The difficult period of pregnancy, most women later recall as the happiest time, a bright period of time filled with amazing feelings and exciting discoveries. It is difficult to find a woman in the world who would not like to experience these feelings again. They are firmly embedded in memory. What is the term for carrying a baby and how long it actually lasts, we will tell you in this article.
Period before birth in numbers
Pregnancy can vary in duration from the day of conception to the day of delivery. The day, which is defined as the expected day of birth, is only an approximate guideline, allowing doctors and the expectant mother herself not to get confused in the timing.
In obstetrics, it is customary to calculate the duration of pregnancy according to the Negale rule. It states that pregnancy lasts exactly 280 days from the start of the cycle. In other words, the countdown starts from the first day of the last menstrual period, which occurred before pregnancy.
As you know, conception is most likely on the day of ovulation or within a day after it. Ovulation occurs in the middle of the cycle, and therefore, on average, 38 weeks or 266 days pass from conception to childbirth.
It is customary to calculate pregnancy by obstetric months, which differ from the calendar month, which is familiar to most people. A calendar month can have 30 days and 31 days, the shortest month - February - usually has 28, and in leap years - 29 days. The midwife month is exactly 4 weeks, regardless of what it is called in the calendar.
Thus, 9 months of pregnancy in popular terms is 10 obstetric months, or exactly 40 weeks from the day of the last menstruation, or 38 weeks from the date of conception.
This entire period is divided into three main periods, each of which is called a trimester. The first trimester is the time from the start of pregnancy to 13 weeks. During this period, the most important processes take place - the laying of the baby's organs and systems, their formation. The second trimester is the period from 14 to 27 weeks, during this period the baby grows intensively, the interaction in the work of all his organs is being debugged. During the third trimester, from 28 to 40 weeks, the baby gains weight and prepares for birth.
What affects the timing?
Pregnancy can last 38 obstetric weeks, 40, and even 42 weeks. All these terms indicate that the baby is full-term, ready for birth. A post-term pregnancy is considered from 42-43 weeks. According to statistics, only 5% of children are born on the estimated date of birth, calculated according to the Negale rule. Why, then, does one woman's pregnancy last longer and another's less?
The answer to this question is unknown to medicine. Religious people say in this case that only the higher powers know when the baby should appear on earth. Doctors believe that the duration of pregnancy is influenced by the duration of the implantation period, when the egg moves along the fallopian tube to the uterus, the duration of implantation, as well as the course of the pregnancy itself.
So, women who were born at 43 weeks of pregnancy themselves have a higher chance of carrying their baby for more than the standard 40 weeks. Hereditary reasons for prolongation of gestation are one of the most likely.
It has long been noted that pregnancy lasts longer in women who lead a measured and relaxed lifestyle. Imperturbable mothers-to-be tend to overdue their babies, while excitable and nervous women often give birth before 39 weeks of gestation.
It has been noticed that women who are afraid of labor pain give birth later than women who are mentally ready for childbirth. The duration of the intrauterine stay of the baby can be affected by the health status of the mother and the fetus itself, the state of the placenta, the nutritional and lifestyle habits of the expectant mother.
More often than others, women who decide to give birth for the first time after 36 years of age are postponing, and preterm birth is more likely to occur in women who already have several children.
Components of natural processes
Scientists have calculated and found that a human baby needs to be in the mother's womb for at least 16 months from the moment of conception for more complete development. Then boys and girls will be born stronger, ready to repel all the threats of an aggressive environment, with developed instincts for self-preservation and survival.
But the anatomical features of the structure of the female body will not allow such a large child to pass through the birth canal, so nature made sure that the pregnancy lasts exactly as long as possible, so that the baby can be born naturally.
It is believed that the first 7 months after birth, the baby continues to develop at the same pace that was given to him by nature in the womb, and then the intensity of the processes and biological rhythms of the child's body change, slow down, become more "earthly".
40 weeks is the optimal duration of pregnancy. After 42 weeks, the baby becomes uncomfortable in a cramped uterus, where the amount of water decreases, and the worn out placenta can no longer fully nourish the baby and provide him with oxygen. Premature birth before the 37th week of pregnancy is a direct threat to the child's survival, because his lungs are not yet considered mature, the nervous system is not ready to work outside the mother's abdomen, and the amount of subcutaneous fat cannot guarantee that the baby will be able to maintain the desired body temperature in a new one for him habitat.
Stimulation of labor
Until a few years ago, it was considered quite normal and common practice in obstetrics to stimulate labor for all women who stepped over the date indicated as the expected date of birth. However, a huge number of complications in labor and further development of children, who were "rushed" to be born, led doctors to the idea that interference with the laws of nature could not end well for a person.
Therefore, now they resort to the stimulation of labor only in extreme cases, when further intrauterine stay may pose a danger to the life and health of the baby or his mother. Gradually, progressive medicine begins to find a common language with wise nature, while the principle of non-interference with the laws of the universe becomes the main principle.
The birth of a child is one of the biggest mysteries and sacrament, so only the baby himself knows exactly when his day will come.
For how many days pregnancy lasts from the day of conception, see the next video.
