Is there any truth in the old wives tale that fetal heart rate indicates sex?

[Georgimama]

I have read that FHR of under 140 indicates a boy and over 140 a girl.

DS's FHR was always under 140 and bean number 2's FHR was 128 today at 16 weeks.

Not for me, my SIL or bf.

Presence or lack of a willy is the best indicator.

Based on my non-scientific study of my own pregnancies, this is nonsense. DS's heartrate was always around 140. DS2's is always around 160 - I have had 3 scans now and there has never been any question of this baby not being a boy .

I've had 2 dds and a ds, the rule worked for all 3, but I think it's probably just coincidence.

Not in my experience. No.2 has such a slow heart beat that the midwives were sure it would be a boy - and - it was a girl :)

lol according to my magazine it is nonsense

It's worked for me, but it's a coincidence. I read somewhere, can't find the source now, but that it does apply at the end of the third trimester but it's nowhere near as obvious as the old wives tale suggests. Just that the average FHRs are a few beats lower, literally.

Nope, and nor does train/horse sound. I spent alot of time on monitor and most of the time babies heartrate was in the 160's. My MW predicted a girl, but he turned out to be a boy.

Mine were the opposite, dd always below 140, ds always higher!

My friends Aunt is a midwife and believes it. She said my friend would have a girl because of the heart rate and it was! She could have just been lucky!

Well I had two DDs and both had heart rates over 145. A midwife told me this and due to being in hospital and on a monitor for quite a few weeks I had time on my hands to work out average heartbeats - I was very bored

DS - heart rate consistently over 140
DD - heart rate consistently under 140

I thought it was true because when I had my ds1 my GP used this theory and correctly guessed him as a boy, but apparently it's not true because their heart beats fluctuate the same as adults ones do, although I still believe it a bit so i think this one is a girl as heartbeat was 160 but will have to wait and see if that ends up accurate

true for me

my mum is a midwife and she actually says it is the other way round, boys tend to have a higher heart rate than girls.

My mw told me the higher hr is a boy but it only works past the 38 week mark. She correctly predicted DS but I guess it was 50:50 anyway! LOL

All my childrens heart rates were around 155- 165 til around 16-17wks. Then around that time all my boys heart rates dropped to between 140-145 bpm. My daughters stayed over 160.

Not true for me either. My MW told me that they believe there may be some truth in it but only when the heartrate is monitored for half an hour plus, at regular intervals throughout the pg and averaged out. Not just in the snapshot few minutes you get at the standard MW appointments.

my girls were both about 130-140

If it's true then my DD changed from a boy to a girl at around 30 weeks of pregnancy. MW thinks DC2 might be a boy because it has a 'nice, steady heartrate' although it did have an ectopic HB at 20 weeks. We shall see in a few days!

My DD1 had a fast heart rate so when bean's was 132 I was convinced it was a boy. At the 20 week scan we found out it was a little girl .

Twin 1 was always over 140, twin 2 always below, and I had LOTS of monitoring. DT1 was daughter, DT2 a son.Don't know if it's a coincidence, but the rates were always significantly different.

Twin 1 was always over 140, twin 2 always below, and I had LOTS of monitoring. DT1 was daughter, DT2 a son.Don't know if it's a coincidence, but the rates were always significantly different.

Was right for me- first babies heart rate has been consistantly over 140- it's a girl!

looking at the 20 or so posts on here approximately 50% of people say utter bull and 50% say maybe - well thats 50:50 of it being right which is what you would expect given that there are two sexes!

In my case I'm having twins, a boy and a girl, and the heart rates are different for each of mine- I didn't know about the old wives tale until my midwife said