Can Baby's Heart Rate Determine The Sex?
Pregnancy Myths
Obie Editorial Team
There are so many myths surrounding predicting your baby's gender. You may have heard that you can use your baby's heart rate to determine whether you are having a boy or a girl. The theory is that a girl's heart will be faster (over 140 beats per minute) and a boy's heart rate will be slower (under 140 beats per minute). And there is some support for this in a study which showed that female fetuses had higher heart rates in labor when compared to male fetuses
The heart rate of your baby fluctuates as they grow and as they move. Heart rates start out slower, and then by 8-10 weeks run in the range of 170-200 BPM (beats per minute). As your approach mid-pregnancy, the average heart rates run between 120 - 160 BPM. If your baby moves, his or her heart rate goes up, just as your heart rate does with movement. However, none of these is related to the sex of your baby.