• View ecochildsplay’s profile on Facebook
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Twitter
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Instagram
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Pinterest
  • View Jennifer Lance’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on YouTube
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Google+

Eco Child's Play

Live a greener, healthier life!

  • Environment
  • Pregnancy
  • Food & Recipes
  • Health News
  • Parenting
  • Green Toys
  • Beauty & Beauty Products
  • Green Home & Cleaning
  • Contact

How long should you be pregnant?

PregnantMother_CC_300

Every woman in the third trimester is counting down the days until baby is born.   Maybe the countdown begins out of excitement or maybe out of concern, but the waiting can be difficult.  Just how long should you be pregnant?

All of the pregnancy books I have read said that normal human gestation lasted 40 weeks but rarely is any child born on its due date.  My daughter was the exception 🙂  My son was five days late.

When planning a home birth, 36 weeks is the magic date for safe delivery depending on your midwife.  Many a mother, including myself, waits patiently for this day when experiencing signs of early labor.

The opposite holds true when you pass the magic 40 weeks mark.  At 41 weeks, doctors and midwives may start ordering tests and encouraging an induced labor.  Interventions are the norm.

Just what is normal gestation?   Research conducted in Great Britain suggests this five week variance is normal and not such a cause for concern.  The Independent reports:

Although it has always been known that human pregnancies usually last between 37 and 42 weeks, the variation has previously been attributed to imperfect methods of estimating due dates.

A woman’s due date is calculated as 280 days after the onset of her last menstruation and is only ever considered a best guess. Only four per cent of women deliver on their due date and only 70 per cent within 10 days of it.

However researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) were able to pinpoint the moment women became pregnant by taking daily urine samples – enabling them to isolate the role that natural variation plays in pregnancy length.

In a group of 125 women, they found the average time from ovulation to birth was 268 days – 38 weeks and two days – and that the length of pregnancies varied by as much as 37 days, according to the research, published today in the journal Human Reproduction.

This research should be used to ease the stress women feel about their due dates.  Five weeks is a long time for variation, and too often interventions are performed that were not necessary.   There are many examples of women who had an induced labor only to discover the baby and placenta showed no signs of being over term.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said the research reaffirmed professionals’ experience “that every woman is different” and urged practitioners to be cautious intervening too early in pregnancy, but said that due dates were still useful.

Mervi Jokinen, practice and standards professional advisor at the RCM said: “I do not think that this signals the end of midwives and other health professionals giving a woman a single due date. It should be explained to the woman that the due date is always an estimate and as this research and our experience shows, this can vary widely.”

 

  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • WhatsApp
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe!

« Which natural food companies can you trust?
How to Teach Teens to Cook Green »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search Content

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter


About Eco Child’s Play

Our ethos is to provide news, information, and opinions on natural, green parenting to help your family live a greener, healthier life! Additionally, we offer personal consulting services to help you achieve your green living goals.

Jennifer is a vegetarian, yoga teacher, gardener, hiker, teacher, and mother that has been living off-the-grid for over 20 years.

Contact Eco Child’s Play

Plants Over Plastics! Repurpose Compostable Home Products

Convenient Plastic Container Free Dropps Laundry & Dishwashing Pods

More from the archives!

Make Craft Time a Family Time: Simple. Fun. Connected.

President’s Cancer Panel: "True burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated"

Gorilla In The Greenhouse: Schoolhouse Rock For The Green Age?

Lower Ninth Ward New Orleans gets $500,000 Eco-Friendly Playground

Power Brain Kids: 12 Easy Lessons to Ignite your Child’s Potential

cbd salve joy organics

CBD Products that Actually Deliver: Joy Organics

wama hemp underwear

The Most Comfortable Underwear is Made of Hemp: WAMA Review

Information

  • About & Contact
  • Archive
  • Blog
  • Consulting Services
  • Disclaimer, Disclosure, & Sponsored Posts
  • Privacy Policy

Kids' IQ Food: Fish, Bread, and Wine

Happy Late Birthday Gandhi!

TEDxSF – Louie Schwartzberg – Gratitude [video]

Contaminated Peanut Butter Sent to Schools

How long should you be pregnant?

Popular Categories

  • Breastfeeding
  • Health News
  • Natural Childbirth
  • Parenting
  • Education
  • Product Review
  • Green Toys

Get our posts via email

Please stay in touch!

You might also like to read…

Natural Home: Use Tiny Minerals to Soften Clothes

Save Handmade from the CPSIA – Last day to vote at Change.org

What Are Your Tips For Safe & Healthy Grilling?

Rainwater

toxic bottled water

Toxic Chemicals in WalMart’s Bottled Water

Copyright © 2023 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2023 · Divine Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.