Ask Our Expert - Wondering if Baby Will Have Hair

August 28, 2008

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Specializing in pregnancy and birth.


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Ask Dr. Greenfield Wondering if Baby Will Have Hair

QUESTION


Dear Dr. Greenfield, My husband and I have a bet going. If he wins, he gets parts to his classic car; if I win, I get a day at the spa after our third child is born. He says the baby will have a full head of hair and I say she will be bald. Can we tell from sonogram pictures if the baby has hair? — Jessica in Port Jefferson Station

ANSWER	October 12, 2001


Dear Jessica, The answer to this is a qualified "maybe." Sometimes, if a baby has lots of hair, the sonogram can get an angle where hair can be seen. This would never be true in the second trimester, since babies don't get hair on their heads until later in gestation. But if a sonogram is done towards the end of pregnancy, you may catch a glimpse of a full head of hair. Conversely, you could not use the sonogram to say that the baby is a baldy--hair may be present but not visible on ultrasound. It sounds like you and your husband have a playful relationship! But there is one thing I want to know--if the baby has an intermediate amount of hair, do neither of you get your wishes, or do you both? — by Marjorie Greenfield, M.D.

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