Are Pregnancy Old Wives Tales True?!

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By Carly LangfordOct 14, 2021

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Have you ever wondered if those Pregnancy Old Wives Tales are true? The ones that say if you are carrying a boy you'll carry low, or if you're having a girl she will steal your glow. Here at Bubnest HQ we have been very curious lately about whether or not there is any fact to these Old Wives Tales and if they can actually identify babies sex.

So we reached out and asked our beautiful Bubnest community about it. We wanted to get the low down on our wonderful Bubnest Mum's experience with pregnancy and if they noticed any differences or similarities in their subsequent pregnancies.
We focused on what we felt were the four most talked about pregnancy Old Wives Tales - the way in which you carry your belly babe, how 'glowing' your skin is during pregnancy, morning sickness and pregnancy cravings - and these were the findings.

Are You Carrying Low?! Then It's a Boy!
FALSE

According to our Bubnest community close to 50% of Mums didn't feel as though they were 'carrying low' during their boy pregnancy, with over 7% saying they actually were carrying higher in their boy pregnancy than previous girl pregnancy.
Further comments made by our community included that baby bumps looked identical regardless of the babies sex, however a few mums did mention gaining more weight during their boy pregnancy, resulting in a bigger baby belly as well.

A Baby Girl Will Steal All Your Pregnancy Glow!
A little bit TRUE a little bit FALSE

The feedback from our Bubnest community showed that although over 50% of Mums did feel that they never got the 'glow' during their girl pregnancy, 38% still felt that they did. About 5% felt their skin was glowing more during their girl pregnancy than previous boy pregnancy, but another 5% felt that their skin was worse off. The majority of additional comments were made about having dry and scaly skin in girl pregnancies, as well as brittle hair and nails. Although there was a couple of Mum's who experienced the opposite.

Morning, Or All Day, Sickness?! Hello Baby Girl!
A little bit TRUE, a little FALSE

The results showed clearly that the majority of those having a girl experienced morning sickness, however around 45% of those having a boy also experienced morning sickness. When Mums were comparing subsequent and different sex pregnancies, comments varied from individuals experiencing worse sickness with a girl, to no sickness at all during their girl pregnancy or even that they experienced the same symptoms in both pregnancies.

Cravings - Salty and Sour, It's A Boy! Sweet All Day, You're Having A Girl!

FALSE for boys, a little bit TRUE a little bit FALSE for girls

It seems that craving sweets is really common in both boy and girl pregnancies. Those carrying baby boys said they craved sweet foods just as much as they craved savoury, however the majority of those carrying baby girls craved sweet foods over savoury.

So there you have it, it seems that most Old Wives Tales are tales indeed, more fiction over fact. Each individual appears to have a unique range of symptoms when it comes to their pregnancies, and although some symptoms may be slightly more common depending on the sex of the baby, they definitely aren't consistent enough to determine the babies sex. Perhaps Old Wives Tales are something that should be considered abit of fun, taken lightheartedly, leaving the identifying of babies sex up to the experts.