Everything You Need To Know About Lunar Eclipse And Pregnancy

Both solar or lunar is considered a bad omen and harmful for pregnant women in many cultures, including in India.

The eclipse is believed to affect the developing baby by causing a physical deficiency, cleft lip or birthmarks and therefore they must abide by certain rules to prevent any damage to the pregnant women and their unborn babies. 

A lunar eclipse or 'Chandra Grahan' is a celestial event that has scientific reasons for its happening and the impact it has on people. 

However, in India, we like to associate myths and misconceptions with almost every sort of event and therefore, there are a few beliefs that gave linked pregnancy to the lunar eclipse.

Many people don’t believe in such things, but older people believe such myths as they experienced the bad omen caused by the eclipse. 

A story which I heard from my grandmother about the consequences faced by the lunar eclipse is that there was a pregnant woman who didn’t believe in such things, she avoids the warning of her mother-in-law and begins her schedule as she did normally. 

Everything was good nothing happened to the lady until the baby was born, he had a cleft lip and a skin problem which seems like he had cracks all over his body. There is a scientific cause behind the problem but they (old women) still believe that her baby faced this problem because of her fault.

Pregnant ladies are encouraged to remain inside during the length of the lunar overshadowing, ceaselessly from the beams of the occasion. 

All things considered, if there is even a slight uncertainty and stress in your mind concerning this, it is ideal to remain indoor - at any rate, it won't be distressing for the mother-to-be and her family. 

Furthermore, it is simpler to maintain a strategic distance from a lunar overshadowing than a sun oriented shroud which occurs during the daytime. Not at all like sun based obscuration which is said to hurt the eyes, lunar shroud doesn't represent any such danger.

During a lunar eclipse, pregnant women are also suggested to not eat to drink anything during Chandra Garahan. However, we do not second that opinion. Pregnant women should keep themselves hydrated- this is a must and otherwise complications would start to occur.  

Other than staying inside, there are different rules and regulations you may catch wind of from loved ones to continue in the hours paving the way to and during an obscuration. These change from family to family however here are the absolute most usually followed rules-

1. Not using a sharp or pointed object such as a knife, scissors or a needle for the span of the eclipse

2. Not eating anything during the eclipse

3. Relaxing as much as you can while the eclipse is on

4. Covering the windows with newspapers or thick curtains in order to avoid the rays of the eclipse from entering your home

5. Discarding all the cooked food before the eclipse

6. Taking a bath when the eclipse is over

Also, read - Are Lunar Eclipses Harmful for Pregnant Women?

There is no logical evidence to back this notion yet it's so immovably engraved in our way of life that it can make you or other relatives stress for the security of your child when an obscuration is around the bend. 

It all depends on you how to deal with such situations, many women follow these rules and regulations for the safety for their child but we also cannot neglect that fact, many women follow all rules and regulations but still, their child faced problems during the time of their birth or in their life. 

These all are myths all individuals have a good deed in their lifetime which doesn’t mean that it is because of some bad omen. 

But we also cannot neglect that in India, we all believe such faiths as older people are saying it, it must be that they have experienced this and in our community, such myths are common as we have a lot of myths relating to everything. 

Written by - Urvashi 

Edited by - Ivanova