ULTRASONOGRAPHIC DETERMINATION OF FETAL SEX -A STUDY ON 630 CASES IN BANGLADESH

Abstract

Ultrasound examination of the fetal perineal area was done in third trimester of
pregnancy to determine the fetal sex. We carried out ultrasound on 621 consecutive
obstetrics patients who attended these centers for obstetric causes referred by their
physicians. Of them 612 had singleton pregnancy and 9 had twin pregnancy. We
attempted to determine the sex of all fetuses (n=630) based on demonstration of male
and female genitalia. In 585 pregnancies, fetal genitalia were well visualized – the
accuracy rate was thus 92.9%, while the rest 7.1% (n=45) could not be determined
which was limited by fetal presentation, position, volume of amniotic fluid and colonic
gas. Among the correctly determined cases 384 (65.6%) were male and the rest 201
(34.4%) were female. About 91% of the mother desired a male child in contrast to
only 3.1% of the mother who desired a female child prior to ultrasound examination.
Interesting enough mothers welcoming female child were all multigravida with previous
male child/children. It needs to mention here that no primae mother welcomed female
child. Some other aspects of prenatal sex determination have also been discussed in
thisarticle.

Key Words: Ultrasound, Fetal sex, Bangladesh