One of the most beautiful, exciting and important moments in the life of any woman is the months of pregnancy. And this is not at all surprising, because every expectant mother wants to know when she will be able to see her baby, hold him in her arms, kiss the baby. How to calculate the term of labor is an important question that all pregnant women are asked. And it is he who provokes repeated disputes and disagreements. Mom constantly pestering doctors with questions, because they want to thoroughly prepare for such an important event. But even modern Aesculapius cannot guarantee them with absolute accuracy that the baby will appear on this very day and this minute.
In brief about the DA
So, since an understanding of how to calculate the term of labor worries a significant number of expectant mothers, they should understand that this can be done in several ways. And each of this method is only indicative.
And this means that if, according to all estimates, the baby is to be born on November 1, then there is no guarantee that the event will happen on that day. There are frequent cases when childbirth begins a couple of weeks earlier, or, conversely, later. Many doctors in clinics have long been using, and very successfully, a simple way to determine the probable term of birth of the baby. There is a special settlement ruler, in the windows of which you should enter the date, month and year of the last menstruation and click on the button “Find out the date of delivery”. Thus, it is possible to find out with an accuracy of two days in one direction or another, when the conception was more likely to occur, the estimated term of delivery and how many days are left before it.
That very last day
For self-calculation of the gestational age and determining on it the day the baby is born, it should be based on the start date of the last menstruation. After all, all the necessary calculations are done on its basis. In order to calculate the delivery period by monthly, it is necessary to subtract three months and add another seven days to the result. The number that turned out will be the estimated date of birth of the little one.
For example, if the last time menstruation began on July 21. Therefore, it is necessary to deduct three months from this day. It turns out on April 21. To this figure add seven days and get April 28th. This day will be the estimated date on which the baby will be born.
You should be aware that a similar method of calculating PDD is suitable for those women who have a regular menstrual cycle of 28 days.
Alternative methods: a word to the doctor
With high accuracy, you can find out when the baby will appear after visiting the gynecologist’s office. This time you can do without any analysis. The doctor will measure the size of the uterus, increasing in size depending on the age of the fetus. But such a method will be effective only in the first trimester of pregnancy. But in the second and third, that is, at a later date, the uterus of each woman increases with varying degrees of intensity. It depends on the individual characteristics of the body.
It should be noted that the bottom of the uterus is located exactly on top, and not below, as is customary to think. The uterus is able to reach its “reference points” just with its bottom, which is reasonably well felt through the muscles and skin of the abdomen. Especially if the girl is fragile.
The height of the bottom of the uterus can be determined at the end of the third month. At first, she hides behind her pubis, by fourteen weeks she begins to speak from behind the bosom, rushing to the navel. She can reach the middle of the distance a little later, at sixteen weeks. And already at 24 weeks (this is six months), the uterus is located under the navel, increasing in size more and more.
It is impossible to say that this technique is absolutely accurate. After all, one doctor feels completely different from another. And the degree of uterine distension largely depends on the size of the fetus, which is different for different women.
Alternative methods: proceed from ovulation
It is possible to calculate the gestational age and date of birth by ovulation, which is the favorable period in which conception most often occurs. It was at this time that a woman, as a rule, manifests an increased sexual desire. It should be noted that her cervical fluid during this period also becomes thicker and stickier, begins to increase the basal body temperature (by only a few tenths of a degree), raise the cervix, tighten and tenderness of the mammary glands.
To calculate the term of labor by date, knowing when the long-awaited baby will be born, based on ovulation, 280 days should be added to this day (this is how long the pregnancy lasts). What happened in the end will be the desired date. If a woman does not know the period in which ovulation occurred, she needs to calculate the middle of the menstrual cycle, which was the last, and then add the rest to her.
Alternative methods: ultrasound
One of the most effective methods for determining an important date includes hardware calculation using ultrasonic waves. This method will make it possible to calculate the term of delivery by weeks of pregnancy (accuracy is 1-3 days). The most correct calculations will be obtained if the study is done from 11 to 14 weeks.
