Conception DateThe conception date refers to the actual day when the female egg cell and sperm cell unite. It is the day which is known as the time when the life of baby was formed. The conception date is important because it serves as the basis for due date computation. Determining the conception date is the first thing that the doctor must do after the woman is declared to be pregnant. After determining the conception date, the doctor will need to know the date of the last menstrual period of the mother and can then compute the estimated delivery date. Although the delivery date is computed and established, it does not mean that the baby will actually arrive on the calculated day because the computation of the date of delivery is not an exact science. It is most likely that delivery date is certainly near the computed delivery date but may not really fall on the exact date. There are several methods of determining the conception date and the estimated delivery date. One of these is the 40 week method wherein the computation begins on the last day of the last menstrual period. The last day of the period shall be added to 40 weeks to get the expected date of delivery. But some find it inaccurate due to differences in the menstruation cycle of different women. Therefore, it is most accurate for women with regular 28 day cycle of period. Some also employ the 266 days computation method when determining the expected date of delivery. Most doctors prefer this method because 266 days is the normal development period for humans in the fetus. Read more of our articles on conception Conception - Improving Your Chances |