Baby girl or baby boy?

[stabilo]

People have tried to predict the sex of their offspring. 2000 years ago, Hippocrates stated that female fetuses give the mother a pale face, whereas a mother carrying a male fetus has a healthier tone to her skin. Despite efforts to find reliable indications during pregnancy to determine the gender of the offspring, none have been found.

Is there a link between hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) and the sex of the baby?  

(HG) – severe nausea and vomiting during first trimester is associated with raised concentration of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). A female predominance among the offspring of mothers with HG has been reported. However, the association between female fetuses and severity of HG remains uncertain. Female fetuses were also significantly associated with severe ketonuria and high urea



Reference:
Askling J, Erlandsson G, Kaijser M, Sickness in pregnancy and sex of child, The Lancet, 354, Dec 11, 1999
Montes et al, Hyperemesis Gravidarum and the sex of the offspring, Epidemiology. 12(1):123-124, January 2001
PC Tan, R Jacob, KF Quek, The fetal sex ration and metabolic, biochemical, haematological and clinical indicators of severity of hyperemesis gravidarum, BJOG, 113(6), 733-737

[drvolcanoe]

stabilo...firstly, well done! i notice that ur posts have references....definitely living up to the 'evidence based medicine (EBM)' concept

hyperemesis gravidarum...yea. But are there any other ways? its best to maintain the suspense, no? rather than rely heavily on ultrasound scan (USS) resultys as most people do & anticipate the arrival of a certain sex baby....sometimes to be disappointed when the doctor was wrong
I dont blame the doc...as USS is highly operator dependent.

here's some old-wive's tales i've heard & things i remember reading...how true? u decide

1/ The shape of the pregnant lady's tummy: sharp-boy; rounded-gal
2/ Boys are usually born in less than 40wks of pregnancy; Gals even up to post-date
3/ Pre-conception food intake - Boy: more salty products; Gal: more dairy based products

[alfred98]

I'm a gynae...but never seen this study B4??? Anyway hormone related....if boy the testosterone must be higher in circulation causing android related problems like pimples and skin changes...but not always present.....That's why old grandmum stories are not always acurate!!!!

[paramedicdeb]

Well in my opinion if God had of wanted us to know what sex the baby was going to be he would have told us. All the technology in the world was really not meant to identify the sex of a baby it is made to identify the health of the baby so who cares really what the gender will be whether it be old grandma's ideas or medical science it all comes down to having a healthy happy baby to take home, enjoy and mold into a model citizen of society. Being a mother of two I never found out the gender of either of my children but did have an inkling inside of me of what I thought the gender would be and bother pregnancies were very different. I had a bet with my husband for each of my children and I won both bets and spent the money on the babies rooms as it should be. I have a very healthy boy and a girl. Just my free two cents on the discussion.
Cheers
Paramedicdeb
 

[drvolcanoe]

nice to hear ur personal experience, deb

[amanda]

you're right deb! as a mother of 4, i really didn't care about the gender, as long as they're normal and healthy, that's it! well, i have 4 boys, and that make sense.

[anusmith]

Its absolutely true that gender does not make much difference. Babies are the most wonderful gifts given to Humans by the God. Moreover most of the evidences given regarding depicting of the gender of unborn baby is based on just analysis until and unless you go through proper scientific way which is not legal. So its better not to think about the gender and just for the precious gift of God.

[linjo]

There are some truth and some blunder in this.. My great grandfather was able to predict whether the child was male or female.But he also wasnt accurate 100%.Pale face indicate girl child?I havnt heard much about that