Baby's heartbeat: Can it predict your baby's sex?
I have recently heard that the heart rate of a fetus can usually predict the gender of the baby. For example, if the heart rate is consistently over 140, it's usually a girl; under 140, it's usually a boy. Is this true? My baby has ranged from 150 to 155 beats per minute.
Question:Peg Plumbo CNM
Peg Plumbo has been a certified nurse-midwife (CNM) since 1976. She has assisted at over 1,000 births and currently teaches in the... Read more
This belief is based on the fact that women usually have higher metabolic rates than men and, therefore, have a slightly higher pulse rate.
Actually, there is no correlation between fetal heart rate and gender -- and it has been studied. This is an "old wive's tale" that will not die.
Having said that, it is fun to try and guess your baby gender based on heart rate, and because we have no other ways of doing this (short of amniocentisis and ultrasound), it is harmless enough.
You will find, too, that as gestation advances and your baby's neurological system matures, the heart rate will slow a bit. So, it looks like we all start out female, which genetically happens to be true.
Happy guessing.
