The ultrasound scan is used to check the baby’s size and the amount of amniotic fluid around the baby. The CTG is used to monitor the baby’s heart rate. In Germany, women who have passed their due date usually have check-ups twice a week.Ĭommon examinations include cardiotocography (CTG, also called a non-stress test) and ultrasound scans. If your due date has passed, you are likely to be offered more appointments and check-ups. How can you see how the unborn baby is doing?Ĭertain examinations can help midwives and doctors to identify possible problems affecting the mother or child. In Germany, women are usually offered an ultrasound scan between eight and twelve weeks of pregnancy. If the estimated due date based on the ultrasound scan is very different to the due date calculated based on your last period, your doctor or midwife can adjust your due date accordingly. But ultrasound scans aren't entirely accurate either. This means that the due date can be estimated quite accurately based on ultrasound scans in the first trimester (the first twelve weeks) of pregnancy. In the first few weeks of pregnancy, developing babies (embryos) are very similar in size. This estimated age, known as the gestational age, tells us how many weeks the woman has been pregnant. The size of the baby can be used to estimate how old the unborn baby is. This makes it possible to see what is happening inside the womb (uterus), and how big the baby is. Ultrasound (also called ultrasonography) involves the use of sound waves that bounce off the baby’s body and are turned into an image. These are further factors that make it harder to calculate an accurate due date.ĭue to frequent mistakes in estimating when the pregnancy started, doctors and midwives sometimes adjust due dates that were calculated in this way – for instance, based on the size of the child in an ultrasound scan during early pregnancy.Ĭalculating the due date based on an ultrasound scan And the baby might have been conceived a little later after your period than assumed in the calculation. What's more, periods aren't always exactly four weeks apart. So they might have been pregnant for a few weeks longer than they realize. And some women still have light bleeding at the start of pregnancy, around the time when they would normally have got their period. But this estimate isn't very reliable because women don't always remember exactly what day that was. The starting date for these 40 weeks is the first day of your last menstrual period. The length of pregnancy is always considered to be 40 weeks (or 280 days) – even though very few pregnancies last exactly 280 days. To be on the safe side, though, the doctor or midwife will start doing more checks to see how she or he is doing.Ĭalculating the due date based on the last menstrual period Women who have already had a baby that came much later than their due date are more likely to have an overdue baby in future pregnancies.īeing born after the 40th week only rarely harms the child. Sometimes it is because of a genetic predisposition (hereditary). The reason why the baby is overdue is usually not known. In another 35 out of 100 women, contractions start on their own within two weeks of the due date. But it takes longer in about 5 out of 100 women. This definition may vary from country to country.Ībout 60 out of 100 women give birth on or before their given due date. A pregnancy that continues for longer than 42 weeks is called a post-term, prolonged or overdue pregnancy. Being born too early is associated with various risks for the baby. If a baby is born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy, it is considered to be a preterm birth. When a pregnancy continues its full normal course (about 40 weeks), it is called a term pregnancy or full-term pregnancy. If there are no specific problems, the baby is very probably doing fine, though. But when your due date has passed, waiting for labor to start can be stressful too. The last few days of pregnancy are an exciting time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |