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For centuries, the moon has been the subject of many beliefs. Werewolf, murders, accidents, suicides, mood swings, influence on hair growth and sleep… We lend to the moon, and in particular to the full moon, a whole bunch of effects and influences.
The moon is even a great symbol of fertility, no doubt because of the similarity of its cycle to the menstrual cycle of women. THEhe lunar cycle lasts 29 days, whereas a woman’s menstrual cycle usually lasts 28 days. The followers of lithotherapy indeed advise women with a project of pregnancy, suffering from infertility or having irregular cycles, to wear a moon stone (so called by its resemblance to our satellite) around the neck.
Childbirth and full moon: an effect of lunar attraction?
The widespread belief that there would be more childbirth during the full moon could come from lunar attraction. After all, the moon does an influence on the tides, since the tides are the consequence of three interactions: the attraction of the moon, that of the sun, and the rotation of the earth.
If it influences the water of our seas and oceans, why shouldn’t the moon influence other fluids, such as the amniotic liquid ? Some people thus attribute to the full moon the ability to increase the risk of losing water, if not to give birth on a full moon night rather than a few days before or after …
Childbirth and full moon: no convincing statistics
There is actually little data available on the influence of the full moon on the number of childbirths, presumably because scientists have grown weary of trying to find any link between the two, since there is no physiological reason. could explain this.
The scientific press only reports a relatively recent solid study. On the one hand, there is a study carried out by the “Mountain Area Health Education Center”From North Carolina (United States), in 2005, and published in theAmerican Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Researchers have analyzed nearly 600 births (000 to be precise) that took place during five years., or a period equivalent to 62 lunar cycles. What to obtain serious statistics, allowing the researchers to affirm that it does not visibly exist no influence of the moon on the number of deliveries, and that consequently, there are no more births on full moon nights than during other lunar phases.
Childbirth during the full moon: why we want to believe
Even though there is no solid evidence of any influence the moon has on pregnancy, fertility, or even our lives in general, we still want to believe it. Probably because myths and legends are part of our common imagination, of our nature. The human being is moreover inclined to privilege the information which confirms his preconceived ideas or his hypotheses, this is what is commonly called the confirmation bias. Thus, if we know more women who gave birth during the full moon than at another time in the lunar cycle, we will tend to think that the moon does have an influence on childbirth. So much so that a pregnant woman with this belief could even unconsciously induce childbirth on the day of the full moon!