges also noted that parents have a higher responsibility in this, as children are highly vulnerable to such content.

What Is Happening In Australia?

To protect the mental health of children, Australia is now banning several social media apps, which include: Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, and streaming platforms Kick and Twitch. YouTube Kids, Google Classroom and WhatsApp are not covered under this rule as they do not fit those criteria. While anyone under 16 will be still able to watch most of the content without logging in, however, they cannot have an account on it. Critics are urging the government to widen the ban to include online gaming platforms such as Roblox and Discord, which are currently not covered.

Read: Australia Social Media Ban Explained: Why Government Plans to Restrict Accounts of Under-16s

The government says that it will also reduce the negative impact of social media's "design features that encourage [young people] to spend more time on screens, while also serving up content that can harm their health and wellbeing". A government study which was commissioned in 2025 found that 96% of children aged 10 to 15 used social media, and that seven out of 10 of them were exposed to harmful content. These content were misogynistic and violent in its nature, furthermore, content promoted eating disorders and suicide.

Children and parents will not be punished for infringing the ban, instead, social media companies will face fines of up to A$49.5m, which is equivalent of US$32m for serious or repeated breaches.

Anyone below the age of 16 in Australia is now banned from using social media services. These platforms include TikTok, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Threads. The law now says that anyone under 16 cannot make new social media accounts and their existing accounts will be deactivated. This is the first of its kind banned and is also being watched by other countries.

What Is The Reason Behind The Under-16 Social Media Ban?

To protect the mental health of children is the main reason behind the ban. Furthermore, the government says that it will also reduce the negative impact of social media's "design features that encourage [young people] to spend more time on screens, while also serving up content that can harm their health and wellbeing". A government study which was commissioned in 2025 found that 96% of children aged 10 to 15 used social media, and that seven out of 10 of them were exposed to harmful content. These content were misogynistic and violent in its nature, furthermore, content promoted eating disorders and suicide.

Read: AI Therapy Gone Wrong: Psychiatrist Reveals How Chatbots Are Failing Vulnerable Teens

1 in 7 also reported experiencing grooming-type behavior from adults or older children. More than half said that they were also victim of cyberbullying. The ban right now expands over platforms and apps like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Reddit, and streaming platforms Kick and Twitch.

The government laid down three categories, under which the ban has been considered for the apps, these criteria are:

• whether the platform’s primary or substantial purpose is to enable online social interaction between two or more users
• whether users can interact with some or all other users on the platform
• whether users are able to post or share content

YouTube Kids, Google Classroom and WhatsApp are not covered under this rule as they do not fit those criteria. While anyone under 16 will be still able to watch most of the content without logging in, however, they cannot have an account on it. Critics are urging the government to widen the ban to include online gaming platforms such as Roblox and Discord, which are currently not covered.

Also Read: Why Social Media Trends Could Be Detrimental To Your Health?

Are There Any Checks And Balances On The Ban?

The law notes that children and parents will not be punished for infringing the ban, instead, social media companies will face fines of up to A$49.5m, which is equivalent of US$32m for serious or repeated breaches. The government has said that these companies must take 'reasonable steps' to keep kids off the platforms. These 'reasonable steps' include asking for government IDs, face or voice, or "age interference" that analyzes online behavior and interactions to estimate a person's age. Platforms have been advised against relying on users self-certifying or parents vouching for their children. Meta, which own Facebook, Instagram and Threads have started to close teen accounts from December 4 onwards. Snapchat will also be using bank account, photo ID or selfies for verification.

However, government reports have found facial assessment technology to be least reliable for teenagers. Some critics have also raised their concerns on potential fines. Some have also pointed out other platforms which involves gaming platforms, or AI chatbots that have encouraged children to kill themselves and indulged in 'sensual' conversations with minors.