How to determine the sex of the child by heartbeat, and how reliable are such methods? Determining the sex of the child by his heartbeat

13.09.2019

Of great interest among all women in a delicate position is how to determine the sex of a child by heartbeat. To find out what gender the baby will be born, several techniques allow. For this, the rhythm is calculated, the frequency, the sound produced during the contractions of the heart muscle, the position of the baby in the womb is determined. But a number of medical methods of determination are more accurate and plausible, for example, ultrasound and analysis of amniotic fluid.

Possibilities and features of determining the sex of a child by heartbeat

By frequency, it is really possible to find out the sex of the unborn child. This unique method appeared even before the discovery of ultrasound. The first beats of a small heart can be heard already on the 20th from the moment of fertilization. All organs are just emerging, and the heart is already beating. And from the 4th week to the 12th (before the first ultrasound), listening to the heartbeat is proof of new uterine life. But after the 16th week, the baby himself will begin to push and move. But the heart rate can be recorded only from the 6th week. The complexity of the definition lies in the fact that the beating of the baby's heart completely imitates the heart rate of a pregnant woman. Over time, the heart beats significantly faster. Obstetricians are confident that at the 12th week it will not be difficult to find out the sex of the baby by heartbeat.

Indicate your pressure

Move the sliders

Required knowledge and techniques

From the 20th week, at the next examination by the doctor, an innovation is introduced - auscultation. Thanks to a special tube or phonendoscope, the doctor listens to the heartbeat by applying the device to the tummy. The doctor must have an acute hearing in order to be able to track changes in the development of the heart of the future baby. It is by this method that it is revealed that the heart of future boys and girls knocks differently. This allows you to determine the sex of the child.

How to determine by frequency?

By the heartbeat, you can determine who a woman is expecting to be born. In future female representatives, the heart muscle contracts 140-160 beats per minute, while in men this process is a little slower and is determined by 120 beats per minute, sometimes less. Why this is happening has not yet been proven and there is a lot of controversy, at what stage and at what time it is best to determine the sex of the baby by heartbeats and their frequency.

Rhythm and gender differences

Boys and girls have different pulse rates, so it is believed that the gender of the child can be determined by the heart rate.

The beating of the unborn child's heart, sound and acoustic characteristics during listening allow you to get a clue as to gender. A unison beating is characteristic of the heart muscles of the mother and son, but with the heart of the future girl, the opposite is true. It has been proven that a man's strong heart is more enduring than a woman's, so its contractions occur rhythmically, very clearly and loudly. And in girls, the knock is determined more muffled with chaotic bursts.

Conclusion on the localization of the fetus

It is believed that the location of the fetus suggests gender. The fetus initially occupies a more advantageous habitat, and experienced doctors manage to find out the gender of a small organism. If the heartbeat is heard from the left side, then a boy is expected in the future, and when on the right, then a girl. There is no scientific confirmation of the veracity of this tactic, but many experts use the heritage of the past and rarely make mistakes. Often, doctors accurately predict the sex of the unborn baby.

Date of publication of the article: 18.04.2017

Date the article was updated: 12/18/2018

From this article, you will learn: how to determine the sex of a child by heartbeat, and whether it is possible at all. Folk myths and scientific facts about how the sex of the fetus affects the work of its heart.

Determining the sex of the child, experts consider a secondary task in assessing intrauterine development. It is more important to assess the parameters that characterize its viability and the absence of pathology. The fetal heartbeat is one of the most important indicators that are used for this.

There is an opinion that even the sex of the child can be determined by the nature of the heartbeat. In ancient times, this hypothesis had a certain degree of probability, since people noticed that in the womb, the heart of girls beats differently than the heart of boys. But modern experts refute this theory. It is unreliable and does not carry any scientific basis.

Precisely determine the sex of the child allows intrauterine ultrasound diagnostics in the second trimester of pregnancy, the study of amniotic fluid and karyotype. This is done by obstetrician-gynecologists, doctors of ultrasound diagnostics and genetics of antenatal clinics, maternity hospitals and perinatal centers.

Myths and reality

According to existing ideas, the most common characteristics of fetal heartbeats, which can be used to judge its gender, are as follows:

Contraction rate per minute.
The rhythm and strength of the heartbeat.
The area of the abdomen where they are best heard.
The relationship between the fetal and mother's heartbeats.

