Perhaps the most important issue that concerns future parents from the very beginning of pregnancy is determining the sex of the child. Most moms and dads really want to know who is sitting in mom's tummy - a boy or a girl.
Of course, there are those who deliberately refuse this information, but there are only a few such people. After all, fully preparing for the birth of a baby without knowing his gender is quite problematic. With the capabilities of modern medicine, determining the sex of a pregnant woman’s unborn child is not difficult.
How to determine the sex of a child by the belly
During pregnancy, a woman's body usually changes a lot, and these changes are noticeable to everyone around her. Here we mean not only the psycho-emotional side, but also, first of all, the body of the expectant mother. The longer you are pregnant, the more noticeable your belly becomes.
For some, it is small, neat, sharp and remains almost the same until childbirth. And for others, the stomach is blurry, round, expanding in breadth. Since ancient times, these “dissimilarities” have been associated with the gender of the baby.
Nowadays, there are many folk methods for determining the sex of an unborn child: by a stripe on the stomach, figure, shape of the abdomen, appearance, etc. Someone even tries to calculate in advance the days on which it is possible to have a boy. But it is simply impossible to foresee the floor for sure.
Let's look at the signs associated with determining the sex of a child from the belly of a pregnant woman. What can the shape of the expectant mother’s belly say? It is believed that pregnant women who are expecting a boy are luckier in terms of their figure. Their belly protrudes forward like a ball, is low and has a sharp convex shape.
Looking at a pregnant woman from behind, you cannot say that the woman is pregnant, since her figure practically does not change. In women expecting a girl, the belly does not grow forward, but in width and upward, spreading out to the sides and thereby “depriving” the woman of her waist during pregnancy. Therefore, if there is heaviness and volume in a pregnant woman’s figure, the expectant mother looks ugly in appearance, then according to folk signs, a daughter is hiding in her stomach.
In addition to the shape of the abdomen, they also try to determine the sex of the child by the location of the fetus in the abdomen (this method is suitable for expectant mothers whose tummy protrudes not forward, but to the side). It is assumed that there are always boys on the right and girls on the left.
In fact, all these signs work 50/50. There is not a single scientifically proven fact that this theory is correct. Modern scientists are quite critical in this matter. But centuries-old life experience allows us to draw the conclusion that in half of the cases it is really possible to determine gender by the shape of the abdomen correctly.
What determines the shape of a pregnant belly?
Despite a large number of will accept, according to doctors, the shape of the abdomen and figure of a pregnant woman is influenced not by the gender of the unborn child, but by her anatomical and physical parameters (weight, height, configuration), the type of presentation of the child (oblique or transverse), the amount of amniotic fluid in the bladder, and also the condition of the abdominal muscles (how well they can maintain tone).
Therefore, the reason for a pregnant woman’s belly protruding forward is narrow hips, in which the baby is simply cramped and uncomfortable to be in, which is why he is located in the upper part of the mother’s abdomen. Children with wide hips have plenty of room in their mother’s tummy, so the baby can sit there in a horizontal position, occupying the sides and taking away the waist.
Also, the shape of a pregnant woman’s abdomen depends on the rate of weight gain, whether she has excess weight and quantities amniotic fluid. There is also a completely reasonable explanation for the location of the fetus on the left or right in the expectant mother’s tummy. fertilized egg attaches to the uterus where there are the most favorable conditions for development and growth.
Thus, when the fetus is attached to back wall In the uterus, the baby will most likely be located in the depths of the abdomen, and the abdomen itself will expand in breadth. With an anterior attachment, the belly will stick forward and the baby will be in the front. If the fetus's back is towards the mother's belly, the belly will stick out, and if the baby's back is parallel to the mother's back, the shape of the abdomen will be flatter.
The condition of the abdominal muscles also has a great influence on the shape of a pregnant woman's abdomen. If a woman has good physical characteristics and this is her first pregnancy, the tummy will be located high. U physically weak women, especially those who are carrying a child for the 2nd, 3rd time, or are carrying twins, muscle tone the abdominal wall is low, so the stomach often drops down almost immediately.
The size of the fetus also matters. Boys are generally born larger than girls, so this may affect the shape and size of a pregnant woman's belly.
How to accurately determine the sex of a child
The gender of the unborn child can only be reliably determined using an ultrasound examination. Starting from the 14th week of pregnancy, it is already possible to find out from an ultrasound whether the parents are expecting a boy or a girl.
