Pregnancy is at the same time the most beautiful, exciting and responsible time. It is pregnancy that teaches a woman to wait. Wait for the most wonderful and magical moment - the moment of meeting with your baby. I want to "be fully armed" and prepare for it in advance. Therefore, the question: "How many days from conception to childbirth?" - Every future mom is interested. Some pregnant women bother doctors with this question, but in response even the most experienced gynecologists just shrug. They are doctors, not fortunetellers. And are responsible for their words. And no one can name the exact date of birth.
PDD - estimated date of birth
Estimated date of birth (DA) can be calculated by yourself. Just remember that any forecast in this case will be only indicative. Be prepared for the fact that your main date with your son or daughter (or maybe twins) will happen a couple of days or even weeks earlier or later than the date obtained in the calculation.
Consider the most popular ways to calculate how many days from conception to birth you have to wait.
Pregnancy and its stages
Before calculating the DA, it is worth understanding and understanding how a child develops from conception to childbirth and how long an average pregnancy lasts.
According to statistics, in 80% of cases, the duration of a healthy pregnancy is about 38 weeks. It is about 266 days. It would seem, here it is! The time from conception to childbirth is 38 weeks. What is there to consider? But the main problem is that few people can accurately name this very date of conception.
Each week of pregnancy is a new stage in the life of the baby. Consider briefly what awaits a woman from conception to childbirth by week.
Pregnancy first to twelfth week
About what awaits a child, a woman learns after a delay of menstruation. But by this time, changes had already taken place in her body. The fertilized egg found its place and attached to the walls of the uterus.
In the third week of pregnancy, the zygote (fertilized egg) has already 32 cells and begins its movement through the fallopian tube into the uterus. A placenta is formed - a connecting link between mom and baby. With its help, the baby will receive food throughout the pregnancy.
From 4 to 7 weeks, increased embryo growth occurs. This is the time for “laying the foundation” of a new person - the nervous and circulatory systems, the skeleton, heart and brain are formed. The growth of crumbs by the beginning of the 8th week is up to 13 mm. Ultrasound can distinguish his facial features. The process of forming the genitals, hair and nails begins. The embryo begins to move.
Pregnancy Thirteen to Twenty-Sixth Week
A characteristic feature of the second trimester is the active growth of the embryo. The reproductive system begins to form - girls develop ovaries, and boys form the prostate gland.
Embryo movements become clear and coordinated. From the 17th week, a fat layer develops on the fetal body, which is involved in metabolic processes. By week 20, the baby has fully formed the brain, limbs and sensory organs. The skin of the embryo begins to thicken, a lubricant appears on it to protect the delicate skin of the newborn.
At 25-26 weeks, the growth of crumbs increases so much that it becomes cramped. The future mother during this period begins to feel the active shocks and movements of the baby in the stomach.
Pregnancy twenty-seventh to fortieth week
From the 27th week, the third, final stage of pregnancy starts. How many days of pregnancy are still left and what does the baby do in the mother’s stomach? How to prepare for a meeting with mom and the world? All these thoughts spin non-stop in the head of every expectant mother.
The kid does not think about it. At this time, he is actively gaining weight, begins to open his eyes and distinguish sounds outside his "house". Active growth of the fetal brain continues. The subcutaneous fat layer in the crumbs has already fully formed.
From 31 to 33 weeks, the proportions of the fetus change - the head ceases to exceed the torso, facial features become more pretty. Such active movements, as in the second trimester, mom no longer feels. This is due to the fact that the baby sleeps more often and can even dream. The epithelium of the fetus is smoothed and acquires a pinkish tint.
The main task of the mother’s body at the final stage of pregnancy is to help the baby gain weight. In his lungs, the production of surfactant begins - a substance that will help the newborn's lungs open up and take the first breath in his life. Thus, by the 40th week the baby is ready for life outside the mother’s tummy.
In the table below, future mothers can determine which tests and studies, as well as new sensations from communicating with the baby, are waiting for them at each stage of pregnancy.
