Due date: all the ways to find out when the baby is born

The timing of birth depends on various reasons: is there a norm?

The content of the article

Gynecologists say that there is no standard period for normal childbirth - there are conditional frameworks. Normal birth can occur at 37 or 44 weeks. It is generally typical for twins to be born at 36-37 weeks, and women with a long monthly cycle have every chance of giving birth after 42 weeks.

You need to understand that if a child was born normally developed at any stage, this is the norm. In case of deviations in development and health due to the timing of birth, children are divided into premature and post-term.

• Babies with low weight, height, and poor development of organs and body are called premature. Their mothers carried them for less than 37 weeks - until the 260th day of pregnancy, so the babies were not able to achieve the required parameters. According to statistics, 20% of children are born premature.
• Post-term babies are born after 42-44 weeks - during the period 294-308 days of pregnancy. Don’t think that if you carry your baby to term you will give birth to a giant. On the contrary, there are signs of a post-term baby: thinness, dry, wrinkled skin, weak muscles. The reason for this condition is the aging and death of the placenta, through which nutrients were supplied. Approximately 10% of mothers undergo nursing.

From all of the above it follows that it is better to give birth at 37-42 weeks. Knowing exactly when this moment should come, it is easy to navigate during premature contractions or when you are postmaturity.

Why do you need to know it?

Probably no woman wants her expected due date to be a complete surprise. By determining the gestational age with maximum accuracy, you can promptly monitor the development and growth of the baby, prevent the occurrence of pathologies, and determine the time of maternity leave.

Although the truism is that pregnancy lasts 9 months, doctors use a different system for calculating the period. For each woman, the period of intrauterine development of her child can range from 37 to 42 weeks.

Do you know at what stage of pregnancy you yourself were born? If not, then ask your mom. There is a high probability that your baby will be born around the same period. An interesting fact is that girls turn out to be more nimble and are often born at 38-39 weeks, while boys patiently “wait” for the due date.

Will doctors help if the due date is delayed?

Of course yes! If you notice signs of impending premature birth, you can contact a gynecologist and he will take action. If there is a threat of premature birth, bed rest and various medications are prescribed to relieve contractions and relax the uterus.

In case of postmaturity, at 40 obstetric weeks of pregnancy, the expectant mother is placed in the maternity hospital for observation. Examinations and stimulation with a drug that causes contractions speed up the process. If necessary, the doctor can open the amniotic sac, after which labor either begins or a cesarean section is performed. After the water breaks, the baby will appear no later than 12 hours later.

If the due date has nevertheless moved forward, do not despair, now both significantly premature babies and “slightly” post-term babies are being cared for. The most dangerous condition is significant postmaturity of the fetus - the baby may be born still or with serious pathologies - every second post-term baby shows signs of suffocation, hemolytic jaundice, damage to areas of the brain caused by oxygen starvation, etc.

Is the exact result so important?

Of course, parents expect the baby to arrive on time. And this period is determined by counting from the first days of the embryo’s life. If you know it exactly, you can determine the date of birth, and from here we have the opportunity to identify their possible delay. In general, in the early stages it is easier to find out the gestational age, because starting from the 28th week, the development of different embryos occurs differently.

It should be remembered: a woman in labor may need drug treatment, and some drugs cannot be taken during certain periods of pregnancy, so knowing the duration of pregnancy will help prescribe adequate treatment.

Let's add one more aspect here - legal. According to the law, a woman can go on maternity leave from the thirtieth week, the date is confirmed by the doctor. Therefore, ultrasound diagnostics is an important aspect of pregnancy monitoring.

Therefore, ultrasound is an important procedure that every expectant mother needs. This is determined, first of all, by the aspect of the physical health of the woman and the fetus. Ultrasound can also give erroneous results. Therefore, every caring woman reserves the right and opportunity to receive parallel consultation from another doctor.

How to calculate due date in gynecology

The obstetric gestational age begins on the first day of your last period. It sounds a little strange, since at this time there is no child yet, but it is more convenient for doctors. In addition, pregnancy dates begin to be counted from the day of conception, which is usually considered the day of ovulation. Normally, ovulation occurs two weeks after the first day of the last menstruation.

This is where the problems with calculations begin. There may be two ovulations in a month, and it may also move in the opposite direction. Failure of menstruation and ovulation can specifically occur due to classic stress, taking certain medications, inflammation in the reproductive organs, and other reasons. For some women, conception is delayed and can happen right on the “safe” day - just before menstruation. For others, menstruation, on the contrary, can continue even after pregnancy. In these cases, it will be more difficult to determine the timing.

Initially, the gynecologist sets the period based on a survey of the patient and data from a gynecological examination. By palpating the uterus, the doctor determines its size, which corresponds to the period of pregnancy. The estimated duration of pregnancy, for example 6-7 weeks, is recorded on the card; this indicator serves as the starting point for calculating the date of birth.

Determination of the period in the clinic

In order not to guess in vain, you should contact a modern clinic. Here you will be examined by an experienced specialist, undergo an ultrasound and undergo a primary blood test. All these activities will help you find out the most accurate period of pregnancy at the very beginning.