You can listen to a baby's heart in the womb from 16-20 weeks using an obstetric stethoscope (special tube) or an ultrasound device - a cardiotocograph. To do this, you need to attach the sensor to the right or left half of the lower abdomen. The longer the pregnancy, the better the palpitations are heard.

Myth # 1: Girls' hearts beat faster than boys.

In theory, girls should have a faster heart rate than boys. This is due to the fact that their nervous and cardiovascular systems are less stable, react faster to any changes in the body and the environment. Therefore, in girls, the heart beats more often - about 140 times / min, and less often in boys - about 120 times / min. But this judgment is nothing more than a theory.

The heartbeat of any living organism, including the fetus, depends on many factors (state of the heart, nervous and hormonal regulation of its activity, gestational age, etc.). But gender is not one of them. Neither children nor adults have a gender-specific heart rate or heart rate. This means that the heart of boys and girls in the prenatal period beats at the same frequency (the norm is 120–160 / min).

It is more relevant to assess the heart rate not in order to find out the sex of the child, but for the diagnosis of intrauterine pathology:

developmental delays and malformations;
genetic diseases;
intrauterine hypoxia and infections;
threats of termination and freezing of pregnancy;
problems with the placenta and umbilical cord.

In the presence of these pathologies, the fetal heart will contract more often than it should normally. If his slowdown is heard below normal, this indicates a severe intrauterine lesion.

Additional factors that can temporarily or slightly alter your child's heart rate include:

When he is actively moving, the rhythm accelerates.
When he sleeps, the rhythm slows down.
If mom is nervous or sick, the rhythm accelerates.

Myth # 2: Boys' heartbeats are more rhythmic and louder.

Cardiac activity in girls is more sensitive to any changes in the body and the intrauterine environment. Their heart should not only beat more often than that of boys, but also a little quieter, chaotically, in the form of a kind of interruption (sometimes faster, sometimes slower, sometimes irregularly). In boys, it beats almost monotonously, only periodically changing the frequency, but clearly and loudly.

But this theory has no reliable scientific basis. Rhythm, variability of heartbeats depend on the same as the frequency, the factors listed in the previous section. The gender of the child is not included. By the nature, heart rate and how well it is listened to, you will not be able to recognize the sex of the fetus.

Myth number 3: if the heart is heard in the left abdomen, there will be a boy

There is an opinion that the heartbeat of boys is more often heard in the left, and girls - in the right half of the abdomen of a pregnant woman. But this is not a reliable criterion for determining the sex of a child:

Until 30–35 weeks, and sometimes even before delivery, the position of the fetus is constantly changing, as it moves and turns over in the amniotic fluid.
The fixation of the child in the uterine cavity before childbirth occurs spontaneously and has nothing to do with gender.
The baby can lie transversely to the uterine cavity, as a result of which heartbeats are heard in the middle of the abdomen.

In their daily practice, obstetricians determine which side of the child's back is located. This position is called a position: the first - if the back is on the left (it happens more often, regardless of gender), the second - if the back is on the right. Determining the position is important to find the point from which it will be easiest to listen to the baby's heartbeat. From which side the back, from which you need to look for the heartbeat.

Myth number 4: the hearts of the son and mother beat in unison

The most unfounded myth on the topic of determining the sex of a child by his heartbeat is the connection between the contraction of the mother's and children's hearts. It is believed that if the rhythms coincide, then a boy will be born, and if the heartbeats are not interconnected in any way, there will be a girl.

This theory is the least plausible for the following reasons:

Normally, the heart rate of a fetus of either sex is almost 2 times higher than that of a pregnant woman.
Even with the same heart rate, the rhythm cannot be constantly synchronized.
The regulation of heartbeats in the mother and the fetus is carried out by different systems and mechanisms.
The hearts of a mother and a child cannot be contracted at the same time - there is nothing in common between them.

Conclusions: is there a connection between heart rate and fetal sex

Any coincidences that reflect the relationship between the fetal heart rate and its gender are accidental. The reliability of these data does not exceed 30%. This means that even if you do not listen to the heartbeat at all, but blindly talk about the child's gender without any reason, then the percentage of coincidence of the predictions will be the same. Such reliability of the results refutes the method of determining the sex of the child by heartbeat. Neither in the early nor in the late stages of pregnancy, it does not justify itself. For these purposes, there are really reliable safe methods (primarily ultrasound diagnostics).

