Debunking an old wives' tale

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There is a lot of blurring between ‘traditional medicine’ and ‘old wives’ tales’ and often you just don’t know how much truth there may be in such things. Sometimes for example, use of a herbal treatment may turn out to have a sound scientific basis; other ideas may turn out to be just myths. I was chatting to our Italian lodger the other day and for some reason the conversation turned to birth marks. He told me that in Italy it is commonly believed that a birth mark is caused by the mother not consuming enough of whatever her body needs. Basically, during pregnancy, if a mother has a food craving, and she doesn't fulfil that craving, and then she scratches herself, the child will be born with a birth mark in the shape of the food the mother was craving. The mark would appear, naturally, on the part of the body the woman scratches. Interesting theory! I told him that my friend has a birthmark shaped exactly like an elephant. Presumably his mother didn’t consume enough elephants when she was pregnant. I suspect this old wives’ tale is just that All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2025.