When a woman finds out she’s pregnant, one of the first questions she has is, “When am I due?” Knowing your expected due date assists you to prepare for a healthy pregnancy and the arrival of your baby. Due date calculators can be helpful in estimating your due date, but keep in mind that any calculator you use will only be able to give you an estimate, and the chances of you giving birth on that exact date are minimal.
What is a Due Date Calculator?
Since most pregnancies last approximately 40 weeks (or 38 weeks from conception), counting 40 weeks (or 280 days) from the first day of your last menstrual cycle is usually the best way to predict your due date (LMP).
Another method is to subtract three months from the start of your previous menstruation and then add seven days. So, if your previous period began on April 11, you’d go back three months to January 11 and add seven days, resulting in a January 18 due date.
This is how your doctor will calculate your due date, and it’s a fairly accurate estimate. But keep in mind that it’s perfectly typical to deliver a week or two early or after the due date.
How do we calculate the Due Date?
There are a few options. If you know the day you were born, you can calculate your due date by counting 38 weeks from that day. (A human pregnancy lasts roughly 38 weeks.)
However, only a small percentage of expectant mothers are aware of their specific conception date. You wouldn’t conceive on that day unless you were ovulating, even if you just had intercourse once during your fertile period.
Inside your fallopian tubes, sperm can survive for up to five days. So you may release an egg (ovulate) up to five days after having intercourse, which is fertilised by a waiting sperm. That is the day you become pregnant.
So how can one calculate a due date without knowing the date of conception?
Initial stage of your last period
Counting 40 weeks from the first day of your last menstrual cycle is the most frequent method for determining your pregnant due date (LMP). That’s how the majority of healthcare practitioners go about it.
If your menstrual cycle is the typical length (28 days), it began around two weeks before you conceived. This is why pregnancies are said to last 40 weeks rather than 38 weeks.
This method disregards the length of your menstrual cycle or the time you believe you may have conceived. Women, on average, ovulate about two weeks after their menstrual cycle begins. Women are also more likely to remember when their last period began than when they ovulated.
Conception date
If you know exactly when you conceived – for example, if you used an ovulation predictor kit or kept track of your ovulation symptoms – you can use that information to calculate your pregnancy due date. Simply select the appropriate calculating technique from the drop-down menu above and enter your date.
Note: You don’t have to conceive on the same day you have intercourse.
IVF Transfer Date
You can use your IVF transfer date to calculate your due date if you conceived through IVF. Count 261 days from your embryo transfer date if you had a Day 5 embryo transfer. Count 263 days if you had a Day 3 embryo transfer.
How to use a Due Date Calculator.
There are normally two techniques for predicting your due date, whether you utilise an internet pregnancy calculator or have your due date forecast by a doctor or midwife. The first method is to calculate your due date using the date of your most recent menstrual period. The second method is to estimate based on the conception date.
Count forty weeks from the day of your last period to determine your due date depending on your menstrual cycle. Count out 38 weeks from the exact or approximate date you think you conceived to calculate your due date depending on the date of conception.
How accurate can a Due Date calculator actually be?
According to research, just around one out of every twenty mothers gives birth on time. It’s crucial to understand that a pregnancy calculator based on your due date will give you a solid estimate of when your baby will arrive. However, because most women are unaware of their actual conception date, calculating an accurate due date can be tricky.
As a result, most doctors advise determining your due date using the day of your last menstrual cycle. Even if you use the menstrual period approach, you’ll only get an estimate of your due date. During your pregnancy, a doctor or midwife may change your due date based on the findings of an ultrasound test that will reveal influencing variables such as the baby’s growth.
