The Only Due Date Calculator You Need
By Tine Reese
July 8, 2010
I’m happy to have found a “due date” calculator that actually sets proper expectations for women. It gives you a safe range of dates in which you can expect your baby to be born and explains why our current cultural thinking around due dates isn’t helpful.
“One of the biggest obstacles to natural birth is misunderstanding your “due date.” A due date does not mean there is only one safe day for your baby to be born. It is meant to establish a range of time that your baby is mature and safe to be born. Because modern obstetrics narrows this to a specific day, unnecessary interventions, like inducing labor, come into practice.
In a well-nourished, low risk pregnancy it is normal for your baby to be born between 37 and 42 weeks gestation*. Many natural events take place within your body during the last weeks of pregnancy to prepare you for labor. Allow time for the natural process to occur.”
The calculator is on Mother’s Naturally, the website of the Midwives Alliance of North America. Beyond the due date calculator, it also provides a wealth of information on how to give birth with minimal intervention and where to find professional support.
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