Having

a baby can induce a incredible anxiety in women because regardless of how much they read, it is hard to give yourself an obstetrics education in just a few months. Especially while you’re pregnant. This means families will have to seek the advice of an expert and may not have anyway to tell if their doctor is incorrect or making any mistakes. Everyone woman would like to believe her obstetrician graduated top of their class at the University of Washington, but in fact, many give care that seems like it came from one of the online doctoral programs.

In a blog entry for The New York Times, expectant mother Lisa Belkin said that she had once interviewed a country doctor in Texas who was reputed to be excellent at predicting a baby’s gender. His secret? He told the parents one gender and wrote the opposite gender on the patient’s chart. If the baby came out as promised, then he looked like a genius. If a baby of another gender came out, then he simply pointed to the chart and told the parents that they had been mistaken.

Fortunately, the

much more accurate ultrasound machine has replaced the good country doctor. Yet that ultrasound machine is run by a human, and humans inevitably make mistakes. In a discussion thread on the “What to Expect” a woman with the username 20Amberly11 disclosed that her ultrasound technician told her that her baby was a girl during her initial examination. When the she objected, the technician checked again and decided that the baby was a boy. What’s a mother to do when the ultrasound technician can’t decide the gender?

Sometimes, the human behind the ultrasound forgets how exciting and yet nerve-wracking going through an ultrasound can feel. User nikibebe of the BabyCenter community complained that her ultrasound technician started the session by criticizing her for emptying her bladder 45 minutes before the ultrasound. When the mother or her boyfriend had a question for the technician, they received a curt response. For example, when they asked her whether they were having a boy or a girl, the technician snapped, “I couldn’t see anything, but if I were you I wouldn’t be calling my baby a him if you know what I mean.”

An ultrasound should be a positive and special experience for parents. The ultrasound is the first glimpse of a new life and the first way that parents meet their children. However, the machine can’t interpret the results. That part remains the purview to its all-too-human operator. Sometimes, operators make the wrong gender predictions. And sometimes, they throw a bucket of cold water on what should be a beautiful experience.

Ultimately, ultrasound machines and their operators predict gender correctly 97 percent of the time. However, there’s always the danger that their prediction may be wrong. All parents can do is choose nursery colors that would work for either gender and try to hope for healthy, not a boy or a girl. And when it’s time for the baby shower, keep all of the gift receipts.