Old wives’ tales are centuries old, but some persist to this day, despite the medical knowledge and technology we have at our fingertips. Such tales are especially popular when predicting a baby’s gender. Below are some of the most popular “methods” used to find out if an expectant woman is having a boy or a girl.
Five Amusing Tricks to Find Out Gender of Baby That Are Old Wives’ Tales
The ironic thing about these myths is that believers claim an accuracy rate of 50%. That’s the same as flipping a coin!
1. Baking Soda Test
Baking soda reacts with some acids and causes them to fizz and bubble. Some theorize that the acidity or pH of a pregnant woman’s urine changes based on the sex of her unborn baby. If the urine fizzes when mixed with baking soda, the woman is supposedly having a boy, but if it remains unchanged, she’s expecting a girl. In reality, what a woman eats or drinks the day of the test affects the urine’s pH level and how it fizzes (or doesn’t fizz) when mixed with baking soda.
2. Food Cravings
This one may originate from the nursery rhyme about girls being sugar and spice and everything nice. The theory is that an expectant mom with a sweet tooth is going to have a girl. If she craves a hearty dinner of steak and potatoes, she’s having a boy. Food cravings are a reality of many women’s pregnancy for reasons not fully understood, but the one certainty is that they have nothing to do with the sex of the baby.
3. The Key Test
Some believe if a mom-to-be picks up a key by the narrow end, she’s expecting a girl, and if she picks it up by the round end, it’s a boy. Say what?
4. The Pee Test
Home urine tests are a fairly accurate way to confirm pregnancy, but they definitely can’t reveal the sex of unborn babies. Even so, companies still sell gender urine tests and claim all you need to do is pee on a stick and wait to see if it turns pink or blue. Other tests involve peeing in a cup and adding a special chemical mix, like drain cleaner, to the urine to see what color it turns.This is both inaccurate and potentially dangerous!
5. Maternal Intuition
In a study on 1,026 pregnant women, 40% had an intuitive feeling about the gender of their unborn baby. As a group, they correctly predicted the gender 51% of the time, which is only 1% better than flipping a coin.
When Can You Determine the Gender of a Baby?
The American Pregnancy Association states that gender can be confirmed by ultrasound at 18–20 weeks, which coincides with when the majority of doctors perform this test. A recent study found sonography was 100% accurate after 14 weeks of gestation.
How to Know Baby Gender without Ultrasound?
The only accurate way to predict your baby’s gender before an ultrasound isn’t through old wives’ tales, but with the Peekaboo™ test from DNA Diagnostics Center. This innovative home test improves your pregnancy journey by transforming future knowledge into current knowledge. With a small blood sample, the Peekaboo Gender Test can determine if pink or blue is in your future with 99.4% accuracy. In addition to being accurate, it’s easy and affordable – which explains why it’s the only early baby gender reveal test endorsed by the American Pregnancy Association.
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