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There are a million old wives’ tales about how to predict your unborn baby’s sex. But are any of them true? A writer for NewScientist.com who’s pregnant decided to do some research. Here’s what she found . . .
OLD WIVES’ TALE #1.) BAD MORNING SICKNESS MEANS IT’S A BOY. Actually, the opposite might be true. In 1999, doctors in Sweden analyzed the records of over 8,000 women they treated for morning sickness.
55.7% had girls, and only 44.3% had boys. Compare that to the general population. Overall, 51.4% of the babies born in Sweden are boys. And a separate study in Denmark had similar statistics.
But here’s something else they found that’s even weirder. Single Mothers with morning sickness were even more likely to have girls. Only 40% of them had boys.
OLD WIVES’ TALE #2.) IF THE BABY HAS A FAST HEARTBEAT, IT’S A GIRL. According to this one, if the baby’s heart rate is higher than 140 beats per minute, you’re having a girl.
But researchers used an ultrasound to measure the heartbeats of 477 babies in their first trimester, and there wasn’t much of a difference. The average heart rate for girls was 152 beats per minute, and the average heart rate for boys was 155.
Plus, it changes depending on what stage of pregnancy you’re in. At the beginning of a pregnancy, the baby’s heart rate is between 170 and 200 beats per minute. Then by the second trimester, it’s drops to between 120 and 160 beats per minute.
The only time there IS a difference is during labor. Baby girls tend to have faster heart rates than boys do, but no one knows why.
OLD WIVES’ TALE #3.) WEIRD FOOD CRAVINGS MEANS IT’S A BOY. This one actually has a little science to back it up, but still it’s probably just a myth.
Researchers in Boston found that pregnant women with big appetites have boys more often. But they didn’t say anything about women who crave weird food.
And the problem is, it’s hard to know if you have a bigger appetite than other women because ALL pregnant women eat more than they usually do.
OLD WIVES’ TALE #4.) WOMEN JUST KNOW. Some women say their “female intuition” can predict the baby’s sex. And guess what . . . they might be right.
In 1998, researchers at the University of Tucson asked 108 pregnant women to predict the sex of their baby. 60% guessed right. Of course, the chances of guessing right are fifty-fifty anyway, so it’s not THAT amazing.
OLD WIVES’ TALE #5.) THE SHAPE OF THE BUMP. The myth is, if you’re carrying the baby high, it’s a boy, if you’re carrying the baby low, it’s a girl. But there’s really nothing to back this one up either.
The only thing that can predict a baby’s sex with close to 100% accuracy is a sonogram. They’re 95% accurate.