It is always exciting. For all women, it causes a variety of emotions and experiences, but none of us perceives the situation calmly and steadily. Even if the pregnancy was planned and you had no doubts about its occurrence, the moment of confirmation of conjectures and guesses awakens certain feelings in us.

But over time, the excitement subsides, the newly-made pregnant woman gets used to the new status and now looks forward to the following news: who lives in the tummy?

Modern ultrasound diagnostics with a high degree of probability can determine the sex of the unborn child. But not earlier than the due date. But we are so impatient, and even the future dad began to worry: who is there?

But what if the belly does not show itself? So guess then until the next ultrasound, or even before the birth itself.

There is a lot of debate about whether it is worth it in advance. And if you are one of those who do not want to be aware of this, it is enough just to warn the uzist not to spread.

But much more parents cannot wait to find out the next most important and interesting news: the sex of the heir. And here the ancient methods of determining the sex of the child, which our ancestors used, can come to the rescue. Among these, you have probably heard about the method of sex determination by heartbeat.

How to determine the sex of a child by heartbeat?

There are several options for both the method itself and its interpretation. First of all, it is the number of beats per minute. Everything here is so confused that it is simply impossible to figure it out. The method is not official, it is not described in books on medicine, but, despite this, many obstetricians use it. Surely your friends told you that their midwife accurately "figured out" the future child. Or, exactly the opposite, which also happens. But how?

Some argue that boys' hearts beat faster, while others, on the contrary, assure that this is typical for girls. A variety of numbers are named: above 150 - girls, within 120 - boys, 160 and more - boys, below 140 - girls, and so on ...

In some versions, it is specified that the test is true only for the period before or during the entire pregnancy. In general, a complete mess!

Another version regarding the differences in the heartbeat of children of different sexes is the unequal rhythm. They say that boys' hearts beat more rhythmically, measuredly: knock… knock… knock… And girls have a different “melody” - agitated and chaotic: knock-knock-knock… Although there are reports that boys’s hearts simply beat faster and louder. And one more thing: the rhythm of the boy's heartbeat coincides with the mother's, but the girl's is different.

There is another way to determine the sex of a child by heartbeat - depending on the location of the heart, or rather, the fetus. Allegedly, girls and boys lie in the womb in different ways: if the baby's heart is bugged on your right side, expect a girl, on the left - a boy. And maybe vice versa.

Is it true?

It all depends on whether the folk diagnostics coincided with the gender of the expected baby. Because in half of the cases, expectant mothers say that they did so, the other half refutes such tests with opposite results in reality.

Official medicine recognizes only one simple way to determine the sex of an unborn child -. And he has the right to make a mistake. One hundred percent guarantee is provided only by invasive diagnostics, when amniotic fluid or a piece of the placenta is taken for examination.

Regarding the heartbeat, doctors say that it depends on the state of the fetus at the moment (he is asleep or awake) and even on the position of the mother's body at which she is listened to. Undoubtedly, violations in the development of the heart can also affect the nature of its beating.

Nevertheless, many gynecologists and obstetricians (especially elderly ones) do not miss the opportunity to make their assumption based on the heard heartbeat. If this preliminary verdict turns out to be true for you, you may think it works.

In fact, such methods are nothing more than guesses and the desire to learn a mystery inaccessible to humans, which came from the past. And for modern pregnant women, this is also a great way to have fun. So how do we arrange the test? Whom do you expect and what does the little heart speak of?

Specially for- Elena Kichak

Perhaps you have heard such a saying that a pregnant woman is special and unique, because only in her body several hearts can beat at the same time. But we also know that pregnant women are distinguished by a peculiar perception of the world, and during this period it is extremely necessary for them to unwind and have fun in every possible way. Perhaps the most popular entertainment among expectant mothers are attempts to find out the sex of the unborn child in all sorts of ways and methods. One of these is the determination of the sex of the child by the heartbeat.

By the way, the heart of the future baby begins to beat approximately 20-22 days after conception! However, it will be possible to register the contractions of his heart a little later, closer to the 6th week of pregnancy. At first, its rhythms are slowed down and approach the mother's, but with an increase in the term they begin to become more frequent.

How to determine the sex of a child by heartbeat?

