Can Fetal Heartbeat Predict the Gender of the Baby

The guessing game will begin as soon as your pregnancy test reveals positive. Will it be a boy a girl? Though guessing is certainly a lot of fun, there are many scientific ways to predict the gender of the baby. However, there are also many myths that are believed to predict gender. One such myth you will hear during the pregnancy is the “fetal heart rate gender test”. Read on to find out more about heart rate and gender, and whether they are connected!

Can the Baby’s Heart Rate Predict Its Sex?

The simple answer is “No”. You cannot use the heart rate to determine baby’s gender though there are many old wives’ tales telling you otherwise. The myth says that if the heart rate of the baby is over 140 bpm, your chances of having a girl is high. But this is not valid at all since the average heart rate of boys and girls are about the same. Guessing the gender of the baby this way can be fun since the chances of you being right are 50% but this is not scientifically proven.

When Can You Determine the Baby’s Gender Through Heart Beat

You may have heard that the heart rate of the baby can predict its gender as early as the first trimester. It is believed that if the heart rate is over 140 bpm, then it is a girl, and if it is below 140 bpm, it is a boy. But the truth is that the heart of the baby will start beating only at around the 6^th week of the pregnancy. This flicker of light can be measured and seen during the ultrasound. The bpm (beats per minute) will start slow, at around 90-110 bpm. This will gradually increase every day until it reaches its maximum, which is between 140-170 bpm for girls and boys, during the 9^th week of pregnancy.

Waiting until the birth of the little one is the only way to be absolutely sure of the baby’s sex. However, your doctor could make predictions after 18 weeks during the ultrasound exam. In this procedure, the pelvic cavity and the abdomen are scanned using high-frequency sound waves.

• This procedure begins with the healthcare professional applying gel on your abdomen, where the gel helps conduct the sound waves.
• A transducer is then used to send the sound waves into the mother’s womb.
• The waves bounce off the bones of the baby which is then picked up by the equipment.
• A black and white image of the placenta and the fetus will be generated on the screen, and this image is known as the sonogram.

During pregnancy, ultrasounds would be taken between 18 and 22 weeks. The ultrasound scans help the doctor:

• Check the placenta’s position.
• Fix the due date.
• Look for triplets or twins.
• Check for signs of possible pregnancy complications.

It can also be used to predict the baby’s gender. However, this will not be completely accurate since it depends on the position of the fetus and the stage of pregnancy.

How Does the Baby Heart Rate Gender Prediction Test Work?

The test is based on beats per minute (bpm) and according to this the gender of the baby is predicted. There will be changes in fetal heartbeat according to gestational age, and these changes are mostly the same for both boys and girls. Though several studies have been conducted to find out if there is any connection, they simply do not have enough evidence to come to that conclusion. Therefore, there is no proper evidence that supports the correlation between the gender of the baby and the heart rate of the unborn baby. Although the idea seems cute and though it does make a little sense, there is no science to prove it works.

This technique is believed to be an urban myth that many people think is an accurate way to determine whether they are going to give birth to a girl or a boy. After all, the chances of having either a girl or a boy are 50%, so the odds are still pretty reasonable.

What Does Research Say About Baby’s Gender and Heart Rate?

Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy had published a study a few years ago, where researchers examined the sonograms of 966 women who were all under the gestation period of 14 weeks. The process was repeated again between 18 and 24 weeks during the second trimester when the gender of the baby can also be determined using an ultrasound exam. At this point, the study criteria were still met only by 477 women. Out of all these pregnancies, 233 were found to be boys while 244 were girls.

Was the gender predicted using the heartbeat? In the first trimester, the average heartbeat for baby girls was 151.7 bpm (plus or minus 22.7 bpm) while the average heartbeat for boys was 154.9 bpm (plus or minus 22.8 bpm).

This showed that the myth was not true. During early pregnancy, no significant differences were found between female and male heart rates, meaning that you cannot use heart rate to determine gender.

How Accurate Are the Results?

Heartbeats are as different as each baby and the circumstances of the pregnant mothers. The heart rate of each baby will fall and rise depending on what the baby is up to inside the mother. The activity levels of the mother and the rate of her own heartbeat can influence the heartbeat of the baby. Therefore, be open-minded when trying to predict the gender of the baby using the heart rate.

The only way to accurately find the gender of the baby is to see when the baby is born. Predicting the gender of the baby using ultrasound exam during the first trimester does not also have a 100% success rate. This could be because the baby could be lying in a different way, may have its legs crossed, or could even have the umbilical cord get in the way of obtaining a clear view of the genital area.

One of the more accurate ways to determine the gender of the baby is through amniocentesis and chromosomal studies. However, these are not recommended for gender prediction unless you are really concerned about the baby inheriting a chromosomal condition that is linked to gender or other such complications.

There are many myths that surround the gender of the baby in the womb and one of the most common myths you will hear early in pregnancy is that the heartbeats of boys are slower than the heartbeats of girls. However, no evidence shows that heartbeat gender prediction is true since studies have found no difference between the heart rates of girls and boys. Though ultrasounds can help your doctor make a more educated prediction, the only way to be completely sure of the gender is to wait until your baby is born!

Also Read:

Pregnancy Old Wives Tales About Gender Prediction
Pre-Birth Sex Determination