Skin darkening, word taboos, and folic acid

In my previous post entitled A Woman's Body,  I mentioned how a woman's body was practically biologically predispositioned for pregnancy, no surprise there. What I forgot to mention, was why.

Apparently, this thin brown line going down right smack in the middle of my tummy, also called linea nigra, serves a purpose...to guide the baby to my breasts so that he can breastfeed. The same goes for the darkening of the areolas... it is said that babies' eyesight is between 20/200- 20/400 at birth, so this serves as a natural way to guide them to where they should feed.

What I don't completely understand, however, is how the darkening of the armpits (our nickname for them is the "brad pit" so as not to sound so gross...well, you know how it is...armpits go right there in the bucket of words you giggle at together with words such as fart, poo, and all the other by-products that come out of the pits both under the arms and down there)

So, what exactly is the purpose for the darkening of the armpits? Is the baby supposed to be led toward them as well (as they are led to the areolas for breastfeeding), but this time, perhaps so that they can get accustomed and therefore, immune to their possibly sweaty mom's pheromones (assuming that the strongest source of this comes from the brad pits)? Such that, should they get lost in the crowd, they need only use their sense of smell to track their mom's scent down?

My husband offers one clear possible explanation (again, in a one-liner answer) for the darkening of the brad pits: " Perhaps you just didn't clean them properly enough".

Thankfully, I can save my reputation by a simple Google search (he didn't think this was necessary as in his mind there was no other plausible explanation for the darkening other than lack of scrubbing, though he did accept the explanations for the darkening of the other parts readily and without question...)

A quick online search has pinpointed the cause to be the all encompassing "hormonal changes" answer to what seemingly is the cause for almost everything pregnancy-related. Some experts (we don't have any idea who these are it wasn't mentioned) believe that discolorations are linked to folic acid deficiency, so make sure you're getting enough through your diet and/or through your prenatal supplements. I am currently taking Elevit, which provides 800 mcg of folic acid:

According to an article online at babycenter.com,  "Folic acid helps prevent neural tube defects (NTDs)—serious birth defects of the spinal cord (such as spina bifida) and the brain (such as anencephaly). . Taking folic acid reduces this risk by 70-90%. Some research suggests that folic acid may help lower your baby's risk of other defects as well, such as cleft lip, cleft palate, and certain types of heart defects.

Your body needs folic acid to make normal red blood cells and prevent a type of anemia. Folic acid is also essential for the production, repair, and functioning of DNA, our genetic map and a basic building block of cells. So getting enough folic acid is particularly important for the rapid cell growth of the placenta and your developing baby. "

The recommended dose of folic acid is 600 mcg daily once pregnant. Other natural occurring sources of folic acid is illustrated below:

Just thinking about how the initial discussion of skin darkening has led me to shed some light on folic acid's importance... I suppose when "dark turns to light", it is always a good thing. Have an enlightened week, everyone! :)