How accurate are ultrasounds done at 34 weeks and over in predicting the gender of baby?
First off, the absence of a penis does not equal a girl. A technologist can pretty accurately predict a boy if a penis is seen and a girl if labial lips and clitoris is seen. By 34 weeks, it can be very hard to see many things in an OB ultrasound exam, including the sex. You would think that since the baby is bigger, things would be seen more clearly, but that is not true. We run into two different problems later in pregnancy. The baby has started to run out of room within your uterus. Your baby is outgrowing her home. Because of this, the baby is not able to stretch out, but the baby is in the fetal position. She is pretty curled up. If the baby does not have room to stretch, and spread her legs, it can be very hard to see the genitalia between the legs. Another problem is the bone structure of the baby. At this point, the bones are fairly ossified, and the bones are getting strong. Ultrasound cannot see through bones. When the sound beam hits bone, it produces a shadow behind it. Thi
