“If you’re pregnant,

you have to….

uhhh.. there’s a….

when there’s a full moon, you have to wear a safety pin on your underwear or wear a red underwear or else your baby will get a cleft lip.”

This was obviously my first time hearing this superstition because this belief is popular and common in the hispanic culture. When Janneth told me about this, I thought it was odd, not being able to see a connection between underwear, safety pins, full moons, and cleft lips. However, it was very interesting to me that so many people share different superstitions and they think it’s a norm for others to know about it, but not everyone knows about it.

Janneth Galeno is my co-worker. She works in an office. She was born in Mexico but moved to the United States and she has been living here ever since. She is married and has one daughter. She told me these traditions and stories during break at work. With this specific folk belief, Janneth has learned it through her own mother when she was pregnant with her mother. It was a full moon one day during her pregnancy, and her mother made her pin a safety pin onto her underwear so that her baby will not get a cleft lip when her daughter is born. Janneth told me that she doesn’t really believe in this superstition, but she did it anyways because her mother did believe in it.

For similar pregnancy and full moon superstitions, click this link : http://www.babycenter.com/0_traditional-hispanic-beliefs-and-myths-about-pregnancy_3653769.bc