Calculating Your Pregnancy Due DateDo you know what the most common question you will be asked during pregnancy? It is when the pregnancy due date is, closely followed by questions about the sex of your unborn baby. When your pregnancy is confirmed, most medical professionals use a method devised by a famous doctor called Dr. Naegele, his pregnancy due date calculation method is said to be the most accurate. It is a simple formula based upon the fact that most women's menstrual cycle lasts 28 days. During this cycle, the ovulation lasts 14 days. The exact formula is: Date of last known period + 7 days - 3 calendar months = Pregnancy due date In real terms, if your last known period was February 12th , add 7 days to make it February 19th , then take away 3 months making November 19th the pregnancy due date. The only bad thing about Dr. Naegele's pregnancy due date calculation is that it does not take into account that there are plenty of women that have irregular menstrual cycles or ovulate at different times. This is why it is best to add or minus a week if your doctor has used this formula to provide a pregnancy due date. As you approach your pregnancy due date, there will be certain things that you can do to make yourself more comfortable or prepared for the big day. Certainly, you should be reducing the amount of strenuous activities that you undertake, the only real exercise you should be doing now are stretching and breathing related drills, that are designed to help you during labor and delivery. The third trimester can often be a frustrating time for expectant mothers. It can feel like the last few miles of a very long journey, yet the finishing line is constantly moving. The pregnancy due date provided by your medical team should be taken as fluid, yet it is very difficult not to hang our hopes on this day. This is because this is the only date that we can emotionally cling to when we think it will all be over. So it is very important to somehow change your mind set so that you are almost expecting to go beyond your original pregnancy due date. Clearly, as you get nearer to the pregnancy due date, the more organized and prepared for the big day you should be. This includes doing your research about what to expect during labor and delivery. You might also have attended antenatal classes with other mums to be and learned about different birthing techniques and breathing exercises. Now is the time to start thinking a bit more about what you have learned and how you will put it into practice. We've already mentioned before in another of our articles how many first time mums, are actually sent home from the hospital because they are not ready to give birth. This happened to us during the birth of our first daughter, we'd passed the pregnancy due date, we were experiencing the symptoms of labor, yet for the hospital I was not far gone enough. So we were told to go home and come back later. Although it wasted a few hours, it's not the most comfortable use of time, we wish you better luck with your pregnancy. Read more of our articles on the pregnancy due date Arranging A Pregnancy Due Date Charity Sweepstakes |