Gestational age | Stage Characteristic | Necessary research |
Tenth to thirteenth week | The end of the embryonic period, the formation of the central nervous system. | Double test (free beta hCG and PAPP-A). Screening for the risks of developing Down syndrome and Edwards syndrome. |
Sixteenth to eighteenth week | The formation of the reproductive system of the fetus, fat. | Triple testing (alpha-feto protein, chorionic gonadotropin and free estriol), biochemical screening of Down and Edwards syndromes, as well as fetal neural tube defects. |
Eighteenth week | The feeling of the first shocks of the embryo in women who have already given birth. | - |
Twentieth week | Feeling of fetal movement in primiparous mothers. | - |
Twenty second week | The formation of the brain and sensory organs is nearing completion. | The second ultrasound for measuring the organs of the fetus. |
Twenty-fourth week | Thickening of the endometrial layer, the formation of primordial lubrication. | Dopplemetric analysis - determination of blood flow in the placenta. |
Twenty-sixth week | The baby has noticeably increased in size and is cramped. Therefore, mommy increasingly hears his tremors and spin. | O'Sullivan test or glucose tolerance testing (to exclude the development of diabetes in the fetus). |
Twenty-eighth week | The second trimester is ending. There is a risk of gestosis or late toxicosis in pregnant women. | Prenatal care |
Thirtieth week | There are fewer and fewer crumbs, since he spends most of the day in a dream. | Mom goes on vacation |
Thirty-second week | The production of surfactant - a substance that helps the baby take the first breath | The third ultrasound to determine the condition of the placenta and the baby |
38th week | Full-term pregnancy | Mommy is preparing to meet with the baby |
Now that we have become acquainted with the stages of pregnancy from conception to childbirth, and we know what happens to the baby inside the mother’s belly, we’ll try to predict the date of the meeting with him.
Option one: date of birth on the day of conception
The effectiveness of this method is controversial. This is due to the fact that women rarely know the day of conception. But doctors reliably know how many days from conception to childbirth pass on average. These are 280 calendar days. Therefore, if you can name the day of fertilization, then it is easy to calculate the date of birth. We add 280 days to the conception date and get the desired result.
A possible error in calculating the DA for the day of conception occurs due to the fact that pregnancy does not necessarily occur on the day when there was sexual intercourse. After all, the sperm, while in the vagina, retains its ability to fertilize for several days. The discrepancy is possible in two to three days. Therefore, the calculated date of birth is indicative.
Option two: date of birth by ovulation
Many use the method of calculating the date of birth by ovulation. The calculator is not suitable for everyone. After all, only women who try to get pregnant for a long time track ovulation using tests or a basal temperature chart .
The approximate date of ovulation falls in the middle of the cycle. For example, if the menstrual cycle is 28 days, then ovulation should be at 14. By this mid-cycle date and add 280 days, getting the estimated day the baby was born.
The accuracy of this technique is possible only if there is an ovulation diary and confirmation by tests.
Option Three: Date of Delivery by Date of Last Menstruation
This method helps to calculate the date of birth by the date of the last menstruation. This gestational age is called obstetric, and it is usually longer than the actual gestational age.
There are two options for calculating the date of delivery by the date of the last monthly:
- Using the Hegel formula. To do this, you need to cast 3 months from the start date of the last critical days, and then add another 7 days.
- 40 weeks (or 280 days) are added to the start date of the last menstruation. Many practicing gynecologists resort to this practice.
Despite the popularity of this technique among obstetrician-gynecologists, its accuracy leaves much to be desired. Especially if the woman’s menstrual cycle does not meet the average standard (less than 28 days or more than 30). How many days a pregnancy will last depends on how long its menstrual cycle is a standard 28 days. Each additional day of the cycle prolongs pregnancy by 1 day. But no more than 5 days in total.
For women with menstrual irregularities, this technique is not suitable at all. Popularization of the method among professionals is connected with the fact that much more women can name the day the last menstruation begins than those who can report the day of ovulation or conception.