There are several methods that allow predicting the birth of a child of a certain gender, based on the characteristics of his heartbeat:

By heart rate... The first of them suggests assessing the heart rate. It is believed that in girls, the heart beats more often (making 140-150 or more beats per minute) than in boys (their heart rate is on average 120 beats per minute). However, in some sources the method is described with polar accuracy: a boy's heart beats faster than a girl's. In addition, there is absolute confusion about the time frame in which such measurements can or should be carried out. Some sources claim that the test may be valid only when calculations are carried out for periods not exceeding 20 weeks of pregnancy, while others assure that this method can be used at any week, right up to the birth itself.

By heart tones... According to the second method of determining the sex of a child by heartbeat, it is not the number of beats that matters, but the "sound", its tonality, in a musical term. So, in boys, the heart sounds more clearly, clearly, purely, loudly, but girls tend to have more muted tones.

By heart rate... Another method for determining the sex of a child by heartbeat involves assessing the heart rate, and not the rate of his beating or the sounds produced. According to this theory, the heart of a boy developing inside the womb beats measuredly, clearly, evenly, rhythmically and almost always - in unison with the mother's heart. Future girls do not have this constancy: their heart beats out chaotic squares, in the heart rhythm there is often no regularity and clear tact.

At the place of localization of heartbeats... There is another theory according to which the fetus, depending on gender, is not equally located in the mother's womb. Therefore, the heartbeat of boys and girls is heard from different sides: which side is which side is also a mystery, because there are diametrically opposite versions.

Is it possible to determine the sex of a child by heartbeat?

Of course, there is no more reliable way to find out the sex of a child than to give birth to it. But before childbirth, ultrasound still holds the palm in such non-invasive diagnostics. Gynecologists assure that no other methods (except for the analysis of amniotic fluid or placental cells) can be trusted: and even though in practice, in 50% of cases, various popular predictions come true, this is nothing more than a coincidence, the doctors assure.

Nevertheless, an experienced obstetrician-gynecologist is able to guess with a high degree of probability the sex of the unborn child of his ward. And one of the methods in his arsenal is just listening to the heart of the future baby, for which he uses a special device, an obstetric tube - a stethoscope. Of course, he does this not at all for fortune-telling about the sex of the child, but to assess the state of his well-being, the conditions for development. However, the heart sounds differently in boys and girls, doctors. True, it is not always possible to determine this, to feel this difference.

As far as the heart rate is concerned, first of all, there is complete ambiguity in the method itself. Secondly, the fetal heart rate changes repeatedly throughout the gestation period, and therefore this method cannot be true in any way. Thirdly, the fetal heart rate can change under the influence of other factors (the phases of the baby's activity, and even the position taken by the pregnant woman at the time of listening). However, doctors admit that in newborn boys and girls, the heart really beats at a different rate, but this does not apply to embryos.

For whatever purpose you are trying to determine the sex of the child by heartbeat, none of the results obtained should and cannot be perceived as one hundred percent correct result. Remember: even an ultrasound scan cannot be absolutely trusted. Therefore, any attempts to determine the sex of the unborn child should remain nothing more than fun: parents are obliged to accept and love the baby, no matter what gender he was born. It is so?

Especially for - Ekaterina Vlasenko

The sex of the baby can be determined in the traditional way only when the genitals of the fetus are clearly visualized on an ultrasound device. Usually, young parents are informed about whether they will have a boy or a girl, at about 23-25 weeks of pregnancy.

Oh, already this curiosity!

Some married couples burn out with curiosity, wanting to know the gender of the baby much earlier. For this, there are a lot of popular signs and secrets, which, however, quite often demonstrate false results. For example, some expectant mothers try to guess the gender of the baby by the shape of their belly.

It is believed that the more convex and sharp it is, the more likely a boy grows in it. Conversely, if the belly is too round and "blurry", we are talking about the future daughter.

There are other, even stranger and more bizarre omens. Our grandmothers had a belief that if a woman wears a girl under her heart, she does not look good during pregnancy - her hair falls out, acne appears and excess weight becomes noticeable. You may be surprised, but our ancestors attributed this to the fact that the future daughter “ takes the beauty away from mom».

Some make assumptions about the presence of age spots on the belly of a carrying woman, "predicting" the birth of a boy by a dark oblong strip from the navel to the pubis.

But there are also more adequate versions of how you can identify the sex of the unborn baby in the early stages. They are also associated with the conservative ultrasound technique. But in this case we are talking about the fetal heartbeat, which can be heard from 12 weeks (and even earlier).

