What Circumstances Can Delay The Due Date Of A Baby
One of the first things that happens when you go to see your doctor or midwife after discovering you are pregnant is that you will be told your due date. This date is then the benchmark for the rest of your pregnancy. However there are many reasons your baby may not be born on this date. Many women worry about their baby arriving early but it is also worth looking at what factors can delay the due date of a baby.
The due date is estimated and only around 5% of babies are born on that exact date. In actual fact around 80% of babies are born within ten days before and ten days after their due date with most of these arriving after. The remaining 15% are born outside of this completely.
A full term pregnancy is one that lasts somewhere between 37-42 weeks. It is not based specifically on that one date. All pregnancies last a differing amount of time.
The main reason your due date will be delayed is because date that you are given by your midwife or doctor is estimated. They use the theory that a pregnancy lasts 10 lunar months. That is 28 days each. Therefore they take the first day of your last menstrual period and add 280 days.
It is assumed that your menstrual cycle lasts 28 days whereas many women have a longer or shorter cycle. If you have a cycle of more than 28 days then you are likely to have a pregnancy lasting longer than 40 weeks and therefore your baby would be classed as overdue.
There have been no conclusive reasons found for why some pregnancies last longer than others. However some people have studied this and have identified a number of factors that could play a part. It has been suggested that there may be a hereditary influence in these things. If your mother had overdue pregnancies then you are more likely to have them as well.
There may be a link with racial factors to but this needs to be further explored. Those who suffer when there is a change in the season and those who work shifts tend to have longer pregnancies. It is thought that these interfere with your cycle and therefore can make you go past your due date.
For some reason it has been found that if you are pregnant with a boy then you are more likely to go over your due date than if you are expecting a girl. There has been no reason found as to why this is. Another factor is congenital abnormalities either in the mother or the unborn baby. This could block the signals that tell your body its time to go into labor and therefore you go overdue. However if congenital abnormality is a concern then your pregnancy will be closely monitored.
You are considered to be in prolonged or post-term pregnancy when you go past 42 weeks. Once you reach this time you will most likely be induced to start labor as there are health complications associated with going beyond 42 weeks. Whatever time you end up giving birth you should remember that every pregnancy lasts a different amount of time and your baby will arrive when they are ready.
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