Everything You Need to Know About Carrying High & Carrying Low in Pregnancy

Carrying a baby in the womb is an incredible experience, but it can also be overwhelming and confusing, especially for first-time mothers. One of the most common questions that pregnant women have is about the position of the baby in the womb. Naturally, pregnant women wonder whether they are carrying low in pregnancy or high. Some people consider it to be a mere myth, while others believe that the position of carrying the fetus has a lot of significance. This article will help you understand if this is truly a myth or if little truth is associated with the old beliefs about carrying low or carrying high in pregnancy.

How are you carrying?

Carrying means the baby's position in the womb or the bulging shape of the abdomen as the baby grows. In other words, carrying high or carrying low in pregnancy means the position and shape of the protruding stomach. It has a lot of scientific and medical significance that everyone should be aware of. With proper education, it will be possible for people to discard the myths and falsified beliefs about the baby’s gender.

Reasons for your carrying: small, low, high, large, or wide

Let us understand what carrying small, low, high, large or wide means and what are the possible reasons behind these positions:

1. Meaning of carrying small

Sometimes, the abdominal bulge commonly termed the baby bump, is smaller in size. It is a sign of a healthy pregnancy, showing that the uterine muscles have stretched to the maximum limit, and the baby is also growing as expected. Sometimes, carrying small also means that the baby is positioned in a curled manner.

2. Meaning of carrying large

On the contrary, when someone is carrying big, it means the abdominal muscles are quite weak, which is why they have stretched outwards with the growing fetus. Also, sometimes, the uncontrolled non-cancerous growth of fibroids in the uterus can increase the baby bump size. Another reason for the bigger baby bump is carrying twins or triplets. Usually, when there is more than one fetus, fetal growth is somewhat slow to ensure they can have enough space within the amniotic sac to move around. However, the abdominal bulge sometimes becomes larger to accommodate two or more fetuses together.

3. Meaning of carrying low

If someone is carrying low during pregnancy, it means the abdominal muscles around the cervix and the lower portion of the uterus are weak and have expanded further. Due to the weight of the fetus and the amniotic fluid, the bulge grows downward. This usually happens when a woman gets pregnant for the second or third time because the abdominal muscles have already stretched to a certain limit during the first pregnancy, and the expansion is irreversible. Also, since the baby's head is usually towards the cervix, the bulge starts growing downwards with fetal growth.

4. Meaning of carrying high

Carrying high in pregnancy means the abdominal muscles haven't stretched to a better extent. As a result, the fetus grows as usual, and the amniotic fluid volume hasn't crossed the threshold. It is usually observed during the first pregnancy when the muscles stretch for the first time to accommodate the growing fetus.

5. Meaning of carrying wide

Babies are usually positioned vertically, with their heads pointing towards the cervix. However, the fetus can change the position and lie horizontally. In this case, it is said that the pregnant woman is carrying wide.

You may also like: What Is the Truth About the Size of a Pregnant Belly?

Myths of carrying high or carrying low in pregnancy

In earlier days, women used to decide the baby’s gender based on the shape of the bulging stomach of the pregnant woman. For instance, if someone was carrying low in pregnancy, it was believed that the baby is a girl. On the other hand, if the woman carries high, she would give birth to a baby boy.

This is just a belief handed over from one generation to another. Even after the world has become civilized and scientific explanations exist, the belief still prevails in many cultures and communities. Many research studies have revealed that carrying high in pregnancy or low has nothing to do with the baby's gender. After all, gender is based on the genetic code of the chromosomes that undergo fertilization.

For instance, if the fetus has X and Y chromosomes, the gender will be a boy. On the contrary, for the X and X chromosome pair, the gender is a girl. Also, neither parent will be responsible for the gender of the child because the chromosome pair formed is completely based on randomization. So, the belief of carrying high in pregnancy means having a boy or carrying low means having a girl should be unruled.

You may also like: Baby Girl Belly vs Baby Boy Belly: Can Your Belly's Shape or Size Tell You're Having a Boy?

Conclusion

Whether a woman is carrying low in pregnancy or high, it has nothing to do with the belief of knowing the gender of the fetus through the bump position and size. The appearance of the baby bump is completely based on fetal growth and size, the pregnant woman's height, the abdominal muscles' stretchability, and other factors. Therefore, eliminating this belief will be much better as one can easily detect any abnormality in the carrying position by comparing it to the expected results.

References

1. Perry DF et al.; (1999). Are women carrying “basketballs” really having boys? Testing pregnancy folklore; NCBI

2. Hammond, C. (2012). Can you predict a baby’s sex from the size of the bump? BBC