The exact trigger for spontaneous labor is not really well understood. So, it would be wise for you to start considering your due month, rather than your due date. You’re actually considered “due” for about 2 weeks before that due date and about 2 weeks after that due date. If yours is one of them, I’d start playing the lottery, my friend! In reality, only 3-5% of babies arrive on their actual due date. It is.īut, unfortunately, by the time I see couples in my classes this due date has long been cemented in their minds as “ The Day The Baby Will Be Born.” As if any other date will be off somehow. And it also allows pregnant folks and their partners to have some idea of when pregnancy will finally be over! And it can be a helpful planning tool! It lets friends know when they should send out invites to the baby shower, and it allows the Grandmas to figure out when they should be flying out to help after baby is born. It allows your provider to have a guide by which to measure the growth and development of your baby in relation to your gestation. Ĭalculating a due date can be helpful, I guess. And 3rd trimester ultrasounds are even less accurate than earlier ultrasounds and LMP.īut even if a pregnant person has an ultrasound at the optimal range of 11-14 weeks, this study found that about 68% of pregnant people gave birth + or – 11 days of their estimated due date via ultrasound! If you were a betting person, these are not good odds for putting any amount of money down that a baby will be born on a specific day. The study referenced here showed a significant decline in accuracy happening at that 20 week mark. The most common time for a pregnant person to receive an ultrasound, however, is somewhere between 16-20 weeks. Well, it ends up being slightly more accurate than using the LMP calculation, but it’s not perfect, either! According to this great article from Evidence Based Birth, there’s an optimal time to receive an ultrasound to determine gestational age, and that range is between 11-14 weeks. Life events, varying degrees of stress or illness can mean that the number of days between periods fluctuates and doesn’t always remain consistent or regular.īut what if we use ultrasound to determine the almighty due date? How accurate is that? And then even that number can vary from month to month. The rest have cycles that can vary anywhere from 21-35 days in length. The second assumption is that you have a 28-day menstrual cycle. So knowing exactly when you conceived your little bundle of joy might not be as predictable as you think. And then don’t forget all the other people who, quite honestly, have no idea what their LMP is! “Umm… I think it was the 15th. They’ve been trying to get pregnant, or may even be using IVF or other means of getting pregnant that really require a heavy amount of tracking in order for conception to take place within a certain timeframe.īut, remember the window for conception is a little bit bigger than you think! You can get pregnant any time from about five days before ovulation occurs right up to the actual day of ovulation. Some folks will know this without question. You find that date by using the first day you began bleeding on your last menstrual period. When you, your provider, or an internet application attempts to calculate your due date some very big assumptions are being made.įirst, that you know the exact date of your LMP – or last menstrual period. This is just not something you can count on. One of the first things that every pregnant couple needs to let go of as soon as possible is the expectation of having their baby be born on a specific day.
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