“There is a tradition that when a woman is having trouble getting pregnant, that if she or other people in her name make challah in her name then it’s a zechus for her and in her name, so she will then get pregnant.”

A zechus is a merit in someone’s name. The superstition of baking challah bread in someone’s name and then them being able to be pregnant could have to do with the community coming together to support that woman in her efforts to conceive. Accordingly, if the woman in question is able to conceive, sometimes the people who helped make the challah bread feel a special connection to that child, and the community protects her or him. This superstition is one I have never heard of before, but the mixture of community support and religious faith is endearing.