Why is it 9 months pregnant but 40 weeks?

Is a pregnancy 9 or 10 months? Your 40 weeks of pregnancy are counted as nine months. That's because each month (except February) is about 4.3 weeks long.

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Why is 40 weeks pregnant equal to 9 months?

Pregnancy is counted from the first day of your last menstrual period. This means an extra 2 weeks are counted at the beginning of your pregnancy when you aren't actually pregnant. So pregnancy lasts 10 months (40 weeks)—not 9 months—because of these extra weeks.

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Why are humans pregnant for 9 months?

The traditional explanation for our nine-month gestation period and helpless newborns is that natural selection favored childbirth at an earlier stage of fetal development to accommodate selection for both large brain size and upright locomotion—defining characteristics of the human lineage.

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Do babies come exactly at 40 weeks?

Full term: Your baby is born between 39 weeks, 0 days and 40 weeks, 6 days. Late term: Your baby is born between 41 weeks, 0 days and 41 weeks, 6 days. Postterm: Your baby is born after 42 weeks, 0 days.

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Can you make it to 42 weeks pregnant?

Most pregnancies last 37 to 42 weeks, but some take longer. If your pregnancy lasts more than 42 weeks, it is called post-term (past due). This happens in a small number of pregnancies. While there are some risks in a post-term pregnancy, most post-term babies are born healthy.

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Overdue Pregnancy | What To Do When Baby’s due date has passed?- Dr. H S Chandrika| Doctors' Circle

24 related questions found

Why is it unsafe to go past 42 weeks?

You at 42 weeks

There's a higher risk of stillbirth if you go over 42 weeks pregnant, although most babies remain healthy. At the moment, there's no way to reliably predict which babies are at increased risk of stillbirth, so induction is offered if you do not go into labour by 42 weeks.

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What causes pregnancy to go beyond 40 weeks?

The reason why the baby is overdue is usually not known. Sometimes it is because of a genetic predisposition (hereditary). 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. Being born after the 40th week only rarely harms the child.

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Why are first babies late?

Rabin said there is no known biological reason why firstborn babies would be more likely to be early or late. After 42 weeks of pregnancy, a baby is considered overdue, Rabin said, and doctors become concerned about complications, such as an aging placenta that is not able to deliver proper nutrition to the baby.

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Are overdue babies bigger?

When a pregnancy reaches 42 weeks and beyond, it's postterm. Late-term and postterm pregnancy can raise the risk of some health problems, including: Larger than average birth size (fetal macrosomia). This increases the chance that you may need forceps, a vacuum device or another instrument to assist with the birth.

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What is the longest ever pregnancy?

How many babies were born during the longest recorded human pregnancy? The longest recorded human pregnancy was 375 days, or just over 12 and a half months, according to Guinness World Records. During this pregnancy, a woman named Beulah Hunter gave birth to a healthy baby girl in 1945.

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How painful is childbirth?

While the experience is different for everyone, labor can sometimes feel like extremely strong menstrual cramps that get progressively more and more intense as time goes on1.

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Which gender stays longer in the womb?

The growth of every human fetus is constrained by the limited capacity of the mother and placenta to deliver nutrients to it. At birth, boys tend to be longer than girls at any placental weight. Boy's placentas may therefore be more efficient than girls, but may have less reserve capacity.

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Why did full term change from 37 to 39 weeks?

Full term is now 39 weeks because research has shown that babies born at 39 to 40 weeks were less likely to have certain health problems than those born at 37 weeks. Babies born at 39 or 40 weeks instead of 37 or 38 weeks: Have more time for their brain, lungs, and liver to fully mature.

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Why is pregnancy counted from last period?

If you were having regular periods before pregnancy, your doctor will calculate your due date based off of your last menstrual period. This goes back to the fact that in order to get pregnant, your body ovulated—or released an egg—roughly in the middle of your cycle and it was fertilized by sperm.

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How many babies actually make it to 40 weeks?

The researchers found that 50% of all women giving birth for the first time gave birth by 40 weeks and 5 days, while 75% gave birth by 41 weeks and 2 days. Meanwhile, 50% of all women who had given birth at least once before gave birth by 40 weeks and 3 days, while 75% gave birth by 41 weeks.

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Are girl babies usually late?

Only 7.6 percent percent of male babies and 5.5 percent of female babies were in the womb 42 weeks or longer. Males were also 1.5 times more likely to be born at 43 weeks or longer. The researchers noted that the most common reason for prolonged pregnancies is an error in calculating the due date.

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Are first babies usually late?

First babies are less likely to be “on time” at 39 weeks, and more likely to be a little late, between 41 and 43 weeks. Among full-term pregnancies, first babies are born about 1.3 days later on average.

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Can sitting too much delay labor?

Spending most of your time in bed, especially lying on your back, or sitting up at a small angle, interferes with labor progress: Gravity works against you, and the baby might be more likely to settle into a posterior position. Pain might increase, especially back pain.

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Which gender is born before due date?

Boys are more likely to be born before their due date. After the 40-week mark, however, the odds slightly favor a girl.

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Does your body or the baby decide when labor starts?

Researchers now believe that when a baby is ready for life outside his mother's uterus, his body releases a tiny amount of a substance that signals the mother's hormones to begin labor (Condon, Jeyasuria, Faust, & Mendelson, 2004). In most cases, your labor will begin only when both your body and your baby are ready.

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Is induced labor more painful than natural?

Induced labour is usually more painful than labour that starts on its own, and you may want to ask for an epidural. Your pain relief options during labour are not restricted by being induced. You should have access to all the pain relief options usually available in the maternity unit.

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Why hasn't my baby dropped at 40 weeks?

Your baby won't necessarily drop before labor begins — whether it's your first pregnancy or a subsequent one. If yours doesn't, don't worry. When or whether baby drops and you experience lightening will have no impact on your labor.

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Will my doctor induce me at 40 weeks?

Your provider may recommend inducing labor if: Your pregnancy lasts longer than 41 to 42 weeks. After 42 weeks, the placenta may not work as well as it did earlier in pregnancy. The placenta grows in your uterus (womb) and supplies your baby with food and oxygen through the umbilical cord.

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How does your VAG feel before labor?

You may start to feel pressure in your vagina or pelvis. “This may be due to 'lightening,' which is when the baby drops down from the abdomen. Some women feel lightening as pelvic pressure or even low back pain,” says Dr. Emery.

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