Anticipating when a woman is likely to give birth is an imprecise science. Oftentiimes, the date of delivery does not really fall on the expected day. It is also a question with significant medical and personal indications. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology , a meta-analysis published this week that gives emphasis on the subject.
Exactly concluding when a woman is probably to go into labor has always been the challenge and only 5% of women go into labor on their expected due date. About 90% of women who had a pregnancy that lasted for over 42 weeks, had contractions that start on their own in a period of 2 weeks before the due date.
However, the specific date in those 2 weeks is frustratingly challenging to foresee.
Indeed, most women do not have the idea about the exact date the baby was conceived, and by its very nature, any due date given can only be an assessment.
Nowadays, the best ways for estimating a child's date of birth are either by using the latest menstrual period as a starting point, or by measuring the fetus' size with an ultrasound scan. Nevertheless, neither of these approaches are without some measure of errors.
Dr. Vincenzo Berghella, at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, in his analysis, desires to come up with a somewhat more authentic picture.
There are several arguments why people hopes a more scientific anticipation for their due date. According to Berghella, women always ask for an exceptional sense of their delivery date in order to assist them to arrange their work leave, or to make a possibility of plans for sibling-care during labor. These are ideas which can help minimize a woman's anxiety about the onset of labor.
On top of these more procedural concerns, there are very serious health matters, too.