Often, calculations of the date of birth by the date of the last menstruation are erroneous due to heavy implantation bleeding, indicating the attachment of a fertilized egg to the uterine wall. Many women take it for critical days, and the countdown for the birth begins on the wrong date.
An estimated obstetrician-gynecologist can determine the estimated date of birth based on the date of the visit to the antenatal clinic. You can confirm the pregnancy with a doctor as early as 4 weeks. To this date, conditionally add a full 36 weeks. The use of such calculations is now becoming irrelevant due to the development of the pharmacy industry, which proposes to establish the presence of pregnancy at home using tests. An increasing number of women prefer this method of establishing pregnancy. And the registration in the LCD (maternity welfare) for pregnancy become later.
Option Four: Date of Birth by Stirring
Another option allows you to calculate the date of birth by moving the fetus, that is, based on the date when this happened for the first time. Usually in primogenous mothers, such a stir is felt, starting from the 20th week of pregnancy. And for women who are preparing to become a mother for the second time or more - from 18 weeks. Adding as many weeks to the original date, we get the desired date of birth of the baby.
This is perhaps one of the oldest ways to calculate the date of birth of a baby. In the absence of an ultrasound machine, it was considered not only the most reliable, but also practically the only one. Using this calculation method, it is worth remembering the following:
- The first movements of the embryo in the uterine cavity are recorded at 12 weeks of pregnancy, but they are so weak that the future mother does not notice them.
- Skinny moms leading a sedentary lifestyle turn out to be much more “sensitive” to tremors and fetal movements. Such women are able to feel the baby moving, similar to light tickling, for another 14 weeks of pregnancy. And plump women are less sensitive in this matter.
- A woman who is pregnant for the first time, just does not imagine how the movements of the embryo are manifested. As a result, they often do not attach importance to the easy turns of crumbs in their tummy. Women who already have children are more experienced, and therefore notice them earlier.
- The noticeability of the first movements of the embryo is also due to the thickness of the walls of the uterus. And this is a purely individual parameter.
If a woman is registered in the antenatal clinic, her gynecologist will certainly ask and enter in the card information about the first movement of the fetus.
Option Five: date of birth by ultrasound
The most truthful answer to the question: "How many days from conception to childbirth?" - will give an ultrasound scan. Using an ultrasound machine, a specialist can determine the size of the fetal egg, according to which the gestational age is calculated.
From the 12th week of pregnancy, ultrasound measures the size of the baby’s body parts. But it also happens that the date of birth by ultrasound does not coincide with the embryonic gestational age. Sometimes the difference in these values is up to two weeks. Such discrepancies lead the future mother into confusion and make her nervous. She fears abnormal fetal development or a missed pregnancy.
However, there is no cause for concern. Interpreting the results of ultrasound is quite difficult. Often the old ultrasound machine or an inexperienced doctor can “smear” the picture. In addition, the development of crumbs is an individual matter and does not always exactly coincide with the generally accepted standard. But in the event that mommy hears from the doctor that the fetal head corresponds to 23 weeks, and the heart is 26, it is better to seek advice from another specialist and conduct a new ultrasound procedure.
According to doctors, the most accurate picture of pregnancy on an ultrasound machine can be seen up to 12 weeks. This is due to the fact that the stages of fetal development during this period are most obvious. And from the 13th week, the development of each crumb goes according to its own scenario. Someone is developing slowly and gradually catching up with standards. Another in a hurry to meet with mom and ahead of schedule.
When decoding ultrasound screening, specialists correlate the obtained data with tables of fetal parameters. You should not get depressed if the obstetric and fetal gestational age do not coincide. This is not a pathology, but a kind of norm.
The most truthful will be the forecast of the date of birth with the largest amount of known data. But if you can’t name exactly one, it’s not scary. After all, all the best in life happens suddenly! And the birth of a long-awaited baby is no exception! What does it mean to have a couple of days of waiting compared to the joy of meeting your baby and the opportunity to show him this world ?!