If like me you were curious to find out the baby’s gender you may have come across the nub theory for gender prediction.
What is a nub?
A nub is genital tubercule which appears before 15 weeks of gestation.
Both females and males have it.
This small visible part of the baby’s anatomy will develop into their gender type.
When can you determine gender with the nub theory?
The nub theory claims to determine gender between 12 to 14 weeks.
How to determine gender with the nub theory
According to the nub theory you would need a scan which has a profile view/side view.
The nub and the spine should be visible to analyse at what angle and shape the nub is pointing.
Boy nub vs Girl numb
The theory states that if the angle of the nub to spine is greater than 30 degrees , this will be a baby boy.
They also state if there’s a shadow on the top of the nub this will develop into a penis like feature.
However, if the angle of the nub to the spine is under 30 degrees straight or down, it is likely to be a baby girl.
Depending on gestational age you can look at the shape and length to possibly make out the gender.
Is the nub always visible?
How visible the nub is dependant on many factors such as:
- The baby’s position
- The amniotic fluid
- Abdominal thickness
- Scan quality and resolution
So when you are checking don’t be discouraged if you can’t tell. I had my scan at 10 + weeks and the spine wasn’t even visible so I couldn’t tell from our ultrasound pictures with the nub theory.
Did you know they have gender experts who can look at your ultrasound scan and try to determine gender.
Is the nub theory accurate?
The gender predicting experts claim this is a scientifically proven theory which provides you with the baby’s gender early before 14 weeks.
How soon can you apply the nub theory to your scan?
At 10 weeks and before 10 weeks, the genital tubercule appears the same in both boys and girls.
At 11 weeks depending on visibility may possibly predict but not accurately gender.
Between weeks 12 and 14 this will be the best time to predict gender.
After 14 weeks, a sonographer can predict gender but they tend to wait till the 20 week anomaly scan to be sure.
Having a technician analyze your scan will help differentiate between the actual nub and what may be the umbilical cord, leg/femur, foot and other parts of the baby’s body that may look like the nub.
What can I do to get a clear nub scan?
The trick is to be hydrated and start drinking plenty of fluids 1 week before your scan.
Also have a healthy snack before the scan so that the baby can move around and you get more angles.
If this method doesn’t work for you, you can try the Skull theory for gender prediction and trust me I had a look at that too.
This was so much fun. Have you tried to check the nub to determine the gender? Let me know in the comments section below.
If you enjoyed this post why not check out my experience at my 20 week scan for the anomaly scan NHS.
