finding out the sex of an unborn baby

taxi36

Does any-one have any experience of finding out the sex of their unborn baby from a scan at any of the hospitals in Belfast (The Mater , The Royal or even Antrim).

My Daughter is expecting a baby and had chosen to have it delivered in the Mater as this is where her Mum gave birth to all of our Children but she has been told by a friend that the Mater have a policy of NOT revealing the sex of the unborn baby incase thet get it wrong.

Can any new parents confirm if this is correct? Did you give birth in the Mater and they were able to tell you the sex at you're scan?

I know that the Royal DO tell you if you want to know as my Wifes work mate has just became a Grandparent and her Daughter was told at her 20 week scan.

My Daughter really wants to know what she is going to have (impatient I know) and has said that she would change which hospital she uses if it means that she finds out sooner.

So what I guess i am asking is did you recently have a baby in the Mater and were they willing to reveal the sex?

Thanks for any advice.

I have posted this in the Northern Irealnd board too in the hope that I can get as many responses as possible.

pigpen

A lot of hospitals won't tell you now. You can get a private scan done in some areas which will tell you the sex from about 16 weeks.. these are usually about £80+ but you get pics and they often do a 4D scan as well. Have a look online at what is available in your area... there is nothing here otherwise I would have one booked b now even though our hospital will tell you i'll be 22 weeks before I have mine and I want to know right now!

miserly_mum

I had my last three babies at Antrim Area Hospital. They will tell you if you ask about the sex but they will not state 100% that it is either one sex or the other, just that it appears to be ....boy or girl. Having said that they were spot on with my 3 boys but I think that was because there was very obviously a set of testicles hanging there on all 3 scans lol.

A neighbour of mine was told she was having a boy at antrim and went out and bought everything in blue only to deliver a wee girl a few months later so it isn't always accurate. So i'd have to agree with Pigpen and suggest a private scan if you want to be absolutely sure of the sex as the general hospital scan can be a bit hit and miss.

andy.m_2

it saddens me that everyone needs to know these days as to the sex of the unborn baby.

Apricot

andy.m wrote: »

it saddens me that everyone needs to know these days as to the sex of the unborn baby.

What difference does it make to you that other people find out the sex of their babies?

Turtle2010

Aberdeen Maternity Hospital will not tell you the sex of your baby. Seems daft. I can go 1 hour down the road to Dundee and they'll tell me for nothing but hey ho.

We paid for a private 4D scan with the sex scan and we're having a boy!! We're over the moon and I was so glad to set everyone straight....it's not a girl! Trust me, everyone thought it would be a girl....from family weird trends of babies to how my bump was sitting haha! I wouldn't have cared either way, it's our bubba regardless. My biggest worry was Spina Bifida as it runs in the family, but all is well.

We found out the sex because I am too much of a control freak, I couldn't not know. Hubby is the same. Plus, living on a budget, it makes things so much easier to plan. It's OUR decision at the end of the day and I would never down anyone for not wanting to know, and I don't expect anyone to give me a hard time. It's no-one elses business but ours.

We knew that the scan is not 100% so if bubbs turns out to be a girl, no huge disaster, there's always a quick lick of pink paint for the nursery and some dylon for the babygrows!!

pigpen

andy.m wrote: »

it saddens me that everyone needs to know these days as to the sex of the unborn baby.

I think if you check on the pregnancy thread for example you will see a substantial number choose not to find out..

OrkneyStar

Apricot wrote: »

What difference does it make to you that other people find out the sex of their babies?

I agree about not finding out, though it is a personal thing. They would not tell us up here anyway, although apparently they used to! I think if you do want to find out perhaps you should pay for a longer scan/second scan...as the 20 week scan is an anomaly scan, not a sexing scan.
It was such a nice surprise when DS was born, we got to SEE what he was in real life as he was dangling above me (was a c-section!). I think the excitement of not knowing, and wondering, got me through the last few weeks (he was 15 days overdue!).
I do wonder why the OP's relative would change hospital based on baby sex or am I reading this wrong ?

Apricot

OrkneyStar wrote: »

I agree about not finding out, though it is a personal thing. They would not tell us up here anyway, although apparently they used to! I think if you do want to find out perhaps you should pay for a longer scan/second scan...as the 20 week scan is an anomaly scan, not a sexing scan.
It was such a nice surprise when DS was born, we got to SEE what he was in real life as he was dangling above me (was a c-section!). I think the excitement of not knowing, and wondering, got me through the last few weeks (he was 15 days overdue!).
I do wonder why the OP's relative would change hospital based on baby sex or am I reading this wrong ?

I think it would be a lovely suprise not to find out but for me there were practical reasons why I wanted to know (eg. My sister had a lot of girls things which I have borrowed but I would have had to buy it all if I was having a boy). Anyone with the willpower not to find out is amazing to me I must say but I just wondered why the poster was saddenned by people's decisions to find out the sex.

I would have been quite willing to pay for a gender scan - I tried to convince my OH to let us get one anyway as I didn't want to wait until the 20 week scan to find out!

OrkneyStar

Apricot wrote: »

I think it would be a lovely suprise not to find out but for me there were practical reasons why I wanted to know (eg. My sister had a lot of girls things which I have borrowed but I would have had to buy it all if I was having a boy). Anyone with the willpower not to find out is amazing to me I must say but I just wondered why the poster was saddenned by people's decisions to find out the sex.

I would have been quite willing to pay for a gender scan - I tried to convince my OH to let us get one anyway as I didn't want to wait until the 20 week scan to find out!

Each to their own.
We had unisex clothes of our own and also the borrow of a pile of unisex/boy/girl things from friends who had one of each . DS's room was blue colours so lucky he was a boy lol, buggy was grey!
If I had wanted to know I would have dad to do it on a trip to the mainland.

PolishBigSpender

miserly_mum wrote: »

A neighbour of mine was told she was having a boy at antrim and went out and bought everything in blue only to deliver a wee girl a few months later so it isn't always accurate. So i'd have to agree with Pigpen and suggest a private scan if you want to be absolutely sure of the sex as the general hospital scan can be a bit hit and miss.

They can be wrong in a hospital or privately, it's just not a 100% certain method. But I think it's weird they don't want to tell people the sex of their own baby! I'd be so curious, I'd want to know!