Can You Watch Scary Movies While Pregnant?

Halloween is knocking on the door, and that only means one thing- movie theatres and living rooms will soon start to echo with the scary sounds of horror movies. The adrenaline rush we feel by watching horror movies is addictive, and many people enjoy it. The heart-racing and seat clutching suspense of what’s going to happen next is the ultimate joy of watching a horror movie.

Now the big question arrives: Can you watch scary movies while pregnant? Well, there’s no downright scientific proof that scary movies have a harmful effect on the baby. Hence, it is more of a cultural taboo. But watching scary movies causes a rush of adrenaline. Doctors would always advise a pregnant woman to avoid stressful situations.

Hence, to understand if scary movies will negatively affect you while you are pregnant, we must first explore the effects on our brain and body when you push the play button of that horror movie!

What Happens To Our Bodies When We Watch A Scary Movie?

Well, watching scary movies makes your body react differently than normal. Your palms might become sweaty, and your muscles might become tenser. Due to the adrenaline rush caused by extreme feelings of fear, your heart rate might increase, increasing your blood pressure. It can also cause a drop in your skin temperature.

Hence, to understand if it will be safe to watch scary movies while pregnant, we need to understand how our brains and bodies react.

 1. Your Heart

Watching a horror movie can be termed as an adrenaline-raising activity; your heart rate increases as if you just participated in a marathon. Researchers have found that your heart rate can increase up to 14 beats per minute while watching scary movies!

Additionally, they found that white blood cells also increased, as if your body was preparing itself to defend against an invader. Hence, to your surprise, watching horror movies can also result in a heart attack. Suppose the psychological and physical responses arrive at the same particular time. In that case, it might result in a fatal incident such as a heart attack. 

This increase in heart rate is not ideal for your body, especially if you are pregnant, which is explained in detail in the next segment.

2. Hormones

This is the biggest and one of the major reasons why people discourage pregnant women from watching scary movies. The stress and tension it will cause in your body will secrete hormones that increase stress. If you are pregnant, your hormones are already causing havoc inside of you and, on top of that, the added stress.

Watching scary movies might cause stress and fear. These feelings cause the release of two hormones, adrenaline, and dopamine. Adrenaline increases your heart rate, which in turn increases your blood pressure. These hormones can cause a panic attack and, in some cases, might cause someone to faint!

It also releases another hormone known as cortisol. Well, cortisol is generally termed as a stress hormone. It starts preparing your body for a fight or flight situation as if you are in danger. This hormone also increases the sugar level of your blood. The release of these hormones disrupts the normal flow of hormones which helps a woman have a healthy pregnancy.

The increased blood pressure and sugar levels are not ideal for your body, especially pregnant women. These are some of the factors pregnant women are advised to keep in check for the sake of their baby’s health. Hence, doctors always recommend keeping yourself relaxed, comfy, and happy during these periods rather than adding stress to yourself.

The hormone level will change if a pregnant woman is undergoing extreme stress, negatively impacting the baby. You are already more sensitive to your emotions during pregnancy, and mood swings become a natural day-to-day occurrence. Hence, you are most certainly more affected by horror movies than before you were pregnant.

Disruption of the hormonal levels can result in some developmental issues and can cause premature labor in extreme cases.

You Shouldn’t Watch Scary Movies When Pregnant: Fact Or Myth? 

Not being able to do something makes us feel bad generally. On top of that, not doing something during pregnancy is bound to make you feel restricted. Hence, we need to address whether watching scary movies while pregnant is scientifically prohibited or a cultural taboo.

Well, people often advise pregnant women not to watch horror movies. Generally, this belief stems from two different roots. One ancient belief is that what you regularly watch or see will ultimately have an impact on your unborn baby. It is believed that it might impact the appearance and personality of your unborn baby.

Hence, mothers are often recommended to stare at good-looking personalities in magazines or movies so that the unborn baby will have the looks or features of that personality. This is why mothers are advised to watch fewer horror movies as it might shape the looks and characteristics of the unborn baby.

Now, this is a myth. We know for a fact that just seeing something won’t change the genes of a baby. A baby’s looks and characteristics entirely depend on genetics. Genes from either parent determine these factors. Hence, this myth defies the law of genetics. 

I assure you that watching scary movies won’t have a single outcome on your unborn baby. So if anyone advises you not to watch scary movies and their concern is based on the above myth, then do give them the cold shoulder.

Another belief is that watching scary movies is bad for pregnant women because of the hormonal havoc it might cause. This argument is pretty justified as watching scary movies will disrupt the normal flow of hormones. But there is no scientific proof that watching a horror movie will ultimately cause harm to your baby.

Whether or not horror movies will impact you depends entirely on your personality. If you love watching horror movies and are comfortable with this genre, it’s not a problem if you watch it during pregnancy. It would be best if you kept doing things that make you happy.

But suppose you are extremely uncomfortable watching horror movies or have a high anxiety level. In that case, it is best to avoid watching scary movies. 

Because whether you should or should not watch a scary movie while pregnant depends entirely on the amount of stress the movie exerts on you. It is best to avoid any movie that stresses you during pregnancy.

However, watching horror movies most assuredly won’t directly cause the congenital disability. Only lengthy exposure to feelings of fear and stress might result in a more severe case. But still, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Conclusion

If watching a scary movie is equivalent to a stressful event for you, then it is better that you avoid it for the sake of your unborn baby. There’s no need to add to your stress level because pregnancy already creates high levels of emotions.

But if you love a good horror film and you think you can handle it, then why not? Go and watch it! Hence, the answer to the big question: can you watch scary movies while pregnant? It depends on you. Don’t give in to the myths and various beliefs of people. Stick to the scientific facts.