According to pregnancy management standards, a woman undergoes ultrasound several times over 9 months - in each trimester. If the baby does not show up during the first examination, it will be possible to determine the sex of the child at a later date. later.
So the dear expectant mother waited for the moment when her intrauterine life began to end. Therefore, I really want to find out in the future who will be born to her: a girl or a boy. Of course, you can wait for the first or second planned ultrasound examination, which can determine the sex of the unborn child. Maybe it’s worth trying various folk signs, thanks to which you can determine who will be born: a boy or a girl? Below we will present several ways in which a pregnant woman can try to identify a boy or a girl, including by the belly, or rather its shape.
How to determine the sex of a child by the belly?
There is an opinion that if small hairs grow on a woman’s stomach and legs during pregnancy, then it is easy to determine who she will give birth to, most likely it will be a boy.
If a pregnant woman's belly is wide, vague, ball-shaped and located quite high, then it can be determined that she is expecting a girl. If she has a protruding and sharp belly, shaped like a cucumber and located low, then she will give birth to a boy. IN in this case the stomach is directed forward, so if you look at a woman from the back, you may not notice that she is pregnant.
If her stomach protrudes to the right, she will have a boy, if to the left, then she will have a girl. This is how our grandmothers could determine the gender of the child.
You can determine the sex of your unborn baby by the presence or absence of a waist. If a woman is expecting a boy, her waist remains the same. Girls do not leave their mother with a waist, since her belly is distributed on the sides.
There is another sign to determine the gender of the unborn child by looking at the mother’s belly. According to this belief, you need to take a thread with a needle and hold it over your stomach. If the needle describes circles, the woman is expecting a boy, but if it sways from side to side, the pregnant woman should expect a girl.
As for doctors, they believe that the shape of the abdomen does not depend in any way on gender, but depends only on how exactly the baby is located in the uterus and on the structural features of the expectant mother herself, as well as on some other factors.
Another popular sign that allows you to determine gender - rumor claims that if you are constantly drawn to spicy and salty foods, then you should expect the birth of a boy, while a girl’s mother will be drawn to sweet foods.
If while carrying a child a woman blossoms and becomes prettier, then it is believed that she is carrying a boy. But a girl takes away her mother’s beauty, so if during pregnancy a woman does not look very good in appearance, then she should expect a daughter. From a scientific point of view, what a woman will look like largely depends on how she eats and whether her body receives all the elements necessary in this position.
How to determine the gender of a child: boy
- The baby's heart rate and heart rate will be less than 140 beats per minute;
- The belly of a pregnant woman is strongly lowered;
- The abdomen protrudes strongly forward;
- During the gestation period, the expectant mother became even more beautiful and blossomed even more;
- Right breast turns out to be larger than the left one;
- At the beginning of the term, the expectant mother did not feel any attacks of nausea in the mornings;
- You can determine that a boy will be born like this: usually the expectant mother is drawn to protein foods (meat and cheese), as well as salty foods;
- The expectant mother began to feel that her feet were getting colder;
- Take a wedding ring and a thread that is threaded through this ring, and hang it over your stomach, then it will go in a circle;
- When the expectant mother notices that the skin is becoming dry;
- A pregnant woman's hair becomes shinier and thicker;
- The pregnant woman begins to notice that her head hurts more often;
- While waiting for the boy, the hair on his legs also began to grow 2 times faster;
- When the expectant mother sleeps, she mostly sleeps on her left side;
- The character of urine becomes bright yellow;
- When a woman sleeps with her head facing north.
Determining the gender of the child: girl
- Hair becomes duller and thinner during pregnancy;
- When she starts sleeping on her right side;
- When the expectant mother sleeps with her head facing south;
- When the unborn baby's heart rate is more than one hundred and forty beats per minute;
- The expectant mother's belly is located high;
- Also if the stomach is evenly rounded;
- A pregnant woman becomes less beautiful;
- At the beginning of the term, nausea tormented me in the mornings;
- The right breast is smaller than the left;
- Begins to crave sweets very strongly - fruits, juices and candies;
- Wedding ring and a thread that is threaded through this ring and suspended over the belly, it will move from side to side;
- The expectant mother's skin becomes softer;
- The color of the urine becomes pale yellow.
Of course, at the moment signs were presented that help determine the gender of the unborn child, both by the stomach and by other other obvious signs.
How to determine the sex of a child by conception?