Determining the sex of a child by heartbeat has no scientific justification and is very skeptical about obstetricians-gynecologists. "Folk" versions of determining the sex of the future baby are also diverse, and today we will talk about each of them.

The essence of the method for identifying gender by heart rate

Today, the fetal heartbeat can be listened to on a special computer device that visualizes both the image and the sound at the same time. Previously, this was done with a stethoscope - a special tube that was applied to the stomach. The stethoscope has special extended ends, one of which the doctor applies to his ear.

Next comes a simple calculation - the gynecologist counts the rhythmic contractions heard in one minute. Among expectant mothers, it is believed that by this indicator it is quite possible to make a verdict regarding the sex of the future baby, and find out exactly who is growing in the womb.

Version 1

It is possible to "declassify" the sex of the child by heartbeat as early as 12 weeks. Despite the skepticism about this method, the reason for its use was given by the obstetricians-gynecologists themselves. It was they who noticed that the hearts of boys and girls in the womb beat differently. It is believed that if cuts per minute are less than 140, you are probably wearing a boy. And if over 150 - most likely, you are expecting a girl.

I must say that this method is very confusing in itself. For example, some obstetricians think very differently. They say that for boys, the rhythm of contractions should exceed 160 beats per minute, and for girls it should not be higher than 120. Such disagreements mislead future parents, and as a result, it becomes unclear who they are waiting for. Especially if the study of information on this matter is checked in different sources.

In addition, not a single doctor can say for sure whether it is possible to determine the sex of the unborn child by the heartbeat at such an early date.

Many doctors are inclined to believe that the heart rate in the embryo finally "settles" at about 20 weeks of pregnancy, which means that all earlier calculations are completely meaningless.

On the other hand, at this time, subject to the use of modern and high-quality equipment for ultrasound examination, the sex of the embryo can already be defined quite clearly and objectively. However, there is an alternative point of view: many people who have come across such calculations and methods claim that this method does not give errors and failures almost from the moment of fertilization.

Version 2

Another version of "recognizing" the sex of the child by the fetal heart rate is not to count the number of muscle contractions taken in one minute, but to pay attention to their nature.

Among physicians, there is a widespread opinion that the heart of male babies beats more rhythmically, measuredly, just in time with the mother's. According to their own theory, the girls' heart beats chaotically, unevenly, without coincidence with the rhythm of the mother.

Version 3

The third and final version of how you can determine the sex of an unborn child by heart rate is based on the location of this organ. There is speculation that boys and girls are positioned differently in the womb. If the heart of the fetus is clearly audible in the left side of the abdomen, a boy will be born, and if in the right, a girl will be born.

Believe these versions or not - mommy herself must decide. Unfortunately, there is no need to talk about statistical objectivity here, since every woman bases her attitude to theory on whether her test results coincided with reality. And with the same success, one can consider the veracity of fortune-telling on a chamomile ...

What do doctors think about this?

The doctors' opinions on such an interesting and unusual "diagnosis" were divided from the very beginning. Some reject this theory completely, not wanting to even hear about it; others, on the contrary, are happy to share their assumptions based on this method with patients.

However, the overwhelming majority of doctors believe that the fetal heart rate does not depend at all on its gender, but on factors such as:

Obstetric gestational age;
Times of Day;
Mom's blood pressure;
The activity of the baby in the womb;
Possible fetal hypoxia;
Uterine tone.

For this reason, obstetricians almost always rely only on the specific results of ultrasound performed in the second trimester.

In their opinion, the theory of the heartbeat is nothing more than a guessing game, since the main indicator in this event can vary even depending on the position of the mother's body.

Conservative methods for determining the sex of the embryo

Modern medicine is replete with a variety of innovative devices and technologies, and it would seem that now women do not need to rely on folk omens and other inventions in determining the sex of their baby.

However, to our great regret, everything here remains the same: early gender identification, which guarantees an accurate result, is only possible in the case of an invasive diagnostic intervention. In the course of it, a little amniotic fluid, or a fragment of the placenta, is taken from a woman.

Usually, such tests are necessary if there are obstetric pathologies or suspicions of abnormalities in the development of the fetus. For example, amniocentesis, or puncture of the amniotic fluid, is often prescribed if standard prenatal screening indicates the presence of Down syndrome and other genomic abnormalities in the unborn child.