No other method will give you such an accurate result as visiting a doctor, and you will be able to find out not only the gestational age, but also the due date, which means that on day “X” you will be fully armed. In addition, the gynecologist will warn you about possible problems and, if necessary, prescribe competent treatment.

Formula for calculating due date

You can calculate the preliminary date of birth (the due date is abbreviated as PDD) using a simple formula. It is also used by obstetricians.

To calculate pregnancy, the date of the first day of the last menstruation is taken as the basis. Childbirth should take place after 40 obstetric weeks, which is. 280 days.

Formula for calculating the day of birth

: From the first day of the last menstruation, subtract 3 months, add 7 days to the result.

Example

: The last period began on September 5th, counting back 3 months, we get June 5th. Adding 7 days, we get the deadline for June 12th.

Online due date calculator: find out when you can give birth right now

Many women try to calculate their due date using a pregnancy calculator. Using such a calendar, you can calculate several parameters directly on the website.

• Estimated date of conception.
• Timing of important stages of pregnancy development.
• Current gestational age.
• Due date (date) of birth.
• Zodiac sign of the newborn.

It is worth understanding that this method cannot guarantee an accurate result, because an online calculator is just a set of formulas designed for a standard situation. Therefore, it is only possible to find out the due date in this way only approximately.

Reliability of ultrasound results

Carrying out an ultrasound examination allows you to obtain the most reliable data on the development of the fetus. Why? A woman is unlikely to tell the exact date of conception of the child, or rather, she will not say at all, because the sperm does not fertilize the egg immediately after intercourse; it waits for two to five days until the egg is ready for fusion. With the help of ultrasound, we can really see how the fetus is developing, whether it is lagging behind in development, whether it has enough nutrients and oxygen, and we determine the exact date of birth.

When determining the timing of pregnancy, the date of the last menstruation is also taken into account, which, of course, every woman knows. And since the embryo develops quickly, especially at first, from the third week it is possible to judge the gestational age with 100% accuracy. Therefore, abdominal ultrasound is performed precisely from the third week.

However, if we talk about the timing of ultrasound during pregnancy, it is worth mentioning transvaginal examination. What is this?

1. Transvaginal ultrasound is performed using a special sensor, which is inserted into the vagina and allows you to examine the fetus as closely as possible and determine pathologies in the early stages.

1. The duration of the procedure is not limited; it can be performed earlier than a regular ultrasound, by 1-11 weeks. Although there is no exact data on its safety for the embryo.

1. Allows you to determine an ectopic pregnancy at a period of 10-12 days (abdominal ultrasound - on the 20th day; in this case, it is vital to exclude ectopic development of the fetus, since this, at best, threatens surgical intervention) or hydatidiform mole (proliferation of the embryo with the formation of bubbles).

1. In the early stages it shows pathologies of fetal development, and at week 5 you can even see the first heartbeats of the embryo.

1. Transvaginal ultrasound is a mandatory step during IVF (in vitro fertilization).

1. There are no absolute contraindications for this type of research.

So, ultrasound is a completely reliable examination. But sometimes it happens that it “does not notice” the pregnancy. The woman continues to lead a normal lifestyle, which can later negatively affect the health of the unborn child. Why does this happen sometimes?

How to accurately determine the due date - ultrasound of the fetus and no amateur activities!

The most reliable method for determining the due date is an ultrasound examination of the fetus, called pregnancy screening. The ultrasound specialist, based on the readings of the device, compares the size of the fetus with the standard and makes a verdict - the gestational age and the date of the PDR (preliminary date of birth). Or rather, this way you can very accurately determine the duration of pregnancy, and the date of birth will be estimated, since, as we noted above, it depends on many factors.

It is not for nothing that there is a proverb among pregnant women: “PDR was invented by the enemy,” since the coincidence of birth with the date set by the specialist does not always happen.

Causes of premature and delayed births:

• Body parameters of a pregnant woman
  . State of health, structure and condition of the uterus.
• Hormonal balance
  (labor begins under the influence of a hormone that stimulates uterine contractions).
• Fetal parameters
  . Development depends on the quality of blood supply, genetic characteristics, location, etc.
• Presence of dangerous infections
  . A number of infectious diseases can cause premature birth.
• Injuries, stress and other factors
  .

First signs of pregnancy

Pregnancy in a woman occurs after the fertilization of an egg by a sperm in the ampullary section of the fallopian tube. As a rule, this occurs during the period of ovulation, on days 10–16 of the menstrual cycle.

The main sign of pregnancy is the absence of menstrual bleeding. However, even before the onset of a delay in menstruation, a woman may experience indirect signs that allow her to suspect pregnancy:

• increased basal temperature (BT) in the second half of the menstrual cycle. This sign can be noticed by women who regularly measure BBT and plot its changes. During ovulation, due to a hormonal surge, BBT increases to 37–37.6 degrees. If pregnancy does not occur, then after ovulation the temperature readings drop. When conception occurs, BT will remain above 37 degrees;
• scant bloody discharge from the vagina, caused by the implantation of the embryo into the mucous membrane of the uterine body;
• feeling of heaviness in the lower abdomen;
• irritability, mood swings;
• general weakness, drowsiness;
• swelling of the mammary glands;
• low blood pressure;
• frequent urination.