This is one of the most popular methods, which has a completely scientific basis. As you know, conception can occur within a maximum of 36 hours after ovulation occurs. The egg no longer lives. But sperm, as the latest scientific data show, can live in the female genital tract for quite a long time - up to 96 hours - four days.
But there is one small “but”. The fact is that only carriers of the female pair of chromosomes - XX - live this long. And if intimacy happened a couple of days before ovulation, then if conception does occur, a girl will be born. But if intimacy occurs directly on the day of ovulation, then the likelihood of conceiving a boy increases sharply, since carriers of the XY male pair, although they live less, are much more active and fast.
So if you know exactly the date when you should ovulate, then you can try to plan the gender of your unborn child. Well, if you are already pregnant, you can try to remember when you ovulated and try to determine who you might give birth to.
How to find out the gender of a baby video
Almost every mother can confirm that during her pregnancy, relatives and even just acquaintances approached her with “absolutely accurate” predictions about the gender of the unborn child.
Despite the rapid development medical methods Determining the gender of a child in the womb, the desire to make a prediction based on folk methods does not decrease.
This question haunts both the mother herself and relatives, acquaintances and even work colleagues. Who will it be: a boy or a girl?
And while the sex of the child is not determined by ultrasound, “impatient” relatives resort to traditional methods: trying to swing a needle on a thread over the stomach, turn to Chinese calendar or check which side the expectant mother sleeps on most often.
The popularity of "fortune telling" by reading the mother's belly
Perhaps the most common the folk way“predictions” of the sex of the unborn baby are determined by the shape and size of the pregnant woman’s belly. Looking at him, friends confidently say that they know for sure whether the baby will be a boy or a girl.
No devices, lengthy calculations, etc. are required here - the object of examination, as they say, is obvious. This is probably why “predicting” the gender of an unborn child by looking at the belly is so widespread and popular.
At the same time, they can tell you with confidence that all sorts of fortune-telling on needles is, of course, all frivolous, but the shape of the abdomen is almost a medical justification.
How to find out who will be a boy or a girl?
Belly shape
What does the shape of the expectant mother’s belly say? It is believed that if a woman has a boy, her belly will grow forward. He has acute form and in appearance resembles a vertically located zucchini. If you look at a woman from the back, her figure will not betray her pregnancy in any way.
If a girl - a little princess - is hiding in her stomach, then, according to popular wisdom, she requires more space for herself. They say that if the belly grows in width, is noticeable even from the back and gives weight and volume to the figure, then the daughter is “hiding” there.
Belly stripe
Another folk sign is the stripe that forms on the stomach. So, if a pregnant woman has this stripe that is dark, pronounced and extends beyond the navel, then a boy will be born. If it is light and does not stand out much, then it will be a girl.
Asymmetrical shape
Sometimes the belly of pregnant women seems to stick out to the side. This is also a reason to determine the sex of the child. Folk wisdom says that the boy sticks out to the right, and the girl sticks out to the left.
Should we believe the “predictions” on the stomach or not?
Undoubtedly, most expectant parents want to know in advance who they will have. I would like to come up with a name for him, to talk to my treasure, which will soon be born. But is it worth believing such folk signs?
The reliability of such predictions has not been proven by science. At the same time, supporters of the method of determining the sex of a child by the shape of the abdomen appeal to practical experience and many proven results. Therefore, why not try, because it’s so interesting to think about who is waiting to meet you?
Ultrasound diagnostics
You can absolutely accurately and reliably find out the gender of the unborn child only through an ultrasound. Starting from the 14th week of pregnancy, an ultrasound examination may well show whether a boy or a girl will soon appear in your family.
According to pregnancy management standards, ultrasound examinations are also performed at later stages. So if the baby didn’t want to show up in all his glory the first time, then next time you’ll probably find out everything.
Amniocentesis
Another 100% method of determining the sex of a child is amniocentesis - analysis of amniotic fluid. There is no longer any room for doubt here. But due to the fact that this method is invasive and is accompanied by certain risks, it is carried out exclusively according to medical indications.
What actually determines the shape of a pregnant woman's belly?
Doctors are skeptical about all kinds of “fortune telling” based on the belly of a pregnant woman and provide a serious theoretical basis for such popular observations. In their opinion, the difference in shape and appearance The abdomen during pregnancy is determined by the position of the child’s body and its size.
For example, boys are actually more likely to be born larger than girls. Therefore, it is quite possible that the protruding belly “hides” the heir, and not the heiress.
