Main content

Pregnancy prohibitions – the evidence

Taking a statistical look at what expectant mothers should avoid.

Can you have a single glass of wine? How many cups of coffee should you drink? Should you avoid cheese? Expectant mothers are bombarded with advice about what they can and can’t do during pregnancy. Charlotte McDonald speaks to health economist Emily Oster who used her day job skills to analyse the statistical evidence behind these rules for her own pregnancy.

Available now

9 minutes

Last on

Tue 30 Jul 201901:50GMT
BBC World Service

More episodes

Previous

Missing women from drug trials

Next

The spread of fact-checking in Africa

See all episodes from More or Less

Broadcasts

  • Mon 29 Jul 201912:50GMT
    BBC World Service except News Internet
  • Tue 30 Jul 201901:50GMT
    BBC World Service

Unlock the history and truth behind the data with The OU

Unlock the history and truth behind the data with The OU

Explore how numbers shape, and sometimes mislead us, with The Open University.

When can you trust statistics?

When can you trust statistics?

BBC Ideas discovers three easy ways to help make sense of statistics.

Podcast

  • More or Less

    Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life