5 Things Not to Say to a Pregnant Person

Growing a baby is miraculous, exciting, exhausting, and challenging. Pregnancy is a personal journey, but in our society it also becomes an open forum. For some reason, expectant moms are magnets for commentary, biased opinions, and even unsolicited touching.

Here are five tips for proper pregnancy etiquette:

Tip #1: Keep your questions rosy

After my five-year struggle with infertility, when I finally did become pregnant, I wanted the entire world to know. I was counting the days until I could burst out of my regular clothing and start wearing every maternity ensemble I could get my hands (and stomach!) on. 

No sooner did my big announcement start making the rounds, so did the litany of personal questions about my pregnancy. I soon realized that no topic was off-limits when it came to pregnancy. I consider myself an outgoing, kinda gal, but I also enjoy my privacy. How my breasts responded to my newly pregnant body was not something I wanted to discuss with my mother-in-law! That's why I love the advice from etiquette expert Thomas Farley, aka Mister Manners. He offered a simple rule of thumb to people tempted to press a woman about details of her pregnancy.

"Keep the questions rosy and not nosy." Unless the pregnant woman is a bestie or a close family member, it's best to focus on supportive, caring, and positive comments and questions. "How do you feel today?" is much rosier than "Wow, you look totally wiped out. Pregnancy doesn't agree with you!" 

Tip #2: If you're not a doctor, don't offer medical advice

Pregnancy is one of those topics that knows no boundaries. Why is a pregnant belly automatically permission for a stranger in the grocery store to offer medical advice? Why should the bank teller feel the need to tell me that my baby was in the breech position simply by the shape of my stomach? And then educate me on how I could help the baby flip to the correct position in the birth canal. Seriously?

In a perfect world, folks would refrain from offering medical opinions, particularly when they don't have a medical degree, but we all know there is no such thing as perfect. The next best thing is to choose how you interpret said advice. Here are...

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