Category: Gender Prediction Myths

 

Here’s a look at 7 more gender prediction myths you’re likely to come across:

1. Heartrate 
“A heartrate of less than 140 beats per minute means that you’re having a boy while a heartrate of over 140 beats per minute means that you’re having a girl.”

Although this particular myth has been kicking around for decades, there’s only one study on the books that supports it: a 1993 study at the University of Kentucky that concluded that the fetal heartbeat could be used to correctly predict the gender of 91% of male fetuses and 74% of female fetuses. 

Every other study conducted before or since has reached the exact opposite conclusion — that the fetal heart-rate can’t be used to predict the gender of your baby.

2. The shape of your belly 
“If you’re carrying your baby high, it’s a girl. If you’re carrying your baby low, it’s a boy.” If you’ve managed to get through nine months of pregnancy without having someone predict the gender of your baby based on the shape of your belly, count your blessings! 

Many people still lend credence to a rather sexist bit of English folk wisdom that states that boys are carried down low and out front because they need greater independence while girls are carried up high and across their mother’s body because they need greater protection — the origin of this particular gender prediction myth.

3. Morning sickness 
“If you are experiencing severe morning sickness, you’re having a girl.” Theories such as this one have been tossed around for years, but a recent study added more fuel to the fire. 

Swedish researchers discovered that 56% of women hospitalized with severe morning sickness ended up giving birth to baby girls. Even if there is something to this study — something that’s led to more than a few heated arguments among obstetricians — the findings aren’t exactly definitive. 

At best, you can conclude that you may have a slightly higher-than-average chance of having a baby girl if you’re feeling exceptionally crummy. It’s up to you whether you want to paint the nursery pink on that basis! 

4. The baby is active 
“If the baby is very active, you’re having a boy.” Here’s yet another theory based on some rather sexist assumptions: males are boisterous while females are placid. 

What this theory fails to take into account, however, is the fact that the amount of fetal activity that the mother feels is largely a matter of perception. If she’s running around at breakneck speed all day, she may fail to pick up on the movements of all but the most energetic of fetal kickboxers!

5. Cravings 
“If you’re craving sweets, you’re having a girl. If you’re craving salt, you’re having a boy.” While it would be convenient if you could rely on your craving for chocolate as proof positive that there’s a baby girl on the way, there’s no hard evidence that cravings are linked to the gender of your baby. In fact, the jury’s still out on whether cravings exist at all! So don’t count on your cravings — real or imagined — to tell you whether to buy pink or blue.

6. Pendulum or circle swing 
“If a wedding ring or needle suspended over your belly moves in a strong circular motion, you’re having a girl. If it moves to and fro like a pendulum, you’re having a boy.” 

This particular method of predicting the gender of your baby works much like a ouija board. Micro-muscle tremors over which you have no control cause the ring to move in a particular direction — a sensation that can be spooky to say the least, but that doesn’t tell you a thing about the gender of your baby.

7. The Chinese conception chart 
“The Chinese conception chart can tell you if you’re having a boy or a girl.” The Chinese conception chart — the brainchild of a 13th century scientist — claims to be able to help you to predict the gender of the baby by linking your age and the month of conception to the gender of the baby. While it has a reputation for being highly accurate in China, it simply hasn’t been able to stand up to the same scrutiny here in North America.

So if these myths are consistently off the mark, why do we keep turning to them again and again? 

According to the experts, there are two factors at work: the fact that you’ve got a 50/50 chance of being right each time you predict your baby’s gender and the fact that you’re more likely to remember your successes than your failures!.

First of all, it should be said that it is probably best not to predict your baby’s gender using Drano. While this method of predicting your baby’s gender has been around for a long time, there is not scientific evidence to suggest that it actually works, or that the results are in any way reliable. In addition to this, there may possibly be dangerous side effects from the fumes that are produced when mixing urine and Drano. Finally, there are much more reliable methods of predicting your baby’s gender that don’t pose a risk.

Having said all of that, the fact remains that many women believe that you can indeed predict your baby’s gender using Drano. TO predict your baby’s gender using Drano, you should first be certain not to handle the mixture yourself or to breathe in the fumes from the mixture. Get someone else to help you, for your safety and the safety of your baby.

The first step in predicting your baby’s gender using Drano is to collect around 2 or 3 ounces of your urine. You will want, it is said, to use the first urine of the day for this test. Once you have the urine, you will need to ask your helper to mix it with around two tablespoons of crystal Drano. Do not use the liquid form, as there will not be the same sort of chemical reaction. Once the urine is mixed with the Drano, observe the change. If the mixture turns brownish in color, it is said that you are going to have a boy. If the mixture doesn’t get any darker, and if it doesn’t become brownish in color, the Drano is predicting that your baby’s gender is going to be female.

There are other variations to using Drano to predict your baby’s gender. One version suggests that if the mixture bubbles, you will have a boy. Other variations suggest that a certain color might mean that you are going to have a boy, where a certain other color might mean a girl, and no color change means that the test has failed.

If there’s anything for certain about pregnancy, it’s that myths abound. Whether it’s medical myths, nutritional myths or even myths about morning sickness, you have to be careful about what you do and don’t believe.

One of the most common areas of myth in pregnancy is knowing a baby’s gender. Of course, an ultrasound or even genetic testing can tell you your baby’s gender, but most of the other well-known methods of gender determination are completely false.

