Is There a Connection Between Fetal Heart Rate and Gender?

Pregnancy has been studied and analyzed so much by thousands of doctors and researchers! Still, the apparition of a new life is a wonderful and mysterious phenomenon. Science can explain how our cells behave, how they develop and how they function, but it cannot determine the exact factor which creates the spark of life. This is the reason why, despite the modern advancement of science and technology, there are still so many myths and old wives’ tales about pregnancy.

Expecting a child means worrying about a lot of things: its health, its normal development and, of course, its gender! Since ancient times, pregnant women were trying to predict the sex of their unborn child by interpreting various signs and symptoms (for example, the common misconception that carrying the baby low means that you’ll have a boy and vice-versa). One of the most recent myths is the determination of the baby’s gender by counting its heart rate.

Many people believe that if the fetal heart rate is higher than 140 BPM (beats per minute), than it’s a girl. A lower heart rate, on the other hand, indicates that you’re carrying a boy. Since using a fetal heart monitor (also called a fetal Doppler) is the easier way of listening to your baby’s heartbeat, this device is usually associated with the gender prediction.

So, can fetal heart rate predict the gender of your child?

According to scientists – NO. According to many mothers – possibly.

Several medical studies, after analyzing thousands of pregnancies and births, have determined that there is no objective connection (at any phase of pregnancy) between the baby’s heart rate and its sex. However, as I wrote in my previous post, there is a tight correlation between the fetal heart rate and the phase of pregnancy (the gestational age).

Despite the scientific proof, mothers do not let go of their beliefs so easily. I’ve read many reviews written by mothers with 2, 3, 4 and even 5 children who are claiming that they always were able to predict the gender of their child by counting its heart rate.

I’m not denying the fact that there may be SOME connection between fetal heart rate and gender in SOME cases. However, don’t forget that there are thousands of babies being born every day – it’s no wonder that for some of them this myth can turn out to be reality, while for the others it’s just a myth. Where large numbers are involved, there is a big chance of getting all sorts of averages. But don’t get your hopes high – at the present moment, an ultrasound imaging test is the only objective prenatal way of determining the sex of your unborn baby. Birth, however, remains the best one – as ‘prescribed’ by Mother Nature.

Even if many mothers associate the use of a fetal heart monitor with the gender of their child, let’s not forget that this device is first of all a means of making sure that the baby is developing normally. In the end, the health of your child is the most important thing – and that’s why the baby Doppler was invented in the first place – to give reassurance to medical professionals and expectant mothers.