As soon as the cat ’s out of the purse that someone is trying for a sister , or is already pregnant , best believe they ’re going to hear some tall tales about what they ’re going through . “ Have you tried doing missional ? That gets you pregnant every time ! ” or “ Oh , [ insert bonkers pregnancy myth of choice here ] means you ’re blend to have a miss / boy ! ”
Being pregnant or judge to conceive is stressful enough without having to decipher all of that nonsense , so allow ’s put some widely hold conception and maternity myths to bed .
Myth 1: Different sex positions affect the chance of getting pregnant
Despite the democratic notion that lying back and thinking of England is one of the best ways to wind up with a baby , there ’s actually no evidence that hold the notion that any particularsex positioncan increase the chances of maternity .
“ Sperm can be regain in the cervical canal second base after ejaculation , regardless of coital position , ” excuse aconsensus opinion paperby an expert committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine . “ There is no grounds that coital place affects fecundability [ the probability of becoming pregnant within one menstrual cycle ] . ”
The same thing goes for positions after sex , like someone lay flat on their back with their peg in the air . “ Although many [ people ] think that continue supine for an interval after intercourse ease spermatozoon transport and prevent leakage of semen from the vagina , this belief has no scientific foundation , ” read the expert consensus .
Myth 2: You can naturally control the sex of your baby
There are plenty of old wives ’ narration out there about instinctive ways you may believe a baby of a particular sex : having gender in certain positions , eating certain food , and even doing the deed during certain Moon phases . These are all bogus , and so too is the idea that carefully timing sexuality can operate whether or not a child is male or female .
This timing myth actually has more modern pedigree . Back in the 1960s , American OB - GYN Dr Landrum Shettlesclaimedthat sperm cells carrying the Y chromosome are form differently , swim faster , and have a short lifespan than those carry the X chromosome .
He develop the Shettles Method – which involves having sexual urge a few days before ovulation to purportedly increase the likeliness of making a female baby , or on the days followingovulationto up the chances of a male baby .
The trouble is that scientific evidence does not back up the possibility that the method is based on ; besides the deoxyribonucleic acid they carry , research has shownthat there are no meaning difference between Adam and Y spermatozoan cells . Plus , sex is actuallyfar more complicatedthan just chromosomes .
But could timing still make a departure by some other means ? Also no . Despite someearlystudiessupporting the Shettles Method , later researchhasconcludedthat timing relation relative to ovulation does n’t have an influence on the baby ’s sex .
Myth 3: You can’t get pregnant from having sex on your period
You might have heard that it ’s inconceivable for someone to become pregnant from havingunprotected sexwhilst menstruating . After all , no ball to be seen and a womb run along inself - destruct modedoesn’t incisively seem like the ideal surroundings for that to happen .
The truth is that , while it ’s much less likely , it is n’t impossible . spermatozoan can stick around in the reproductive tract for around five days . That means if someone has a short cycle or ovulates early , the sperm could still be alert and kicking after their period is over to fertilize the egg – and bam , maternity .
Myth 4: You can predict a baby’s sex
In the same direction that there are pop myths about being able to control the sex of a baby , so too is there long - held lore about all the supposed way you may augur the sexual urge of a babe once someone is pregnant . You ’ve probably heard of some of them : the form of someone ’s blow , whether or not they ’ve had dawn sickness , hanging a hymeneals halo in front of their belly and seeing how it spins ( yes , really ) .
If that all sounds a bit in question , you ’d be correct . There’ssome evidencesuggesting a link between carrying a female fetus and ahigher reportedfrequency ofhyperemesis gravidarum – or severe nausea and throw up during pregnancy – but it ’s definitely not a surefire predictor . As for blow and wedding pack , there’sno reliable scientific backingto be found .
The more dependable agency to determine the sex of a sister is through medical examination , such as a mid - pregnancy ultrasound – which stillisn’t always 100 percent precise – to identify anatomical sex , or genetical examination .
Myth 5: Got heartburn? Baby’s gonna be hairy
If pregnancy ’s got someone reaching for the Tums on a regular footing , they might be recite that their baby is going to be born with a lot of hair . The upshot of a2006 studyseem to support the melodic theme , but there ’s a fair way to go before we can conclude that it ’s definitely the case .
The study asked 64 pregnant women to place the severeness of their heartburn during gestation . soon after their baby were born , autonomous coders then looked at photos of the baby ’ heads so as to place the volume of their hair .
The researchers ’ determination might come as a surprise . “ Contrary to expectations , it seem that an affiliation between heartburn severity during maternity and newborn hair does exist , ” they wrote , having determine that 23 out of the 28 women who account moderate or severe pyrosis had babies bear with average or above intermediate amount of fuzz .
However , there are a twosome of glaring limitations with this finding , one being that it ’s based on a low sample sizing – you ’d postulate more than 64 hoi polloi to reliably say that there ’s a family relationship between pyrosis and hairy babies . The pyrosis data was also self - reported , which seduce it less reliable ; some people ’s idea of severe heartburn might be meek for someone else .
In other language , we ca n’t say for sure that having intense heartburn during gestation think a baby will be born with delectable curl – so good not to give away any of those nice chapeau your granny knitted for you .
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The content of this clause is not specify to be a substitute for professional medical advice , diagnosing , or discourse . Always seek the advice of dependent health providers with questions you may have regarding medical weather .
