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Pregnancy

Ever had a midwife announce what you're having?

25 replies

UnicornPee · 05/10/2016 18:55

Went for my 16 week midwife app today.
I lay down, she put the Doppler on my stomach for the heart breath then announced "you're having a girl".
I was a bit taken aback as wasn't expecting her to tell me anything.
I said "oh ok how can you tell?"
She said "I just have a great sense".
Luckily I'm not bothered about finding out what it is is but imagine if I didn't want to know!

Anyone else's midwife ever did this?

OP posts:

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PoldarksBreeches · 05/10/2016 18:57

Well you know she can't actually tell what it is right? She's guessing.

DollyBarton · 05/10/2016 18:58

Lol Unicorn, that means nothing. Absolutely nothing. She has no idea and her saying that doesn't change the current chance if it being 50/50 boy or girl. I don't think she expected you to really believe her.

UnicornPee · 05/10/2016 19:03

She said she's never wrong. And at her old age I expect she's listened to many heartbeats and felt many bumps.
It's a bit odd for her to say it no?

OP posts:

AButterflyLightsBesideUs · 05/10/2016 19:09

That is odd. Was it to do with the baby's heartrate? There is some theory that faster than 140bpm is a girl and slower a boy I think? or maybe the other way round, I can't remember My DD was bang on 140bpm so no clues there but I remember googling and wondering.

Intrigued to know if she gets it right!

JohnLapsleyParlabane · 05/10/2016 19:12

I had one of them. She insisted I was having a boy. I wasn't!

Jenijena · 05/10/2016 19:12

Yes, as she gave me a sweep. She was wrong ;)

LolaStarr · 05/10/2016 19:14

Mine told me I was having a girl based on the heartbeat with DC1. He is most definitely a boy

DragonitesRule · 05/10/2016 19:16

Not the midwife no, but the radiographer.! Managed to get through every scan and appt with saying we don't want to know, lots of scans as measured small for dates-got to 38wks and virtually in the next breath after me saying I don't want to know, said " oh look, the little chap is waving his hand at you!" Before going very red and apologising!

ShoppingBasket · 05/10/2016 19:17

I didn't know right up to a week before I gave birth, the doc asked me did I know, said no, then she turned to her student and pointed at screen and said "you can see CLEARLY what it is, in between the legs."

Having a boy then Doc?! Twit.

Wouldn't have minded if it was earlier on in my pregnancy!

ALongTimeComing · 05/10/2016 19:22

Mines all guessed girl from the heartbeat , I guessed girl too. DH guessed boy, poor chap. Was a girl!

peaceloveandbiscuits · 05/10/2016 19:28

I had a CTG the day before my baby was born. Afterwards we saw the consultant and he said, "so you're having a girl?" I said, "am I? I don't know ". He quickly backtracked and said the baby's heart rate led him to believe we were having a girl.

The next day I gave birth to a boy.

boodles101 · 06/10/2016 08:07

Mine did this. We listened to the heartbeat about 16 weeks and my DH blurted out 'sounds like a horse in there' so the midwife said that means we are having a girl. There's some old wives tales that says girls sound like horses and boys sound like steam trains. My next appt the heartbeat sounded like a train.

GoofyTheHero · 06/10/2016 08:08

Mine did the same. Definitely a lazy boy she said. I have 2 girls.

VioletBam · 06/10/2016 08:09

Mine told me DD would have a lot of hair because I had terrible indigestion. She was right...she said it seemed to be something that just happened.

thenewaveragebear1983 · 06/10/2016 08:11

Yes. 16 week Doppler. She said girl. He was a boy.
It's to go with the heart rate, I think they say boys have rate under 140 bpm and girls over 140. It's complete bollocks, lots of things will increase your heart rate and therefore the heart rate of the baby.

RuskBaby · 06/10/2016 08:16

Mine listened to the heartbeat which she struggled to locate and said that's a girl, always stubborn! Given the heartbeat is proven now not to be accurate I'm still blissfully unaware.

ButtMuncher · 06/10/2016 08:18

The heart rate thing is absolutely bobbins. DS was consistently about 140 - 150bpm right up until birth.

GoofyTheHero · 06/10/2016 08:21

The indigestion/hair thing.
I had no indigestion/heartburn with pregnancy number 1. DD1 came out with a thatch or dark hair.
Thought I was dying of heartburn with DD2. Completely bald.
It's all just guesses!

Farmerinthoseclothes · 06/10/2016 08:23

Not a midwife but the doctor. We didn't know what we were having and agreed with the midwife in theatre that the baby would be brought round the front of the curtain for us to see for ourselves. The staff were briefed of this a few times while we were in there. As soon as the surgeon lifted the baby out, the anaesthetist announced 'It's a boy!'. Wasn't accidental or anything, he just wanted to announce it

Mind you he had told me quite a number of times he didn't know how to work the bed or where to plug in his equipment, and as soon as the baby was born I started vomiting profusely so I had other things on my mind...

Mummyme87 · 06/10/2016 21:31

It's all just old wives tales. No matter how many years midwives have been working for l, we do not know.

Heart rate is higher earlier in pregnancy and reduces as pregnancy progresses Due to the interaction of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.

BeardMinge · 07/10/2016 08:24

Mine guessed girl based on how the hb sounded through the Doppler at 16 was. We weren't intending to find out at the 20 week scan, but I didn't mind her saying what she thought as it wasn't definitive.

I did have a girl in the end though.

Becciilouisex3 · 07/10/2016 09:39

Haha don't worry about that at all. All she's doing is having a guess and probably using the heart rate as a guide too which is an old wives tale anyway.

My midwife did the same and my LO's heart sounded like a horse galloping so she said "girl" firmly. Found out I was expecting a son 4 weeks later.

Obviously there are times when the midwife will end up being right but that's purely because she has a 50/50 chance of guessing correctly which is pretty good odds. She hasn't told you anything she "knows" she's just confident. It's only like family members doing the same. My DP's nan told me she "knew it was a boy" and was "never wrong" because I've always carried low and all front and she was right! It's the same principle, the factor they're going on to guess actually has no bearing on the sex.

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JosephineMaynard · 07/10/2016 09:44

I had a friend who was pregnant with non identical twins.

She was told that she was having a girl and a boy based on the different heart rates.

She had 2 girls.

DownWithThisSortaThing · 07/10/2016 09:53

My midwife said she was always right about the sex. She said I would have a girl and she would be early. She could just 'tell'.

DS was then born 3 days after his due date

It's just guesswork, and you have a 50% chance of being right!

foursillybeans · 07/10/2016 10:00

YABU for being upset about it. It's small talk. She doesn't know what you are having so she hasn't told you anything at all.

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