How is due date calculated?
Pregnancy due date is the date when a woman is expected to face labor and
deliver baby. Due date of the pregnancy can be calculated on the basis of the
date of conception. The date of conception falls usually 20 days after the
process of ovulation. Hence the due date falls of pregnancy falls 38 weeks after
conception.
Techniques of calculating pregnancy
The technique of ultrasound also gives an idea about your baby’s gestational
age. Ultrasound is an examination that is conducted for a pregnant woman to know
about the baby’s condition in the womb. It also helps to know the gestational
age. It is completely a painless procedure. This test can be conducted within
five to six weeks of your last menstrual period.
By the method of ultrasound the exact date of last menstrual period can be
known. And on this basis, the due date of pregnancy is known. Doctors usually
suggest to conduct sonography within the period of 8 to 18 months. Some woman
face irregular menstrual cycles. They cannot exactly determine their due date of
pregnancy. When they undergo ultrasound test, they can calculate the exact due
date. But still, if the size of the baby is small or big adequate information
cannot be provided about the baby.
It is difficult to know the exact date of your conception. Usually the last date
of your previous menstrual cycle is taken into consideration and the due date is
calculated.
Today, due to the advance in technology and the invention of internet, it is
possible to calculate the due date of pregnancy online.
The best way to calculate your due date is adding 280 days beginning from the
first day of last menstrual cycle.
The techniques of calculating the due dates of your pregnancy existed since
olden days. In 1950, Dr.
Naegele, circa was the first person to calculate the due date. He determined
that the normal period of gestation of a woman was 266 days. He found out that
the cycle usually lasted for 28 days and the woman usually ovulated on the 14th
day of her cycle.
He calculated the due date by using the following formula:
((LMP + 7 days)
- 3 months) = Due Date
But the doctor did not take some points into consideration. Not
every woman ovulates on the 14th day of her ovulation. There are many
other factors that help to determine the due date such as care, proper nutrition
and the other screening factors.
Recently, the doctors have recommended that 15 days should be
added if a woman is to undergo a cesarean delivery. Even the first time to-be
moms face labor process 10 days late.
Anyhow, ultrasound is considered to be the most effective theory
for calculating the due date. The woman should conduct the ultrasound test
during the first six months of her pregnancy or else after six months the exact
due date cannot be calculated.
Medical experts say that there are several factors of determining
a due date. The other factors that determine the due date are:
-
the first time when the mom feels the movement
of the baby.
-
Heart tones heard from the Doppler
and statascope.
-
The uterus of the baby is
measured.
There are times when the due date given by the doctors turns out to be wrong
such as implantation bleeding etc. but it is important for a woman to know her
accurate due date because she can prevent misleading parental test results like
maturity.
Most of the medical experts recommend doctors not to announce the exact due date
but to tell the woman about the monthly frame such as ‘By the end of March’ or
‘beginning of April’. But if the woman knows the exact due date he will develop
anxiety as the day approaches.
If the due date passes away without the experience of labor, then the woman
develops more anxiety. Most of the woman face labor after completion of 42
weeks. The American College
of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG suggest that if the woman does not face
labor even after 42 weeks, then labor should be induced to her.
Anyhow, it is a difficult task for a doctor to tell the exact due
date because the woman does not accurately know the date of her conception. He
can just approximately tell you the date of delivery.
Let us take an example for calculating due dates:
Say, the total gestation period of the woman is for 10 months. If
the last period of the woman was from 1st of January, then calculate
40 weeks after the 1st Jan and the date falls on the 1st
of 1st November. From the date of 1st November, you can
reduce 14 days and the due date will be calucated on the 15th of
October.
The 14 days are reduced from the 44 weeks because the total
period of gestation is for 10 months. The woman ovulates in two weeks when
calculated from the last menstrual period.
Some of the popular websites that provide comprehensive
information about the due dates are Parenthood.com, seopromolinks.com,
doctorndtv.com and much more. You just enter your last date, day and months of
your monthly cycle and you will get the result of your due date.
If a baby is born before 37 weeks of pregnancy it is considered
to be a premature baby.
A woman cannot know about the exact day of labor, but few days
before the process of childbirth, she will face some symptoms which will give
her idea about the delivery period