But the gender of the child has no influence on its shape. In this case, the difference depends on the position the baby occupies in the womb. For example, he can lie down with his back facing outward, so it turns out that the mother’s belly will seem to bulge forward.
Or maybe, on the contrary, sit very compactly with your back to your mother’s back. In this case, the woman’s stomach usually does not protrude much and may seem quite small.
So, whether or not to believe the popular predictions that you can determine the sex of a child by the shape of a pregnant woman’s belly is up to you. However, if the baby does not yet want to reveal his “secret” during the ultrasound, it is quite possible, together with his relatives, to try to “predict” this in advance, turning fortune telling into a game or a bet.
Moreover, there is no danger in this. So, why not give yourself pleasure? Positive emotions are very useful for both the mother and the baby she is carrying. This is an absolutely proven fact!
So wait and enjoy your pregnancy. Very soon the long-awaited meeting will come and you will find out who lived under your heart for all 9 months.
Most women want to find out the sex of their unborn child as early as possible - this will allow them to buy suitable clothing, toys, choose a name in advance. Thanks to modern medicine, determining gender is not difficult - the genitals can be seen on one of the routine ultrasounds. This method is only 70 years old, but how did our ancestors determine the sex of the baby? Grandmothers and great-grandmothers determined whether a boy or a girl would be born by the shape of their belly. Is it really possible to determine the sex of a baby by looking at the belly?
What determines the shape of a pregnant woman's belly?
The bellies of pregnant women at the same stage differ in shape and size. For some, it protrudes greatly, for others, even in the later stages of pregnancy, the tummy is miniature. It happens that the stomach is raised high to the chest or, conversely, low. The shape also comes in different shapes – round, oval and even square.
What determines the appearance of the tummy? It is determined by several factors, and first of all, the individual structure of a woman’s body:
- body type (miniature or large);
- pelvic size;
- abdominal muscle tone and density;
- the amount of fat on the stomach and thighs;
- hereditary predisposition to a certain type of abdomen.
In addition, the shape of the tummy is influenced by the size of the fetus and its location in the uterus - how low or high it is located in the womb. If you have a multiple pregnancy, your belly will be larger and higher than with a single pregnancy. The amount of amniotic fluid also affects size.
Is it possible to determine the gender of the baby by looking at the mother's belly?
How to determine the gender of an unborn baby?
There are several reliable scientific methods: ultrasound, genetic blood test, chorionic villus biopsy, amniocentesis. The safest method for a woman and child is the ultrasound method - most often this is how expectant mothers find out who to buy clothes for - their daughter or son.
What will the ultrasound show?
The genital organs begin to differentiate at the 6th week of pregnancy, but at this stage it is still difficult to determine who the woman is carrying in her stomach. With a successful combination of circumstances, if the fetus is unfolded in such a way that its genitals are visible, the doctor can determine the sex of the child by ultrasound at 14 weeks (more details in the article:). Typically, an ultrasound examination to determine gender is carried out at 18–20 obstetric weeks.
How is an ultrasound done? A special gel is applied to the woman’s stomach, which eliminates the air gap between the skin and the sensor, which distorts the signal. The doctor moves a sensor over the abdomen, which simultaneously generates and receives ultrasound waves. The processed image is displayed on the monitor of the device, it can be printed for demonstration to other doctors. Many mothers keep the first ultrasound image as the first photo of their child.
What can be seen on an ultrasound? If the baby is turned to the front of the abdomen, the doctor will see on the monitor of the device for ultrasound diagnostics genitals. This method is considered accurate, but errors still occur. Because the penis and vulva initially form from the same tissue structure, they may be poorly differentiated and therefore difficult to distinguish from each other.
Folk signs
Is it possible to determine the gender of a child at home, without an ultrasound?
Some mothers can’t wait to find out who they are carrying – a boy or a girl; they don’t want to wait until the 5th month. To understand what gender the unborn child is, they resort to folk methods that have been tested for centuries. Folk signs help to find out information about the mother’s behavior, her taste preferences and the shape of the abdomen without medical examinations.
External signs of a future son
When determining the sex of the fetus by the tummy, it is necessary to look at its shape, midline and asymmetry of the convexity. So, signs that indicate that the expectant mother needs to prepare for the arrival of her son:
- Acute form. You can immediately tell by the tummy that there is a boy inside. From the back, a casual passer-by will not even notice that the woman is pregnant, because her belly looks oval and protrudes forward. People call this form “cucumber” or “zucchini.” The belly is neat, located high, sticking out forward. The expectant mother's figure is neat, and after birth she quickly sheds the pounds she has gained.
