Women who experience stress before and during pregnancy are twice as likely to have girls as boys.
The claim was made in a medical study in Spain.
The University of Granada study included 108 women.
These women were monitored from the beginning of pregnancy until the birth of children, and stress levels before, during and after pregnancy were assessed through hair and various psychological tests.
The purpose of assessing stress levels before pregnancy was to determine if it had anything to do with the sex of the baby.
The levels of stress-related hormones in these pregnant women were assessed for hair samples from the 8th to the 10th week of pregnancy.
These samples were used to determine the rate of cortisol in the hair during the last 3 months (by growing a centimeter of hair in a month), indicating the intensity of stress before, during and after pregnancy.
The researchers said the results were surprising because they showed that women who gave birth to daughters had higher rates of cortisol in their hair during, during and after pregnancy.
In fact, the results suggest that mothers who experience more stress before conception are twice as likely to have girls as boys.
The results of the study were published in the medical journal Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease.
Earlier in 2019, a study by Columbia University in the United States stated that if a woman experiences severe physical or mental stress during pregnancy, she is more likely to give birth to a daughter instead of a son. There is also a risk of birth.
"The mother's womb is the baby's first home, and we already know that boys are more vulnerable there," the study said.
Naturally, an average of 105 boys are born for every 100 girls, but the study found that among pregnant women who suffer from high blood pressure and other symptoms of physical stress, the rate is as high as 9 girls per 100 girls. There are 4 boys.
Similarly, in women with stress, the rate is 2 boys for every 3 girls.
Keep in mind that the results of this new study explain the relationship between the birth rate of a boy or a girl, but it is not a line drawn on a rock.
