Publication Date
2016
Journal Title
J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To predict the sex of newborns using first trimester fetal heart rate (FHR). METHODS: This was a retrospective review of medical records and ultrasounds performed between 8 and 13 weeks of gestation. Continuous variables were compared using Student's t-tests while categorical variables were compared using Chi-square test. RESULTS: We found no significant differences between 332 (50.7%) female and 323 (49.3%) male FHRs during the first trimester. The mean FHR for female fetuses was 167.0 +/- 9.1 bpm and for male fetuses 167.3 +/- 10.1 bpm (p = 0.62). There was no significant difference in crown rump length between female and male fetuses (4.01 +/- 1.7 versus 3.98 +/- 1.7 cm; p = 0.78) or in gestational age at birth (38.01 +/- 2.1 versus 38.08 +/- 2.1 weeks; p = 0.67). The males were significantly heavier than females (3305.3 +/- 568.3 versus 3127.5 +/- 579.8 g; p < 0.0001) but there were no differences in the proportion of small for gestational age (SGA), average for gestational age (AGA) and large for gestational age (LGA) infants. CONCLUSIONS: We found no significant difference between the female and male FHR during the first trimester in contrast to the prevailing lay view of females having a faster FHR. The only statistically significant difference was that males weighed more than female newborns.
Volume Number
29
Issue Number
5
Pages
803-6
Document Type
Article
EPub Date
2015/03/11
Status
Faculty
Facility
School of Medicine
Primary Department
Obstetrics and Gynecology
PMID
DOI
10.3109/14767058.2015.1019457