Calculating your baby’s due date

The first question a woman often gets asks when she announces she’s pregnant is when her due date is. While it’s good to have a rough idea, it is also important to remember that this date is only an estimate and, as all babies are different, they come when they are ready and not on the day you have circled in the diary. In fact, fewer than 5% of women actually give birth on the date predicted by a pregnancy due date calculator or worked out through dates of missed periods. Use a pregnancy calculator Online pregnancy calculator are the easy way to find out your expected due date. If you know the exact date of your last period, simply type in the date, click a button and it will work out the most likely date your baby will arrive. But this is only an expected date - your baby may have other ideas and will appear when she is ready to! Work out your dates A normal pregnancy lasts 38 weeks from the day of conception, but as it can be difficult to know exactly when sperm met egg, the formula is to work out your due date from 40 weeks after the first day of your last menstrual period, assuming that women have 28-day cycles and conceive on the 14th day. This means that when you are 12 weeks pregnant, you could, in reality, be just ten weeks pregnant. However, a baby is considered full term at 37 weeks. Scan While most women have already worked out a date or checked the online pregnancy calculator before going for their first scan, the word of the scan technician is often taken more seriously. However a date based on an ultrasound scan can be out by a week or even more depending on the abilities and accuracy of the technician and the size of the baby. Size matters While most babies grow at the same rate during the first trimester, later on the size of the fetus relates less and less to the amount of time the baby is nurtured in the womb. Therefore, the dates given by pregnancy pregnancy due date calculator can become less accurate as the pregnancy goes on. Go with the flow Many women can become distressed when their due date comes and goes and no baby arrives. It is not uncommon to deliver late and, while it can be uncomfortable, try to remember that this is your baby saying to you she needs a little more time to become fully equipped before facing the world. Besides, it will give you an extra day or two to get your home perfect for when she does arrive.