- Linea negra. At week 15, pregnant women develop a linea negra - a midline that runs from the navel to the pubis. According to popular belief, if a woman is expecting a son, the stripe will be dark with distinct edges. The nipples, on the contrary, remain light.
- Asymmetry. A pregnant woman's belly is not symmetrical; it protrudes slightly either to the right or to the left. If the fetus is deviated right side- that means he is male.
People try to determine gender based on other characteristics. For example, if a woman eats a lot and prefers meat and pickles among other dishes, then this indicates a son. While carrying a boy, she often gets feverish and suffers from severe toxicosis.
Signs indicating a daughter
Signs indicating that a girl is pregnant:
- Form. If a woman expecting a boy has a neat, sharp tummy, then mothers of daughters are less fortunate. The stomach seems to blur from the chest to the pubis. It protrudes not only forward, but also to the sides, so from the back it is clearly noticeable that the woman is pregnant. The figure becomes heavy and overweight.
- Linea negra. The midline is almost invisible, sometimes it may not exist at all. The nipples, on the contrary, darken, the areolas around them blur, and the breasts increase in size.
- Asymmetry. Future girl, unlike the boy, likes to lean to the left. The belly will stick out a little more on the left side.
What do other signs say? When it comes to food, the girl’s mother prefers sweets, chocolate, and fruits. Her appetite remains virtually unchanged or, on the contrary, decreases. I feel better than mothers of boys. The woman rarely gets chills and has almost no toxicosis. You can see what a sharp and round tummy looks like in the photo.
Accuracy of scientific and folk forecasts
What do doctors think about folk signs? None scientific explanations There is no relationship between the sex of the child and the shape of the pregnant woman’s belly, so doctors are quite skeptical about signs. Such methods have been repeatedly refuted by medicine, but they still have adherents who perceive the coincidence as proof of their effectiveness. Doctors say this is nothing more than a guess.
Which method of determining gender is the most accurate? Chorionic villus biopsy allows you to find out who is in the stomach, a boy or a girl, with 100% accuracy. However, a sample of chorionic villus tissue is taken only for medical reasons in order to identify chromosomal abnormalities. A biopsy is not performed just to determine gender.
Genetic blood testing is 90–95% accurate. It is usually performed at 9 weeks of pregnancy. If Y chromosomes are detected in the mother's blood, then she should expect a son. This method gives accurate results, but it is not cheap, so most people resort to ultrasound.
Ultrasound should be done for all pregnant women. On one of scheduled inspections The doctor tells the expectant mother the gender of the baby. The accuracy of the method increases with the duration of pregnancy - from 50% at 12 weeks to 90% at 21 weeks. This is the most accessible, accurate and safe way to find out who will be born - a son or a daughter.
As pregnancy progresses, the belly increases in size. But while in some women the belly may not be very large and neat, in others it increases very much and becomes blurred. And these visual differences have long been considered an indicator of the gender of the unborn baby. Hence it became considered possible to determine the sex of a child by looking at the belly.
In general, there are many ways to determine gender. However, determining gender by the stomach is considered one of the most accurate. Experienced experts in folk superstitions can most likely determine the gender of the unborn baby by examining the expectant mother’s tummy, because there is an opinion that there is a direct relationship between its shape and the gender of the child.
How to determine the sex of a child by the belly?
According to one opinion, if a pregnant woman’s belly and legs are covered with small hairs during pregnancy, it means she should be expecting a boy. And if the belly takes on a wide, vague shape, resembling a ball, and is also located high, then most likely there will be a girl.
If the tummy is low, sticks out and is shaped like a cucumber, then it will be a boy. But if, for example, we look in this case at expectant mother from the back, then you may not notice the pregnancy at all, because the stomach is directed forward. If you notice that the belly “goes” a little to the right, this indicates that the child will be male, if it goes to the left, it will be female.
You can also determine the sex of the unborn baby by paying attention to the pregnant woman’s waist, i.e., its presence or absence. If there is a boy, then the waist, as a rule, remains unchanged - it is there, just like before pregnancy. If there is a girl, then in most cases there will be no trace left of the waist - the belly is distributed evenly on the sides.
