It is common to want to know the sex of your baby before birth. A sonographer can normally tell you the sex of your baby at your 20 week scan, as long as they can get a good view. Boys and girls have clear differences at this point. As your pregnancy progresses, the difference becomes still clearer and, provided there is plenty of amniotic fluid surrounding your baby and it doesn't have its feet tucked up between its legs, a third trimester scan can ordinarily show its sex.
Although, it is not so straight forward in the early weeks. During the early development of embryos, they all look the same even though the gender of a baby would have been genetically chosen at conception.
If you want to guess the sex of your baby there are lots of Old Wives tales. The fastness of the baby's heartbeat is a familiar one that is supposed to distinguish between a boy and girl. 140 BPM seems to be the commonly used threshold, or “try to tell between a galloping horse and a steam train.” But surely its common sense – a baby's heartbeat is normally irregular during development. If the baby is asleep or having a quiet time then it will be slower than when the baby is alert and active. This is all very normal. So a one off heartbeat reading won't give you any information since you probably don't know what the baby is doing at the time. Carrying the baby all up front means boy and on the hips mean girl is another well known one. How can this be? Women are all different shapes and sizes, what does it mean if there is a nice even spread all the way round?
It is possible, from about 11 weeks to see a slight difference between the sexes. Early gender detection has shown in studies to be a pretty hit and miss affair. Early research showed that, if babies that were lying in a position to see, very experienced sonographers using top-of-the-range scan machines got the gender correct in just 70 per cent of cases at 11 weeks, and in only over nine out of 10 cases at 12 weeks. In a more recent study, sonographers could only accurately distinguish the gender in 46 per cent of babies at 12 weeks and 80 per cent at 13 weeks. A gender scan this early may not be accurate.
It can be really distressing to find out later that you have been told the wrong gender. It is best to wait until your mid-pregnancy, detailed scan unless you need to know the gender because you have a family history of gender-linked genetic problems. The chance of getting the sex right then is a lot greater.
It is easier to distinguish the genitalia as the pregnancy develops. The sonographer can see things better with the incresed amniotic fluid; and with any luck, your baby's legs aren't folded into their chest.
This is why experts recommend going at least halfway through your pregnancy to get a more precise look at what your baby's sex is. A gender sacn determines the sex of your baby and is commonly performed after at least 18 weeks. A reputable company should spend time determining the gender so that they can be fairly definite in their decision, although there are no 100% guarantees with ultrasound. After all, it's no joke to buy blue only to find out it should have been pink!
For more help and advice on gender scan and to get a quote please contact 4D babyimages. We also specialise in 3D and 4D scans.
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