Pregnancy Calculator

Most women and childbirth professionals use a pregnancy calculator for determining the expected due date for the birth of a baby. Once the pregnancy calculator is used for any given pregnancy, it is not necessary to recalculate the date of conception or the due date as that will not change unless further information might influence the estimated due date. It is not an exact science estimating the due date of a baby, but the pregnancy calculator is a very good tool to use and gives a good indication of when to expect the pregnant woman go into labor. Or, at least when the baby reaches full term and could be born.

The pregnancy calculator is usually a wheel with two circles that spin. Each wheel has information on it. One is calibrated with weeks 1 - 43 and also an indication of date of conception. The second wheel has the 365 days of the calendar year on it. To use the pregnancy calculator, you line up an arrow at the date of the first day of the pregnant woman's last menstruation cycle and two weeks after that date is the estimated conception date and then the weeks 1 - up to 43 match up to the calendar dates of the other wheel. The pregnancy calculator also indicates other information relating to the timeline of a pregnancy.

The pregnancy calculator will indicate the beginning and end of each of the three trimesters of the pregnancy. The pregnancy calculator may also indicate the approximate length and weight of the fetus at various points during the gestation period. If a woman is absolutely certain of her own cycle and knows the precise days of ovulation, the pregnancy calculator is even more accurate if the point on the wheel that indicates conception is lined up at that calendar day and then 40 weeks from that date would be the estimated due date.

The pregnancy calculator is a handy tool. It helps to give more accurate benchmarks during the pregnancy to be aware of how the pregnancy is progressing and if there are any signs of predicted low birth weight or other indicators about " normal" fetal development. The pregnancy calculator can even be used by a couple to determine when they might want to try to conceive a child when planning a family. Some people are very concerned with when a baby will be born. The pregnancy calculator is useful in these situations. Perhaps a woman wants to plan the birth of her baby around her work schedule. If she is a school teacher, the pregnancy calculator will help her to plan conception so that the birth would most likely occur at the beginning of the school summer vacation so she would have extra time at home with her new baby before returning to work.

Of course, the pregnancy calculator is a tool that gives estimations. The pregnancy calculator is not scientifically accurate except under circumstances where everything is normal and routine. But every woman, pregnancy and baby is individual and full term gestation can range from 37 - 43 weeks which is a big window. So if you choose or your healthcare provider chooses to use the pregnancy calculator to give an estimated due date for the birth of your baby, know that it is just that...an estimated due date.

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