Here are a few of those myths. While they may not be accurate, they can be fun to think about:

• If you are carrying your baby low, it’s going to be a boy. If you’re carrying high, it’ll be a girl.
• If you tend to grow outward, it’s most likely a boy. If you grow in width, it’s a girl.
• If you have morning sickness all day long, it’s a girl. Just at one time of day, it’s a boy.
• If your baby’s heartbeat is greater than 140 beats per minute, it’s a girl. Lower, it’s a boy. This used to be commonly accepted, but we now know that a baby’s heart rate isn’t affected at all by its gender until after it is born.
• You can hang your wedding ring over your belly with a strand of the father’s hair. If the ring swings back and forth, it’s a boy. If the ring makes a circular motion, it’s a girl.
• Mix your urine with Drano. If it turns brown, it’s a boy. If it turns blue or green, it’s a girl. (Of course, be safe here and avoid the harsh fumes that can often accompany Drano.
• What are you craving? If you crave chocolate, you’re having a sweet little girl. If you’re craving more sour or bitter foods, such as pickles or lemons, it’s from that sour little boy inside.
• If your face is round and rosy, you’re going to have a girl. If not, you’ll have a boy.
• If your husband gains weight during your pregnancy, it’s going to be a girl. If not, it’ll be a boy.

Predicting your baby’s gender with old wives’ tales is not the most scientific or the most reliable method for predicting your baby’s gender. However, it can be the most fun way to go about predicting your baby’s gender! If your health care provider has not yet been able to determine whether you are going to have a boy or a girl, why not consider some of the old wives’ tales below?

One of the old wives’ tales for predicting your baby’s gender has to do with the way that you are carrying your baby. In this particular old wives’ tale, if you are carrying your baby low, it is predicted that your baby’s gender will be male. If you are carrying high, then, it is predicted that your baby’s gender will be female. Of course, in reality, the way that you are carrying your baby has nothing to do with your baby’s gender, but rather the muscle and tone of your uterus.

The next old wives’ tale that can be used to predict your baby’s gender is cravings. It is said that the particular food cravings you have are caused by the gender of your baby. So, craving chocolate or other sweets during pregnancy would mean that you are going to have a boy, whereas if you crave sour things like lemons your will have a boy. Of course, pregnancy cravings have more to do, in reality, with a combination of nutritional needs and psychological factors.

Another old wives’ tale uses your husband’s weight gain to predict your baby’s gender. If your husband gains weight, you will be having a girl. If he doesn’t gain weight, you’ll be having a boy.

Some old wives’ tales used for predicting your baby’s gender may even have been thought to be scientific at one time. For example, it was thought that your baby’s heartbeat could be used to predict your baby’s gender. It was thought that a heart rate on the higher end meant a girl, and at the lower end it meant a boy. Medical research has proved this one to be an old wives’ tale, as well.

 

When is an old wives’ tale not really an old wives’ tale? When the myth started in the scientific community.

There is a popular notion that you can predict the gender of your baby based on his or her fetal heart rate. Most proponents of this theory suggest that:

• A fetal heart rate of 140 bpm (beats per minute) or higher indicates that you are carrying a baby girl.
• A fetal heart rate of less than 140 bpm indicates that you are carrying a baby boy.

Many have dismissed this as an old wives’ tale. That hardly seems plausible, however, since we have only been able to monitor fetal heart rates in recent decades. Fetal heart rate monitoring made its debut in the 1960s. So, where did the idea get its start?

It turns out that it was the medical community itself that got this rumor started. While the technology for monitoring fetal heart rates was still fairly new, some doctors speculated that you may be able to determine a baby’s gender by its fetal heart rate. Studies were conducted, but were generally inconclusive. Still, it didn’t stop the theory from gaining widespread acceptance, especially outside of the scientific and medical community.

At least three studies (two in the United States and one in the United Kingdom) have been conducted which have shown that fetal heart rate cannot accurately predict a baby’s gender.

The studies showed that a number of factors determined babies’ fetal heart rates, including:

• Gestational age. Between eight and ten weeks, your baby’s heart rate will generally be between 170 and 200 beats per minute. During your second trimester, your baby’s heart rate will generally be between 120 and 160 bpm.
• Baby’s movement. When your baby is active and kicking about inside you, her heart rate will go up. When she’s resting, her heart rate will go down. In that respect, she’s no different than you are.

Unfortunately, the studies do not show any correlation between fetal heart rate (at any stage of gestation) and baby’s gender. In fact, they show fairly conclusively that you cannot predict a baby’s gender by his or her heart rate.

 

 

As you know, the most reliable way for you to know your baby’s gender is of course via an ultrasound. Barring that, however, it’s fun to look at various pregnancy symptoms or other factors, and try to guess whether you’ll have a boy or a girl.

Here are some of the most common gender prediction myths we’ve come across:

It’s a boy if:

• You didn’t experience morning sickness in early pregnancy
• Your baby’s heart rate is less than 140 beats per minute
• You are carrying the extra weight out front
• Your belly looks like a basketball
• Your areolas have darkened considerably
• You are carrying low
• You are craving salty or sour foods
• You are craving protein — meats and cheese
• Your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy
• The hair on your legs has grown faster during pregnancy
• Your hands are very dry
• Your pillow faces north when you sleep
• Dad-to-be is gaining weight, right along with you
• Pregnancy has you looking better than ever
• Your urine is bright yellow in color
• Your nose is spreading
• You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it swings left to right
• You are having headaches
• You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an even number

it’s a girl if:

• You had morning sickness early in pregnancy
• Your baby’s heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute
• You are carrying the weight in your hips and rear
• Your left breast is larger than your right breast
• Your hair develops red highlights
• You are carrying high
• Your belly looks like a watermelon
• You are craving sweets
• You are craving fruit
• You crave orange juice
• You don’t look quite as good as normal during pregnancy
• You are moodier than usual during pregnancy
• Your face breaks out more than usual
• You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread
• Your breasts have really blossomed!
• Your pillow faces south when you sleep
• Your urine is a dull yellow color
• You hang your wedding ring over your belly and it moves in a circle
• You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an odd number