Is salivary ferning a sign of pregnancy?

Answer 1

You choose which study to believe:

Dipartimento di Scienze Biochimiche, Università di Firenze. We found that the fern leaf crystallisation of human saliva is a non-specific phenomenon, independent on the action of estrogenic hormones. Salivary ferning can be obtained in practice during the whole menstrual cycle and occurs in the saliva of postclimateric, pregnant and prepuberal women. Even the saliva of male subjects gives invariably the ferning reaction. In conclusion, salivary ferning does not seem a reliable method to establish a woman's fertile period. PMID: 8171923 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Or:

The Icfai Journal of Life Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 7-15, August 2007

Abstract:

The present study aims at determining the scientific reliability of salivary ferning pattern as a method to detect ovulation in normal women. The saliva was collected from unmarried women in the age group of 20-30 years. The saliva, collected at three different phases (i.e., preovulatory (6th-12th day), ovulatory (13th-14th day) and postovulatory (15th-28th day)), was smeared in the glass slide and observed under microscope.

The salivary fern pattern was compared with the different phases of the menstrual cycle. In the ovulation phase, estrogen crystals which formed clearly were observed in saliva, whereas in other phases few crystalline structures were visible. The results suggest that the appearance of fern formation may be due to the appearance of surge of estrogenic activity. This is confirmed by the estimation of electrolytes namely sodium, potassium, and subsequently estrogen. The present study emphasizes, that the salivary fern pattern can be used for ovulation prediction, and the test may, therefore, be clinically useful in the prediction of ovulation after suitable modification.