There are no evidence-based antenatal signs that you’re pregnant with a girl, but there are lots of old wives’ tales that can be fun to share. You can also ask the sonographer at your anomaly scan (usually between 18 and 21 weeks of pregnancy on the UK’s NHS) which gender your baby is, as they should be able to tell, provided the baby’s position allows this. There are private healthcare providers that may give you good-quality gender information earlier, but this will also be based on a scan, not on one of the signs you may have heard about. There are also a number of gender identification/prediction kits available to purchase that promise to predict your baby’s gender with 99% accuracy after just weeks of pregnancy by DNA-testing a blood sample you post to the manufacturers’ labs. None of these options are 100% accurate in every case, but they are still more likely to be so than the myths below. Here are some of those old wives’ tales we mentioned, including a few that have a little research on them:

Severe morning sickness

“Girls make mum sick!” is an accusation levelled against many a growing bump. However, while some studies suggest that hyperemesis gravidarum, the scary-sounding Latin term for severe pregnancy sickness, is more likely if you are expecting a baby girl or twins, it is not considered proof you are having a baby girl, twin girls, or a set of twins in which one is female. You may remember that the Princess of Wales told the Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast that she had bad morning sickness with both her boys and her girl.

Spots, blackheads, a shiny forehead, brittle nails, bleeding gums, dull hair...

“Girls steal mum’s beauty” is another (sort of mean) response to pregnancy symptoms some women experience. Skin, hair, nail, and gum issues are really a result of hormonal changes, particularly increasing oestrogen and progesterone, which peak in your third trimester. Every pregnancy is different, and some women will think their hair, skin, and nails have seldom looked better than in pregnancy. Skin that is especially oily or spotted can be treated safely with over-the-counter products, including beta-hydroxy acid and benzoyl peroxide, though adapalene and other retinoids are to be avoided. Tea tree oil and witch hazel are both considered safe in pregnancy but are also very sensitising, and their widespread use in over-the-counter products is not an indication that they won’t inflame or otherwise make your skin more sensitive. Do not take any acne medications that you need to swallow if you’re pregnant or think you might be pregnant, even if you’ve used these before. Always ask your doctor before taking anything when you’re pregnant.

Dull or lank hair can usually be perked up with sulphate-free hair care and styling products when you’re pregnant. You can also safely colour your hair in pregnancy, as long as the products are not black-henna-based in any way. You may also like to avoid at-home colouring your hair yourself, so you avoid potentially inhaling the product, which can cause nausea and discomfort.

Poor dental hygiene and dental problems can impact your health and that of your pregnancy, so be sure to maintain a proper oral health regimen and have any concerns checked out. Alcohol-free products are best for sensitive or bleeding gums. You should also check with your healthcare team about whether you are entitled to free or subsidised dental care where you are.

You’re carrying “high.”

The shape and position of your bump have more to do with your physiology, weight, and the size of your baby than the gender. The strength of your abdominal muscles can impact how high your bump appears. Taller people also tend to carry their babies a bit higher. The look and size of your bump are not indications of gender either.

You crave sweet stuff.

“Sugar and spice and all things nice” may be permanently on your shopping list while you are pregnant, but there is no evidence that the foods you want to eat reflect your baby's gender. As an example, supermodel Miranda Kerr told Vogue.com she craved mango and citrus fruits during her most recent pregnancy and later gave birth to her fourth baby boy! You can’t influence the baby’s gender with what you eat, either, though some small studies suggest that women who consume more calories and eat breakfast cereal daily before conception are more likely to give birth to sons, while women with low blood sugar may be more likely to give birth to girls.

Your “pregnancy brain” is pretty sharp!

The maternal brain goes through fascinating, hormonally-induced changes in pregnancy that researchers have been able to monitor in some detail in recent years. Grey matter decreases and white matter increases. We don’t know for sure why nature wants this to happen, but researchers surmise that the grey matter is becoming refined in a way that will enhance a mother’s focus on and connection with her baby, while increased matter allows for faster response processing and enhances communication between the two. Research also suggests that while the white matter returns to its pre-pregnancy state around 24 months after birth, the grey matter changes can remain as long as six years. All this is to explain that what you may have heard about girl babies making mum less foggyheaded and clumsy than boys is wrong—pregnancy is a time of high neuroplasticity in every case, though each mum’s brain is unique. Cognitive changes in pregnancy are hard to predict and not your fault, though if you feel they relate to sleep or mental health problems, it’s important to speak to your doctor or midwife as soon as possible, especially if you are becoming more prone to falls.

You seem to be gaining pregnancy weight all over!

These tales seem to want to blame girls for making mum look her worst! This one centres on the parts of the body that get bigger as the weeks go by—if most of the pregnancy weight goes on your bump, the story goes, it must be a boy, but if you gain it all over, it’s a girl in there. In reality, your pregnancy weight gain is shaped by your diet, genes, age, physical activity, previous fitness level, and hormones. And don’t forget that pregnancy can also come with swelling and water retention that make you look and feel bigger. In Victoria Beckham’s book That Extra Half an Inch: Hair, Heels, and Everything in Between (Penguin, 2007), which was published before she got pregnant with her daughter, she mentions wanting to conceal pregnancy weight she gained in her back with her boys.

You’re sleeping on your right side.

Sleep in pregnancy can be inconsistent, becoming more difficult as your bump grows. While it’s important to avoid sleeping on your back after 28 weeks (research shows that doing this can double your risk of stillbirth), you should do anything else you need to be comfortable. Even sleeping on your stomach is considered safe, though it is unlikely to be comfortable after the first trimester. Feeling more comfortable on your right side is not proof that your baby will be a girl. You don’t need to buy any special equipment for sleep in pregnancy; hopefully your partner will help you out with a pillow fort or some other support, but if you do want to invest in something, Unii’s Sleep Expert Sam Sadighi recommends choosing a pillow with a beanbag texture that allows you to manipulate the shape for your comfort. Pillows that are formed into a banana or other shape can make it harder to settle.

Your baby’s heartbeat is over 140 beats per minute.

This myth says that it's a girl if your baby’s heartbeat is faster than 140 beats per minute. As a gauge, 110 to 160 beats per minute is considered a healthy range for any baby. The sound of your baby’s heartbeat is one of the most exciting things about your antenatal appointments, but that speed of that swooshing is a reflection of their gestational age, activity at the time of the scan, and physiological factors, not their gender. A heartbeat faster than 160 bpm can indicate your baby is in distress.

There are also some very creative tests for gender. Have you tried using a strand of your hair threaded through your wedding ring to guess? Hold the suspended band in front of your bump. A ring that moves in circles is supposedly a girl, though you’ve probably guessed this isn’t at all scientific. The Mayan method of adding your birth year to the one your baby is due is similarly hit and miss—if the resulting number is even, it’s supposed to be a girl. The fun of all these myths is that (as long as you’re expecting just one baby), there is a 50% chance that the “result” is correct. Guessing while you wait might kill some time, but you can also check out a Unii journey, article, or podcast episode for evidence-based information on all things baby.

For more advice on taking care of yourself in pregnancy, labour, and birth, check out Unii’s Antenatal Classes, with prenatal video episodes taught by senior NHS midwives, an award-winning obstetrician and gynaecologist, and six other leading healthcare experts. Only at unii.com.

Antenatal Signs That You Are Pregnant with a Baby Girl

Unii busts some myths about predicting your baby's gender.