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When you become pregnant your midwife or doctor will work out your due date. This date is then used to monitor your pregnancy every step of the way. Many women take this date as being set in stone and worry about the baby arriving before or after this date. It is very interesting to look into what factors can delay the due date of a baby.

The problem with a due date is that it is estimated. In fact only about 5% of women give birth on their due date. Most babies arrive after their due date and 80% are born within 10 days before and after this date. The rest are born at times completely outside of this time.

A pregnancy is classed as going full term if it lasts anywhere between 37-42 weeks rather than reaching one specific date. The fact of the matter is that all pregnancies do not last the same amount of time.

The main reason your due date will be delayed is because date that you are given by your midwife or doctor is estimated. They use the theory that a pregnancy lasts 10 lunar months. That is 28 days each. Therefore they take the first day of your last menstrual period and add 280 days.

It is assumed that your menstrual cycle lasts 28 days whereas many women have a longer or shorter cycle. If you have a cycle of more than 28 days then you are likely to have a pregnancy lasting longer than 40 weeks and therefore your baby would be classed as overdue.

There is no definitive reason to explain why some pregnancies go past their due date while others don’t even reach it. A few factors have been identified which may play a part in this. There is evidence to show that hereditary factors may have something to do with this. You are more likely to go over your due date if your mother gave birth past hers.

Some studies have shown that race could play an issue with overdue pregnancies too. It is also thought that if you work shifts and are affected by the seasons then this may interfere with your body clock and therefore result in you having an overdue birth.

If you are pregnant with a boy then there is evidence to show that you are more likely to go overdue than if you are expecting a girl. Although there has been no specific reason identified as to why this is. Congenital abnormalities can also result in a prolonged pregnancy. If the unborn baby or the mother have a congenital abnormality then this can stop the body from naturally starting labour and you may need to be induced. If this is a factor in your pregnancy then you will receive regular check ups to keep track of this.

A pregnancy is officially known as prolonged or post-term when the pregnancy goes over 42 weeks. At this time your doctor will look at inducing you in order to bring about labor. This is due to the health complications that can arise from going too far overdue. The main thing to remember is that the length of every pregnancy is different and there is no reason to worry if you go past your due date.

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