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Congratulations, you think (or know) you might be pregnant! But it can be quite confusing when you try to calculate the number of weeks. That's because of the way that doctors and midwives have traditionally calculated the "weeks pregnant" you are, with 40 weeks being your due date.
Doctors and midwives generally discuss pregnancies in weeks, rather than months, so they can more accurately assess the progress and expected milestones of your baby throughout the pregnancy.
The average pregnancy is assumed to be a total of 40 weeks (that's 280 days) from the first day of your last menstrual period (often shortened to "LMP")
Pregnancy is commonly referred to in terms of "gestational age" rather than "fetal age development." When you think about it carefully, that means that the average gestation only goes for 38 weeks after fertilisation - and using this system, you are already two weeks "pregnant"" at the time of ovulation. How fascinating is that?
To work out how many weeks pregnant you are under the traditional system, just work forward from the first date of your last menstrual period.
How many weeks pregnant am I - under the fetal age (or ovulation) system?
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Sometimes doctors and midwives talk about the "fetal age" or use the "ovulation" system of determining how many weeks pregnant you are, because it is more accurate than just guessing that you might have ovulated about 14 days after the first day of your last period...
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The fetal age is the actual age of your baby - that is, how many weeks since the egg and sperm joined together in conception.
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Thanks to technologies like ultrasound, as well as widely-available and far more accurate ovulation testing, fetal age can be easily determined and can give you a better estimate of how many weeks pregnant you are.
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If you have a much shorter or much longer menstrual cycle than the standard 28 days, using the standard gestational age "dates" won't quite match up with where your baby really should be, so fetal age can be more accurate.
Trimesters
Pregnancy is usually divided into 3 "trimesters" of around 12 weeks each. That's because these represent 3 quite different stages of pregnancy in terms of the experiences that you as a pregnant woman has, and the development of your baby.
How many weeks will your pregnancy last?
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The main reason that most women want to know how many weeks pregnant they are, is because they want to know what date their baby will be born.
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The traditional method of estimating the due date of a baby, called Naegele's rule, is to add 7 days to the 1st day of your last menstrual period, then 9 months to the month.
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So, if your last period started on 18 November, then your due date is going to be the 24 August, which works out to around 40 weeks. Naegele's rule assumes the woman has a 28 day menstrual cycle and ovulated and fell pregnant on day 14; so gestation is 38 weeks from the day of ovulation. Find out your estimated baby due date here.
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However, things are not that simple; just 3% to 5 % of babies actually arrive on their due date, much to the frustration of most expectant parents.
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The most common time for babies to arrive is 40 weeks and 3 days; you are statistically far more likely to go overdue than to go early.
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Most professionals argue that babies can be born perfectly healthily at anything from 37 to 42 weeks after the date of the last menstrual period..
Have more questions on pregnancy? Join a support group (if you have not done so!). Motherhood represents a completely new phase in your life and a community of new mothers who can journey with you will be helpful! Pregnancy tips, parenting tips, free diaper samples and exclusive diaper offers shared on the Huggies Club platform can ensure you are best prepared for your newborn child too.
The information published herein is intended and strictly only for informational, educational, purposes and the same shall not be misconstrued as medical advice. If you are worried about your own health, or your child’s well being, seek immediate medical advice. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information on this website. Kimberly-Clark and/ or its subsidiaries assumes no liability for the interpretation and/or use of the information contained in this article. Further, while due care and caution has been taken to ensure that the content here is free from mistakes or omissions, Kimberly-Clark and/ or its subsidiaries makes no claims, promises or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information here, and to the extent permitted by law, Kimberly-Clark and/ or its subsidiaries do not accept any liability or responsibility for claims, errors or omissions.