Why are these signs of pregnancy considered indirect? Yes, because they do not give a 100% reliable result. For example, BT values ​​can be distorted by factors such as stress, increased physical activity, and incorrect temperature measurements. Other indirect signs of pregnancy are similar to the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and therefore are also not reliable.

How can you accurately determine whether you are pregnant? You should visit an obstetrician-gynecologist and undergo the necessary diagnostics. Approximately 10 days after the start of the delay, a slight enlargement of the uterus is observed, which the gynecologist will definitely notice during the examination.

Laboratory diagnostic methods include determining the level of hCG in urine and blood serum. The hCG hormone is produced by the chorion (fetal structures). The hormone can be detected in the blood of a pregnant woman approximately 10 days after conception, in the urine - 4-5 days later. Laboratory tests for hCG levels are important elements of screening during pregnancy , which can not only confirm the fact of conception, but also identify some pathologies.

An alternative to a urine hCG test is a pregnancy test performed at home. However, there is a possibility of false negative results. For example, unreliable results may be obtained if a lot of liquid was drunk before the test or the woman has kidney pathologies. In any case, after a negative result, the procedure must be repeated after a few days.

Using an ultrasound examination performed on a high-resolution device, pregnancy can be determined 21 days after conception, which corresponds to 5 weeks of the obstetric period. But to obtain the most accurate result, experts recommend performing the first planned ultrasound at 1 1.0-13.6 weeks of pregnancy. At an earlier date, the results may be erroneous. For example, if a woman has endometrial polyps of the uterus, they can be mistaken for an embryo.

Many women are interested in the question: is it possible to determine an ectopic pregnancy using a test at home? An indirect sign of pathology is a test result in which the second strip looks fuzzy and blurry. However, it is possible to accurately determine the presence or absence of an ectopic pregnancy only with the help of special research methods.

Symptoms of delayed delivery

It’s quite easy to understand that something is wrong; the following symptoms correspond to premature birth:

• Premature labor begins with aching in the abdomen, the appearance of discharge, and increased fetal activity. The stomach may not hurt; you will feel a slight “tugging” in the back. The water may break and a large amount of liquid will leak out. All these signs are 3 reasons to call an ambulance.
• With true post-maturity, the belly and weight decrease. Milk may appear in the breasts instead of colostrum. And with an ultrasound, doctors will determine whether the baby is suffering from lack of nutrition or whether you simply have a prolonged pregnancy.

If you experience premature labor, there is no need to panic. If the child breathes on his own and his weight is more than 2.5 kg, then everything is in order. A little love, care and mother's milk, and he will grow up to be a great man. There are many such examples in history. For example, Napoleon Bonaparte was born two months ahead of schedule.

But if you collected all the birth packages at 37 weeks, and are already 42, then immediately go to the maternity hospital. You should not rely on the doctor’s mistake - if the due date was set on an ultrasound of the fetus, then you need to trust him.

Obstetric and non-obstetric pain during pregnancy

Pain during pregnancy is a common phenomenon that can accompany a woman throughout the entire gestation period. And most often during pregnancy, women have stomach pain. It is with this problem that many patients come to see an obstetrician-gynecologist, fearing for the health of their unborn baby.

Why does my stomach hurt during pregnancy? Pain that occurs during gestation is usually divided into obstetric and non-obstetric. The former are associated with the functioning of the reproductive system, the latter arise due to extragenital disorders and pathologies.

In turn, obstetric pain can be divided into physiological and pathological. In the early stages of pregnancy, physiological pain appears due to stretching of the uterine muscles, softening of the tissues to support the uterus. In late gestation, they are caused by pressure from the uterus and fetus on the pelvic organs and other factors.

Obstetric pathological pain is often severe and may indicate the following problems:

• ectopic pregnancy . Unbearable pain occurs when the fallopian tube ruptures. Additional symptoms are brown vaginal discharge, the urge to defecate;
• frozen pregnancy. Complications can occur in any trimester of pregnancy. Associated symptoms are bloody vaginal discharge, a decrease in basal temperature below 37 degrees;
• premature placental abruption . The pathology is typical for late gestation. If the area of ​​placental abruption is large, sharp pain in the lower abdomen and heavy bleeding begin.

Where to determine the date of birth in St. Petersburg?

There is a specialized gynecological clinic “Diana” in St. Petersburg. There is a new ultrasound machine with Doppler, which allows you to examine pregnant women in 3D and 4D formats. Reception is conducted by leading obstetrician-gynecologists with the highest qualification category. Prices for fetal screening are minimal, from 2 thousand rubles. Comprehensive pelvic ultrasound - only 1000 rubles. Here you can also get tested for hCG and TORCH complex.

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