You can deal with the birth of a baby by applying knowledge of his first stirring, which takes place in the vast majority of cases in the twentieth week (in primiparous mothers) and in the eighteenth (if the pregnancy is second and subsequent). Many years ago, when ultrasound had not yet been invented, this method was almost the only one when calculating the term of delivery.
The first stirring crumbs
From the very day that the expectant mother will feel the first noticeable tremors of her crumbs in her stomach, she needs to count twenty weeks. That date, which turned out, will be the probable birthday of the peanut. If the woman has not the first birth, then, as a rule, she will feel the movements earlier, approximately at the eighteenth week. Therefore, in this case, twenty-two weeks must be added to the date of the first sensation of the baby.
Is deviation from the deadline normal?
From the above material, it becomes clear that all the DA calculations are nothing more than an approximate guideline. And completely rely on him is not worth it. According to statistics, on the appointed day, delivery occurs in only 17 percent of women. But the remaining 83 percent - a little later or a little earlier. From this we can draw a simple conclusion: not one, even the most intelligent and qualified specialist, has been given to know when the day of the birth of the baby comes, despite the fact that he can calculate the delivery period by the date of the month quite filigree.
Births that occur between the 38th and 42nd weeks of pregnancy are considered normal. In this case, the birth of the baby will not be belated or premature. There are, of course, the reasons due to which labor activity begins prematurely - a stressful situation; pathological process occurring in the mother's body; hereditary factors; deviation in fetal development and the like.
Overexposure of pregnancy also occurs due to complications in the first trimester. Yes, and heredity on the maternal side plays an important role: if the mother and grandmother of a pregnant woman gave birth later than the deadline, there is a weighty argument in favor of the fact that she will have the same thing. Therefore, you should simply understand that it is important not only to know how to calculate the term of delivery. This process is very complex, very conditional and individual for each expectant mother.
Determined by the table
There is another quite effective way to determine the approximate date of birth of the child - by increasing the weight of the future mother. On average, a pregnant woman gains from 9 to 14 kilograms during pregnancy. If she expects twins, then about 21 kilograms. In the first trimester, the weight does not change much, in the second - about a kilogram per month, and in the third trimester the weight increases quite rapidly: about half a kilogram in one week.
Using a special table for determining the term of delivery, it will be possible to verify by weight the numbers during each weighing. This table begins to be used by obstetricians from the seventh month of pregnancy, when a woman is increasingly gaining weight. According to the presented scale, the expectant mother should gain about 20 grams per 10 centimeters of growth.
If we proceed from the index of total body mass, then female figures are divided in the table according to these types:
- thin - up to 19.8 (this is the first group);
- average physique - 19.8-26 (second group);
- obese - over 26 (third group).
If IVF has been performed ...
In vitro fertilization is assisted reproductive technology. For such a procedure, paramedics have been preparing a couple for quite some time. Potential parents take a large number of tests, cure somatic (non-sexual) pathology, and lead a good lifestyle. In addition, immediately before the start of the procedure for collecting several eggs, the female ovaries are stimulated with hormonal therapy.
It is not recommended to calculate the term of delivery for weeks, as well as for menstruation in this case. Here is your own cycle. With IVF, not one or two, as usual, mature, but about ten eggs. The procedure is called controlled ovulation. This means that since it is provoked in a medical way, its date will be known exactly. The date when embryos are planted is also known for certain. As a rule, pregnancy occurs twelve or fourteen days after replanting. Calculation is acceptable to conduct from this day.
When the in vitro fertilization procedure is carried out, there are no features of the course of pregnancy. The only difference is that pregnancies of this kind are often multiple, therefore, delivery occurs a little earlier.
So, thanks to this article, it becomes clear how to calculate the term of delivery. Every expectant mother can choose any method she likes best. Nevertheless, it should be understood that it is best to use at least two options in order for the outcome to be more accurate.