What makes you carry low

If the baby is breech, its head being right underneath your ribs can make your bump seem a little higher. But no matter how your baby is positioned, as you get closer to giving birth, a shift takes place.

People who see a pregnant woman 's low belly in that time may assume she's carrying either a boy or girl based on what they've heard, but really, it's just the body preparing to give birth. If you're really curious about the sex of your baby, there are reliable ways of finding out.

Doctor-administered blood tests and ultrasounds are only getting more precise, and there are even over-the-counter urine tests you can try, although their accuracy is more up in the air. Also, if you're pregnant due to the magic of IVF , you can find out extra early. With all that said, there's nothing inherently harmful about wondering whether the way you carry is a hint as to what sex your baby will be.

If you're holding off on finding out but love guessing based on these legends, have at it! SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.

She has spent her career as a reporter and editor covering people's lives with a focus on wellness. Learn more. A leading indicator of our success is the feedback we get from our patients.

If you are pregnant and showing, chances are your friends, family, and even strangers are making guesses about whether you are having a girl or a boy. Some of them believe they are more than guessing; they feel they can determine the sex of your baby simply by looking at you.

Women may also refer to their own pregnancies or pregnancies of their friends, and they insist the sex could be easily and accurately determined by how the baby was carried. Generally, people believe that if the baby is high in the womb, you are going to have a girl; if you are carrying low, it is a boy. But others insist that girls are carried low and boys high. Is either true? Predicting gender by how the pregnancy is being carried can be traced back to old English folklore.

According to the legend, women carried their daughters high and their sons low. The reason for this, according to the myth, is that boys tend to be more independent and stay low in the abdomen, while girls need more protection and are carried higher. But like many myths, this one has become blurred throughout the years. Many women insist the opposite—that girls tend to be carried lower and boys higher. Another variant of this classic myth is that if you carry the weight all out front like a basketball , it will be a boy; if you carry it equally distributed, the baby will be a girl.

Because the legend had lasted through the centuries, scientists set out to determine if there was any truth to this folklore. A group of researchers from Johns Hopkins University conducted a study in which they assessed pregnant women who did not know the sex of their babies.

Their findings were published in an issue of Birth. And the women whose predictions were based on psychological criteria, such as dreams or feelings, were significantly more likely to be correct than those who based their predictions on how they were carrying the baby.

If not the sex of the baby, what does determine how a woman will carry her pregnancy? It depends on a number of factors and will likely be different from pregnancy to pregnancy. The position of the baby, the size and shape of the uterus, and the strength of the abdominal muscles they tend to lose strength in subsequent pregnancies can all determine if a pregnancy will be carried, high, low, out front, or all over.

If you want to guess the sex of your baby, using old wives tales and folklore can be fun. Popular beliefs are that babies who are carried low, who have slower heartbeats, and whose mothers are spared from morning sickness are boys. Also, amniocentesis poses certain risks to your baby, which is why it is usually performed only in higher risk pregnancies.

American Pregnancy Association website. Shorter women look as though they carry lower due to the overhang of their bellies. Carrying lower during a second pregnancy is also common, since the muscles that supported your belly during your first pregnancy become weaker and more slack. While women who carry high may labor their breathing, women who carry low tend to have more back pain and pelvic pressure. This can cause deep discomfort, especially when on your feet for long periods of time.

With the added pressure on your pelvis, you'll likely have to urinate more urgently and frequently. When you carry your baby low, your comfort should be a priority.

If you plan to be on your feet or your lower back is sore, plan frequent breaks where you can sit and remove some of the pressure from your lower back. Using a back pillow in the small of the back can also offer added support when you're seated. Completing Kegel exercises can help to strengthen your pelvic muscles for less pressure and fewer accidents while pregnant; just squeeze the pelvic muscles responsible for stopping the flow of urine for 10 seconds.