Blood Pressure BEFORE Conception Could Determine Baby’s Sex

Most pregnant mums think they can determine the gender of their baby by the size of their baby bump, or what foods they are craving. But one study says it may be determined way before you even conceive.

Researchers in the US have found a connection between a woman’s blood pressure in the weeks before conception and the sex of her baby.

More Reading: 12 Ways to Predict the Sex of Your Baby

Blood Pressure BEFORE Conception Could Determine Baby's Sex | Stay At Home Mum

Higher systolic blood pressure tended to result in boys, while lower blood pressure resulted in girls.

Systolic blood pressure is the top number of a BP reading and diastolic blood pressure is the bottom number that indicates the force in between beats.

Study Results

In this new study, led by Dr. Ravi Retnakaran of Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and published in the American Journal of Hypertension, 1,411 women in China who were planning to get pregnant were examined at about 26 weeks prior to getting pregnant.

The study results revealed that, for the women who went on to become pregnant, the higher their systolic blood pressure was at 26 weeks before pregnancy, the higher their chance was that they would deliver a boy.

On average, the 672 women who delivered girls had a systolic blood pressure of 103.3 mm Hg, versus the 106.0 mm Hg of the 739 women who delivered boys. The data also revealed that if a mother’s systolic blood pressure got as high as 123 mmHg, her chance of having a boy was 1.5 times higher than of having a girl.

According to Dr. Retnakaran, “[This] suggests that a woman’s blood pressure before conception is a previously unrecognized factor that is associated with her likelihood of delivering a boy or a girl.”

“This novel insight may hold implications for both reproductive planning and our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying the sex ratio in humans.”

The results certainly don’t mean that trying to raise (or lower) your BP will result in your preferred gender of choice.

No one actually knows how blood pressure may affect a baby’s sex, so please don’t try to mess with your BP in hopes of conceiving that little boy or girl you have always longed for.