TRUTH OR TALE NO. 3

Posted on 1 January 2018

When expecting, you can tell the gender of the baby by the height at which you carry.

ANSWER: Tale

When it comes to guessing the sex of an unborn baby, this is one of the oldest and most common tales people believe. But it’s nothing more than just that – a tale.

In reality, the shape of an expecting mother’s stomach is rather a reflection of her own body’s build and muscle tone. Therefore, there is no direct link between the shape of her belly, the height at which she carries, and the gender of the foetus.

It’s likely that this tale was predicated on the fact that, on average, baby boys are slightly larger when born than girls. This could account for a slightly bigger baby bump, but there certainly is no hard and fast rule that it definitely means it’s of one or the other gender.

If a baby is small, it is likely to sit a lower in the pelvis. And the inverse is also true. A larger baby usually sits higher. The size and position of the foetus within the uterus will determine this, irrespective of the baby’s gender.

Sources: 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/04/02/baby-pregnancy-gender_n_9588058.html