If your first baby comes early, will your second baby be earlier than the due date too? If your second baby arrives late, does that mean your third baby will come late as well? According to the survey, on average, subsequent babies arrive 0.18 days later than the previous baby. Place your bet on the baby's arrival date, sex, weight and length. If you deliver on your due date, your baby is actually only 38 weeks old, not 40. Your due date is only an estimate. Please remember that your due date is only an estimate. Every pregnancy is unique and your baby will come when it's ready. Be sure to talk to your health care provider about your due date. On average only 5% of births take place.
WITHOUT A DOUBT, YOU’VE HEARD LOTS OF CONFLICTING INFORMATION ON WHAT A DUE DATE ACTUALLY IS.
Most believe the due date is a deadline. If baby doesn’t arrive on that date, they’re late. If baby comes before then, they’re automatically “premature.”
Some have theorized that due dates are an invention of modern medicine, and have become an excuse for doctors to perform c-sections. While that’s not what we believe, we do know that due dates are often inaccurate.
Baby should not be expected to arrive on an exact day (unless you’ve scheduled a c-section).
In fact, baby should not be rushed at all unless there’s a medical reason to do so, according to March of Dimes, a non-profit organization that works to end premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality.
“If your pregnancy is healthy, it’s best to let labor begin on its own without inducing labor.” // MarchofDimes.org
Let’s take a look at the statistics taken from an online survey with 11,704 participants.
Out of 11,114 women, 8,464 went into labor spontaneously, 76% of participants.
Babies don’t always come on their due dates, but they usually come sometime around it. Only 4.3% of babies of surveyed moms arrived on their due date. Comparatively, 61.6% of non-induced babies arrived within one week of their due date.
If your first baby comes early, will your second baby be earlier than the due date too? If your second baby arrives late, does that mean your third baby will come late as well? According to the survey, on average, subsequent babies arrive 0.18 days later than the previous baby.
On average, a first-time mom has her baby at 39 weeks and 5 days. This is the equivalent of 54.8% of first-time moms giving birth on or before their due date compared to 56.7% of second-time moms, and 59.5% of third-time mothers doing the same.
Is there a correlation between induction and increased incidence of cesarean? You decide.
Are “late” babies huge? On average, “late” babies are generally bigger than “early” ones but not by much. The difference between a baby born at 39 weeks and one born at 41 weeks is about 300 grams.
Most doctors will induce a mom rather than let her get past her due date. According to March of Dimes, however:
“If your health care provider talks to you about inducing labor, ask if you can wait until at least 39 weeks to be induced. This gives your baby’s lungs and brain the time they need to fully grow and develop before he’s born.” // MarchofDimes.org
It has been theorized that the age of the mother has something to do with when labor sets in. Is it possible that the average due date would change depending on ethnicity, age or even country of origin? According to the survey, about the same number of women give birth on day 279 as 287.
There is no correlation between the phase of the moon and when babies are born.
According to the survey, the most common day for babies to be born is Thursday while the least common is Saturday.
Congratulations! You’ve hit your due date and baby is fully developed! Instead of stressing out that baby’s not here yet, relax and enjoy the anticipation. About 52% of women surveyed were still pregnant at 40 weeks. And 28.79% of babies were born spontaneously within the next 3 days (on or before week 40, day 3).
It’s normal to still be pregnant at this point. If your doctor or midwife is supportive of natural induction, consider these methods.
Typically, due dates for babies have an 8- to 10-day variation as they are calculated from the last menstrual period, not date of conception. The question then arises: is it possible to calculate an exact due date based on conception date?
According to the survey, the standard deviation does not improve even if you know the exact second your baby was conceived.
Babies are individuals, just like adults. Some need more time in the womb than others.
The average arrival time for babies of both sexes is 39 weeks and 5 days.
What if all the women who were induced were meant to give birth late? Doesn’t this change the average amount of time a pregnancy should last? Not really, according to the survey. If we assume each induction was actually a late birth, the average median would shift by 2 days.
First Published at www.spacefem.com.
Featured image source: http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/1051815/change-to-how-doctors-calculate-pregnant-womans-due-date