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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

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Original poster

"Boys" fetal heartbeat

40 replies

Bunnylion · 19/04/2013 20:22

I'm pregnant and have a fetal doppler to listen to my babys heartbeat.

I've let a few family and friends listens and no less than 7 people (including my midwife) have told me that my baby's heartbeat sounds "so strong that it must be a boy".

When I had terrible morning sickness early on I was frequently told that I must be having a girl because "boys don't make you feel sick".

So a female fetus is poisonous to a pregnant woman and male ones are noticeably strong?

Why in 2013 do people still spout such nonsense? I'm pregnant and hormonal but it really pisses me off.

OP posts:

Valpollicella · 19/04/2013 22:19

Re the sickeness thing. My lovely friend has just had a boy and was absolutely floored (literally) by sickness. She couldn't cook for her elder child as even opening a pack of fish fingers made her hurl.

Myth - busted

sashh · 20/04/2013 03:00

There are physiological differences between males and females (well duh!) and men, on average, have lower heartbeats that women. So a midwife can take an educated guess about the sex from the heartbeat.

Absolute bollox

Babies are born with a heart rate of 200 ish and as they grow the heart rate slows down.

The bigger you get the slower it goes. If you do a lot of exercise (marathon runners) then it will slow further.

Because, in general, men are bigger than women they generally have a lower base rate.

GoblinGranny · 20/04/2013 07:20

Well, it should be easy enough to collect data on, there's probably a thesis in it somewhere.
I threw up horribly with both of mine for 9 months. One boy, one girl.

NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 20/04/2013 07:27

My poor friend had a very early baby...and the midwife said thank God it's a girl...they're better at surviving. She was really upset by that comment.

kickassangel · 20/04/2013 13:14

Dd had a higher heart beat and I was told that prob meant I was having a boy.

So, yes, it IS annoying that even before a child is born they are being pigeon holed on so called scientific facts

MaryRobinson · 20/04/2013 14:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

Bunnylion · 20/04/2013 15:55

maryrobinson but my point is that these things are often presented as fact, just like your comment "certainly women who are hospitalised with HG are more likely to have a girl" but I've never seen any actual scientific evidence to back any of it up.

When there is an explanation, it's always a vague pseudo-science explanation like boys producing testosterone so kicking harder than girls and having stronger hearts, girls producing progesterone and so making you more sick or have worse skin problems. But these are all huge jumps of presumption because a fetus isn't sexually mature so it doesn't produce any amount of hormone that would make one pregnancy any different from the other.

Being pregnant at the moment, I've noticed a lot of wishywashy pseudo-science 'facts' that seems to be freely repeated by many with no one really caring if there is any science behind it. So often they are based on gender stereotyping and that bugs me.

But please link some researched evidence, if I'm wrong and, if it exists online anywhere!

OP posts:

TeiTetua · 20/04/2013 16:28

What is it about pregnancy that makes it so irresistible for a lot of people to pass old wives' tales around? (Regardless of age and marital status of the ones doing it.) Because it seems as though there's a powerful urge to say stupid things when a woman's pregnant.

AmandaPayneAteTooMuchChocolate · 20/04/2013 17:14

Bunnylion - Not feminist from the perspective of the fetus, but I always think the pseudo-science behind a lot of the eating guidelines is a good example of that type of stuff. And I think the controlling of women in that was is a feminist issue - as it seems to be intentionally so hard to access the scientific information to make an informed decision for yourself.

sashh · 21/04/2013 02:45

Because it seems as though there's a powerful urge to say stupid things when a woman's pregnant.

Apparently when I was born I had hairy ears.

In the maternity hospital mums discussing old wives tales my mum said, well I was scared by a mouse and nothing happened. Other mum - but your baby was born with hairy ears (mice don't BTW) and I'm sure that has morphed into some baby being born with a mouse's head.

thank God it's a girl...they're better at surviving. She was really upset by that comment.

That's one that I thought was true.

I have now looked at the ONS report (do not read if pregnant) and it's not one of the criteria used, but - and this makes no sense to me, socio economic grouping is by father's occupation at birth!

CheerfulYank · 21/04/2013 03:13

Girls born very early do have a slightly higher chance at survival.

Both myths (faster heartbeat and morning sickness) were true for this one...I'm having a DD next month. :)

ShadowStorm · 21/04/2013 23:43

I thought that the one about premature girls having a better chance at survival than premature boys was true as well.

But I'm very skeptical about whether things like foetal heartrate and amount of morning sickness can really tell you what gender the baby is.

SingingSilver · 21/04/2013 23:54

I was very sick all through my pregnancy with my son, almost incapacitated by it for a few months. I also suffered severe rashes and all-over itching later on, and I was told - don't know if it's true or not - that it's a reaction to the testosterone from the male foetus.

MaryRobinson · 22/04/2013 09:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AmandaPayneAteTooMuchChocolate · 22/04/2013 12:45

But if it is 56:44 then, whilst that is an interesting skew on a population basis, it still means that, of 20 babies born to women with HG, 11 will be girls and 9 boys. That is nowhere near the level of difference that suggests it really means anything for you on a personal level, as a sample of one. It's a minor difference which, yes, might be interesting to scientists still trying to discover the underlying causes of sickness and HG. It's most definitely not 'boys don't make you sick' or 'you are so sick you must be having a girl'.

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