Active discussions

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

Original poster

Sex confirmed by heartbeat?

19 replies

RiteAid · 16/08/2020 08:43

I’m 23 weeks pregnant and we aren’t finding out the sex. However, at my 16 week appointment my midwife said that based on the heartbeat (which was at the lower end of the scale) her guess was boy.

Is there any truth to this, or is it just one of those things people say?

I truly don’t mind either way and would be equally happy with either, but I’ve realised that since she said it I’ve exclusively been imagining a boy. At this stage I think I would be really surprised if they turned out to be a girl!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
GoogleyB · 16/08/2020 08:45

@RiteAid I have no idea of the science behind this but I do have a friend who's mum was pregnant when we were teens and she didn't find out the sex, but went in to hospital for some issues and they mentioned this and said it was likely a boy, and it was...potentially coincidence as it's a 50/50 chance anyway but interesting none the less

cece · 16/08/2020 08:45

My midwife did this with my last one but only when I was at 41 week check. She was correct.

MintyCedric · 16/08/2020 08:46

I have heard that before.

My baby's (16 years ago!) was at the faster end and she turned out to be a girl, so it was right in our case.

pufflingmuffin · 16/08/2020 08:47

Nope. My (very experienced) midwife said the same thing when I was pregnant with my eldest. Heart rate was at the low end from around 24weeks onwards. My daughter is now 20!

Raindrop87 · 16/08/2020 08:48

It was right in my case too, at 16 weeks her heart rate was fast indicating a girl and she was!

Original poster
RiteAid · 16/08/2020 08:57

Interesting! I suppose with a 50/50 chance of getting it right it’s hard to know how much is coincidence.

I very much like the idea of greeting a wee lad in December, but if they’re a girl it will be an equally delightful surprise!

OP posts:
user1488622199 · 16/08/2020 08:59

In my experience, heartbeat isn’t a very accurate indicator. In my first pregnancy the heartbeat was always at the lower end and he was a boy. Second pregnancy heartbeat was pretty identical so we thought another boy but we had a daughter. My sister on the other hand was convinced she was having a girl because the heartbeat was always high but nope, I have a fabulous nephew.

Skyliner001 · 16/08/2020 09:04

That's really interesting, did not know that gender could be determined by heartbeat.

MrsTiffin · 16/08/2020 10:58

Not true in my case - first pregnancy heartbeat was at the higher end so convinced myself we'd have a girl, and have a lovely DS! This time around I'm not reading into anything and will just enjoy the surprise Smile

Maidmummy · 16/08/2020 11:29

Nope wrong for me too, with my 2 boys HR was always between high 130s and low 140s which is indicative of a boy but with my current pregnancy baby's HR was 157 at last check which means girl but nope there's definitely another boy in there x

FilthyforFirth · 16/08/2020 11:29

DS had an incredibly fast heartbeat so I also thought I was carrying a girl. But he is in fact a boy.

Margo34 · 16/08/2020 11:33

There are loads of old wives tales, my friends have recently sent me a list to work through to find out if my baby due next month is going to be a girl or a boy and the heartbeat thing was one of those old wives tales.

I tried/tested about 12 different old wives tales and of them, precisely 6 suggested girl and 6 suggested boy 😂

The heartbeat one was one that suggests mine will be a girl, I guess I'll find out next month! 🤷‍♀️

Hanrora06 · 16/08/2020 13:07

I read about this in one of my pregnancy books, 'Expecting Better'- basically there's no evidence at all this is a thing but it was a pretty strong old wives tale in the past, even with doctors and midwives, and as you've got a 50/50 chance of being right that's pretty good odds!! Once people get it right a few times they'll just remember and be more and more convinced it's possible. So yeah, it's just a guess and there's zero actual data on it being real!

It's funny how people get about guessing sex, I find it fascinating. Like there's no way to do it but still people do it all the time! My mum is convinced my baby is going to be a boy (I'm 22 weeks) but then she also says she said that for both me and my sister and even that hasn't deterred her from thinking she's psychic about these things. The confirmation bias for this stuff is strong lol.

RowboatsinDisguise · 16/08/2020 13:53

Absolute nonsense.

You’d expect the heart rate to be at the higher end of the normal range earlier on, and then get a bit lower towards the end of pregnancy. It’s s a Leo massively affected by how active baby is at the time of listening in.

CookieSW · 16/08/2020 13:58

No scientific evidence to this, and if anyone was 'right' you have to remember this is a 50/50 chance of guessing correctly . You at least will be able to find out soon at your 20 week scan which is very exciting :)

Risotto4tea · 16/08/2020 14:01

I remember right at the end of my pregnancy noth my girls had faster heartbeats and my boys was slower. So it was true for me but could just be coincidence!!

Original poster
RiteAid · 16/08/2020 14:06

I think I’d better spend some time actively imagining a girl so I can rebalance my expectations Grin

OP posts:
redtulip12 · 16/08/2020 14:35

I wanted to know the sex of my child and at 20 weeks was told I was having a daughter. Later on during midwife checks they were determined it was a boy due to the slow heartbeat. They were wrong. I just had a laid back baby girl!

PowPurry · 16/08/2020 17:11

It was true for me - but only based on when I was strapped up to the monitor during labour.

My girls were >140bpm and my son was hovering around 130bpm.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread