Taken from Jacob Grimm Deutsche Mythologie (1835)
If a woman walks over a garden bed or a field within six weeks of giving birth, then nothing will grow on it in the next few years, or everything will perish.
A pregnant woman should never crawl under a coach pole, otherwise she will go over her (expected) time.
If a pregnant woman walks over a grave, her child will die.
If pregnant women go to the place where cloth is being bleached, they will have pale children.
If a woman sticks pins or needles into curtains during the first six weeks after childbirth, her child will have bad teeth.
If a pregnant woman ties a rope instead of a belt around herself, her child will be hanged.
If a pregnant woman walks behind or crosses the path of a poor sinner who is to be put to death, her child will later die the same death.
A pregnant woman after doing the wash should immediately turn over the tub she used, and she will have an easy delivery.
And probably the best advice of the lot…
A woman in labour should put on her husband’s slippers.