Pregnancy calculator to know the expected day of birth

Have you just had the good news of testing positive for pregnancy? If so, what you need now is to determine the gestational age and expected day of birth of the baby. You can, you know, calculate your own gestational age and due date by using a pregnancy calculator manually. How to? Find out here.

The gestational age is calculated from the first day of the last menstruation

Gestational age is calculated from the first day of the last menstruation. Although it is not certain that the fetus has formed in the uterus, the days of your last menstrual period are counted as the first week of gestation. Because at that time your body has actually prepared itself for pregnancy.

So if you are in a pregnant program, try to always record the date of your period every month. It is this habit of keeping track of the dates that helps you to know how long you are pregnant.

Knowing the gestational age with a pregnancy calculator

Apart from going to the obstetrician, it turns out that you can calculate for yourself how long your pregnancy is. The method is quite easy, you can calculate it via a manual pregnancy calculator using a calendar.

You need to know first when your last period was. Try to remember when the first date of the last menstruation You started. Well, the first day of the last menstrual period is the first day of your pregnancy.

This gestational age is likely about two weeks before conception. You must be wondering, why two weeks? This is because the fertilization process generally occurs around two weeks or on days 11-21 after the first day of your last menstrual period.

Gestation usually lasts for 40 weeks or 280 days until you give birth.

The age of the womb is different from the age of the fetus

It is important to note that the gestational age is not the same as the fetal age. In contrast to gestational age, the age of the fetus tends to be more difficult to determine.

Gestational age is the period since conception. Unfortunately, we never know exactly when the fertilization process occurs in the uterus. Doctors and midwives can only estimate the age of the fetus based on your gestational age.

However, there is no one hundred percent guarantee that the age of the fetus can be calculated with accuracy. Even there is no exact science that can help doctors to determine the age of the fetus, even with an ultrasound examination.

Unless, if you are doing in vitro fertilization (IVF). The IVF process lets doctors and patients both know when an egg has been successfully fertilized and when the fertilized product is finally inserted into the uterus.

Knowing the gestational age helps to know the estimated day of birth

If you already know how to find out your gestational age using a manual pregnancy calculator, now is the time for you to find out when your little one's due date is. By predicting when your baby will be born, you can prepare for the birth in advance.

If you already know when the first date of your last menstrual period is your estimated baby to be born is 40 weeks from the first day of that period. So, from the first date of your last menstrual period, count forward per week to the next 40 weeks. That is the approximate date when your baby will be born.

For example, if the first day of your last menstrual period was December 10, 2018 and your period lasted 7 days until after that you tested positive for pregnancy. So, the age of one week of your pregnancy is December 17, 2018. Your two-week gestational age falls on January 24, 2019, three weeks of gestation is January 31, 2019, and so on until your pregnancy enters week 40, to be precise 17 September 2019 This is the date 17 September 2019 where your baby is expected to be born.

Or, you can also calculate the expected day of birth with a formula like this:

Last menstrual date + 7 days - 3 months + 1 year

For example, if the first day of your last menstrual period was December 10, 2018, then the calculation would be:

10 (last menstrual period) + 7 days = 17

12 (Last menstrual month, in this example 12th month / December) - 3 months = 9 (9th month / September)

2018 (Last menstrual year) + 1 year = 2019

From this calculation results in the estimated date of birth on 17 September 2019.

Remember, this is only an estimate. So, it is not certain that your baby will be born on that date. Only about 5 percent of babies are born according to their due date. The rest, babies can be born before and after the due date.

To determine the due date of birth, the doctor may use other methods, such as an ultrasound examination in the first trimester. If necessary, a doctor can also do a physical examination.

What happens if you forget the date of your last menstrual period?

The key to using the pregnancy calculator to calculate the womb age and the estimated birth date using the last menstrual period. So, it will be difficult if you yourself forget when you last had that period.

Even so, don't be discouraged. The reason is, there are still other ways you can find out your gestational age apart from using a manual pregnancy calculator, namely by doing an ultrasound to an obstetrician.

The obstetrician will perform an ultrasound to measure the length of the baby from the tip of the head to the buttocks (tailbone). In medical terms, this method is called crown rump length (CRL). The CRL method can provide a more accurate measure of your gestational age.

Tips for choosing a good obstetrician

One of the problems that pregnant women often experience, especially those who are pregnant for the first time, is choosing a good obstetrician. Choosing a good obstetrician is not easy because it is closely related to your own satisfaction as a patient. Not necessarily the doctor your friend thinks is the same as your choice.

Basically, the key is one. Make sure you choose a gynecologist who can make you comfortable during the consultation. Yes, comfort is very important. Given, the doctor you choose is the one who will monitor the condition of your pregnancy for 9 months of pregnancy.

You can see this comfort indicator from the similarity of the doctor's vision with yours. You can get this by asking the doctor for his response about his attitude and views on normal births, cesarean births, induction during childbirth, and other important issues.

If you feel that the doctor can explain the information you asked for in detail and matches your vision of the birth, then this doctor is for you.

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