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Will you have a boy or girl? Research suggests mother's blood pressure may influence baby's gender

Posted at 5:41 PM, Jan 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-13 17:41:31-05

It turns out you don’t need to rely on old wives tales to predict the gender of your unborn baby.

Over 1,400 women in China had health factors taken into consideration before they became pregnant. These included blood pressure, weight, cholesterol levels and whether or not they smoked. 

The only health factor that seemed to matter when it came to determining the sex of a baby was the mother’s blood pressure.

Women who delivered boys often had higher blood pressure before they conceived compared with women who had girls. 

This is a very interesting study and I want to point out more research is needed to support these results.

Please do not try to manipulate your blood pressure in an attempt to have a boy or girl. You want to keep it at safe levels as uncontrolled blood pressure can be fatal. 

So here are my prescriptions:

  1. First off, visit your doctor to find out what your blood pressure numbers are.
  2. Make sure your weight is healthy as obesity increases your risk of high blood pressure.  
  3. Keep sodium levels in check. Stay under 1,500 mg a day.
  4. As always, eat healthy and stay active.

Is high blood pressure common?

It’s very common - 1 out of 3 Americans have high blood pressure. 

This increases your risk for heart disease and stroke. 

Many people don’t even know they have high blood pressure because there are no warning signs. So be sure to have it checked regularly and discuss the results with your doctor.