Fetal heart rate doesn’t determine the gender of the unborn child, and so far so many moms to be are still convinced that their unborn child’s heart sound is an accurate sign of her or his gender. The FHR does correspond well with age before 9 weeks; on the other hand, there’s no difference at all between baby boys and baby girls that’s significant enough to be measured. As with all gender myths, though, they have a 50-50 chance of being right and the half that end up being right are what fuel the continuation of these fun myths.

However, it is not easy to resist this simple (and let’s face it, fun) test and ever so tempting to overanalyze the pitter patter of the small heart. In first trimester the reassuring sound of the heart beating is actually the one and only thing moms have got to show a child is even there.

Even though this particular myth has been kicking around for years, there’s not much solid evidence to support it. What’s more, there is only one study on the books which seems to lend any credence to the myth at all: a 1993 study at the University of Kentucky that concluded that the FHR can be used to accurately predict the gender of 74% of female fetuses and 91% of male fetuses.

There’re just 4 accurate ways to determine for sure what gender a mom is having: birth, ultrasound performed after 20 weeks, chorionic villus sampling and amniocentesis. However even an ultrasound scan depends on the physician performing it as well as the child’s cooperation. The child sometimes simply refuses to cooperate and the physician is unable to see the gender. Chorionic villus samplings as well as amniocentesis have their own risks.

Given that each and every other study on the books has reached the exact opposite conclusion, we would not paint the nursery blue or pink on this basis! The child’s gender can’t be predicted by heart rate. So do not fall for this old wives tale; even though some (and even some physicians) insist on repeating it, it has been disproven by many medical studies.