Pregnancy facts: How many of these did you know?

Amid much speculation and anticipations running high, the 'choti begum' of Pataudi's royal family, Kareena Kapoor Khan, has finally announced her pregnancy with her husband Saif Ali Khan.

With the baby due in December, 2016, the couple is surely looking forward to the new addition to the family and first time mother-to-be, Mrs Khan, is positively glowing.

Not to forget, that Shahid Kapoor and his wife Mira Kapoor are also well on their way to parenthood, with Mira Kapoor due in September, this year.

However, there are some facts about pregnancy that most women and mothers-to-be don't know. Since, pregnancy is an intimate feeling that only women and would-be mothers would truly understand, we feel they should be aware of these facts too!

They are strange and a bit surprising too! Have a look!

Strong food flavourings like garlic and ginger can pass through the amniotic fluid inside the mother. It isn't an uncommon fact that babies tend to have a distinct preference for certain foods that their mothers ate frequently or had a craving for while pregnant.

Yes, it's strange, it sounds weird and you probably did that too when you were a two-month-old midget inside the womb. This is because the fetus begins to urinate within the womb once it turns two-months-old. It drinks that urine only to pass it again. Also, the amniotic fluid is actually sterile urine.

Pregnant women and new mothers can lactate automatically if they hear a baby crying. In fact, this can happen even if the baby isn't their own. It's probably a mother's emotional, nurturing tendency that becomes overpowering.

As completely off as it may sound, there is actually scientific evidence to prove this. As per Only My Health, scientists suggest that the higher a woman’s estrogen and progesterone levels, the more hair growth are stimulated, which also relaxes the oesophagus, leading to acid reflux.

So it's not only the stomach and feet that swell during pregnancy, we suppose. Why it happens? No, not because they have a big heart. The heart of a pregnant woman expands to handle the increase in volume of blood inside the body.

-- By Udita Madan