How does the doctor figure out the pregnancy due date so easily and accurately? Most people have wondered this at one time or another. The majority of doctors do this with the assistance of a formula or technology. The truth of the matter is there are many ways to calculate the pregnancy due date. The methods they use can be computerized applications, counting nine months from the day of your last period, to a number of traditional means. The one often common factor is they all are fairly accurate.

When Do The Nine Months End?

Many ages, regions, countries, and ethnicities have brought numerous methods to calculate the pregnancy due date. Long ago, before mass transit and communication, people wanted to know the date they would have a new member of their family. Even today this hasn't changed. Over time each developed even more effective ways to calculate the pregnancy due date and eventually standardized them.

In ancient civilizations there were numerous ways people would calculate a pregnancy due date, with outstanding accurateness. In those times alchemy and medicine were relatively advanced for their era. Among the more notable was China with the Chinese pregnancy calendar. With this they could accurately calculate the gender of the baby using only the conceiving date and age of the mother.

Later on many civilizations including Native Americans had methods to calculate the pregnancy due date that seemed strange to some but were extremely accurate. Moon phase was often used for many date calculations. Those that have seen them in action very much believe in them. Accurate gender prediction was also common here.

Today, the most utilized formula calculating the pregnancy due date involves adding the nine months from the beginning of the last period, then subtract two weeks. Put simpler the pregnancy due date can be calculated by adding 40 weeks to the first day of the last menstrual period then subtracting 14 days from this date. This formula is known as the LMP (last menstrual period) formula.

A very simple method that has been used to calculate the pregnancy due date is Naegle's formula. Like many formulas knowing the first day of the last period is needed. To determine the due date simply go back three months and then add seven days to that. The product is your due date.

Modern medicine often uses technology to calculate a pregnancy due date that is usually 98 percent correct. This involves ultrasound, where they can base the due date off of the precise stage of pregnancy the fetus is currently in.

Computerization of many medical calculations has increased accuracy in many areas of modern healthcare. This definitely includes pregnancy due date calculation and a number of other factors that can assist bringing the new baby home in the best health possible.

Overall with all the methods used today to calculate the pregnancy due date, many extra opinions are possible. In the end, you should know the precise date you can expect to deliver. While not always exact, today things are pretty accurate. Just remember though that over the centuries many have had similar accuracy on pregnancy due date.