Have you heard this one? Pregnancy and baby Gender Myths

23 Dec 2014

Pregnancy myths and baby gender myths have existed since the earliest of times. Today, despite scientific awareness and baby gender tests that can accurately tell us the sex of the unborn baby, myths still abound and new old wives tales or false beliefs emerge regularly. We might remember Webster’s Duchess of Malfi in which the Duchess, suspected to be pregnant, is given apricots as it was believed that pregnant women would have an insatiable craving for apricots.

Let discuss some more baby gender Myths

Obviously, craving and pregnancy go hand in hand- and there is some truth in this. Pregnant women do get cravings for the weirdest, sometimes not exactly edible, foods. It seems pregnant women crave foods in order to get nutrients their body may be lacking- unfortunately, often, these food do not contain the nutrients required. Pica, a condition where pregnant women crave things such as soil, clay or cigarette ends, is considered to border on the harmful but pregnant women are often known to be afflicted by these cravings.

Sweet and sour foods: an old, unfounded old wives’ tale says that pregnant mothers expecting a girl will crave sweet things and on the other hand if they are expecting a boy they will crave pickles. Undoubtedly, we have already established that pregnant women have craving, but the food they crave is in no way an indication of the gender of the child they might give birth to.

Boy or Girl? Drano Test for Baby Gender Prediction

The Drano test is a method for determining baby gender which can be done at home. Drano is a brand of drain cleaner; it is composed of mainly sodium hydroxide – a strong alkali that is extremely corrosive and can cause severe burns to the skin. Mixing urine with a Drano solution provides a colour change, until the mixture has finished producing fumes it is best to move away. The test can obviously be done at home and it suggested after the 4^th month pregnancy. The colour changes are many and have been interpreted in many ways; here are some of them:

Bluish yellow = boy

Greenish brown = girl

Brownish = boy

No change = girl

Brown = boy

Green = girl

Certain fumes are given off which can be hazardous and pregnant women should not really be playing around with Drano.

The Drano test is not in any way scientifically validated, it can be dangerous. There will be people who swear by the test, but let’s face it, you have a 50% chance of getting it right. The best way to know the sex of your baby is by doing a DNA test.