Understanding Your Due Date
When Are You Due?
As a Kansas City birth doula, I spend a significant amount of time talking about pregnancy due dates. I take a limited number of doula clients per month. When determining my availability for your birth, your actual due date is pretty irrelevant to me. I take clients based on their birth month rather than their actual due date. Most people find this information shocking! I would love to explain why I determine my availability the way I do, but first, let’s talk about when you are actually due.
You would think that your due date would be a clear-cut, concrete day on the calendar, but it isn’t. There is such a large amount of misinformation, common myths, and lack of provider communication on this subject that when you are due can become confusing. I would love to help you better understand when to expect your baby’s arrival.
Due Date vs. Due Period
The first thing I think we should do is toss the idea of an actual due date out the window and start talking about your ‘due period’. Only 5% of women deliver on their due date. So what is considered full-term? Many clients tell me that they think they are past due at 40+1 (40 weeks + 1 day). Either they have had their healthcare provider tell them this, or their friends and family have said this. That information is false. You are not considered past due until you are 42 weeks gestation. Here is a breakdown of what “carrying your baby to term” actually means.
Pregnancy Term
Information in (weeks + days) format
Early-term: babies are born between 37+0 and 38+6
Full-term: babies are born between 39+0 and 40+6
Late-term: babies are born between 41+0 and 41+6
Post-term: babies are born at 42+0 or later
Why is it so important to understand what “term” is?
It is important to understand what “term” is, and all the dates associated with that, for many reasons. I will talk about the three reasons that I feel are most important.
1) It is important to understand these terms because many expecting individuals start hearing from their healthcare provider about inductions around 39 weeks. Some physicians tell their patients they are past due once they pass their due date. There are many valid reasons to consider an induction, but the idea that you will be past due once you are 40 weeks is simply not a true statement. Once your due date passes you are considered late-term however you are still term which means you are still perfectly within the normal range to have your baby. In fact, 75% of first-time mothers deliver around 41 weeks. Induction for a post-term pregnancy IS a valid reason for induction, so it is very important for you to know when that is! There are so many things that factor into the decision to have an induction, your health (both physical and mental), your baby’s health, additional risk factors, and gestation should always be a part of the conversation. You deserve truthful information when deciding if induction is both right for you and/or medically necessary.
“Out of everyone who is induced, 44% said that they were induced because their baby was full term and it was close to the due date.”
~ Evidence-Based Birth
For more information about inductions for going past your due date head to Evidence Based Birth to read more.
2) Another reason it is important to understand the range of a full-term pregnancy is for practical reasons. I often hear clients ask me if I think it is okay for either themselves or their partners to travel when they are at 37 weeks gestation. They will often say “since I am not due yet…” or “since I am not yet full term…” but the truth is that they are! Studies show that 35% of women deliver before their due date. Understanding this may help you make important decisions.
3) Yet another reason it is important to understand that your due date should be replaced with your due period is for mental health reasons. I can not tell you how many of my doula clients tell me that once they pass their due date they start to become depressed. As someone who carried all of my children to right around 42 weeks, I will tell you that I was absolutely one of those people! So often our due date becomes this goal that we aim for as expecting mothers. Once you hit your “goal” of your due date you often feel frustrated that you are so uncomfortable and still pregnant. Plus, literally EVERYONE in your circle of friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and random strangers on the street…. seems to think they can ask questions about your cervix (p.s. guy in the grocery store, this is never okay), as well as constantly check-in to see if you are still pregnant. Let’s get honest here for a second, no one and I mean NO ONE wants to meet your baby more than you do at 41 weeks gestation, so the constant reminders that “you're still pregnant!” are 100% unhelpful. If people understood that you are not, in fact, overdue at 41 weeks then maybe they too could exhibit a bit of patience about your sweet baby’s arrival.
We have to work together to understand and support pregnant women as they near and pass their due dates. The last several weeks of pregnancy are hard. If it is possible to ease some of the fear, frustration, or confusion of that time in even the smallest way, then we should. I am not against induction or travel during pregnancy, however, I think you deserve the best information out there so that you and your healthcare provider together are able to determine what is right for you and your baby.
Your due period is about a month long. This is why I take clients based on how many I feel that I can comfortably support each month with prenatal and postpartum visits, along with births, rather than based on a client’s actual due date. Realistically, you may share your due date with someone else and end up delivering a month apart. This is completely normal and expected. Maybe we should release the attachment to a due date and start sharing our due month when asked when our babies will arrive.