How many weeks does pregnancy last from conception?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Women who are going to become mothers approach such an important event as waiting for the birth of a baby with great responsibility. In the first days, watching the behavior of their body, they pay attention to any slightest changes that occur to it. Very often a woman does not even know about the birth of a new life. The main question, primarily of concern to expectant mothers, is how many weeks the pregnancy lasts.

Trimesters of pregnancy

The first trimester of pregnancy is considered quite dangerous. This is the period of fetal formation, when any physical activity can be critical for the expectant mother. Therefore, women usually wonder how many weeks a pregnancy lasts in the first trimester. According to doctors, the duration should not exceed 13 weeks. By the end of the first trimester, the fetus is already formed.

How many weeks of pregnancy lasts in the second trimester? From the 4th to the 6th month - the second stage of gestation, when the fetus begins to move. The duration of the second trimester is 13 weeks, at the 27th week it ends. The second trimester is considered the quietest period.

From the 28th week, the final trimester begins. Considering how many weeks a pregnancy lasts from conception (40), the duration of the third trimester should be 13 weeks. If labor starts earlier (37-38 weeks), the duration can be 11 weeks.

The third trimester is considered a busy period in pregnancy, so it is recommended to be under the supervision of a doctor during these periods.

First pregnancy

When pregnant for the first time, a woman often does not realize the gravity of the event. It is important that she is mentally prepared for a new state. Many still very young expectant mothers are already expecting their baby, feel it, wanting to take care of the little creature, to protect it.

How many weeks does a first pregnancy last? Usually, in a young he althy body, pregnancy proceeds without problems. The baby is born after 38-39 weeks. Since this is the first conception, it is important that the expectant mother is under the constant supervision of a gynecologist.

In no case should you terminate the first pregnancy. This affects the woman's he alth, fraught with deprivation of the opportunity to have children in the future.

Early pregnancy

There are two stages of pregnancy:

• Countdown of the beginning of pregnancy from the first day of menstruation,in other words, an obstetric count.
• The countdown from the first day of conception is the true, real term.

Each woman has an individual body. It is very difficult to specifically determine the day when the embryo took root, so the gynecologist conditionally considers the onset of pregnancy from the first day of menstruation. From this day on, how many obstetric weeks the pregnancy lasts is calculated.

The true term of conception is counted if the fertilized egg, having reached the walls of the uterus, freely penetrates into it and the embryo engrafts. If the process proceeds normally, the formation of the embryo begins.

The first week after conception is a rather dangerous phase. The body of a woman gets used to the embryo for a long time, perceiving it as a foreign body and trying in every possible way to reject it. After successful fixation of the egg, the formation of the placenta begins. From that moment on, pregnancy begins - the true term. In the body of the future mother, the hormonal transformation necessary for the adoption of the embryo begins.

Signs of pregnancy

There is a category of women who calmly endure the initial weeks (4-8 weeks) of pregnancy, practically without feeling any signs of change in the body. In the other half, the process is rather complicated. They often endure the entire period, no matter how many weeks a woman's pregnancy lasts from the moment of conception.

The first sign that suggests pregnancy at the initial stage is a delay in menstruation. Basically, a woman learns aboutstrange behavior of his body much earlier.

Earliest symptoms

Pregnancy can be guessed by many signs that the body signals from the very beginning:

• No period.
• Weakness and slight malaise in the morning.
• Heaviness and cramps in the lower abdomen.
• Frequent visits to the toilet (urination).
• Bleeding.
• Frequent constipation, gas.
• High sensitivity to various odors.
• Taste changes.
• Mood swings.
• Changing the shape of the breasts, the color and size of the nipples.
• A woman's high resting temperature (basal body temperature).

Some of the above symptoms may be present during the first conception, but not at all during subsequent pregnancies.

Duration of pregnancy in weeks

To come to the correct answer, how many weeks a woman's pregnancy lasts, scientists have conducted a number of studies. It is generally believed that pregnancy lasts 9 months. But in fact, it has been going on for almost 10 months.

Observing the course of pregnancy in 120 women showed that only 4% of them became mothers within 9 months. 60% of women give birth 10-15 days after this period. To calculate how many weeks a person's pregnancy lasts, the Negale rule is used, according to which the child is born on the 40th week, respectively, the duration of pregnancy is 280 days from the date of the lastmonthly.

Even if we take into account women who are sure of the day of ovulation, it is wrong to consider it the beginning of conception. The calculations will still be conditional, since it is impossible to predict the speed of the spermatozoon, the time it takes for the egg to pass through the uterine tubes, and the moment of its introduction into the uterine wall. Accordingly, it is almost impossible to know exactly how many weeks a woman's pregnancy lasts.

The effect of a woman's age on pregnancy

The age of a woman is of considerable importance for bearing a child. The older a woman becomes, the longer the period of bearing a child. How many weeks from the moment of conception pregnancy lasts for women over 35 depends not only on the condition of the expectant mother, whose age requires special care.

Interesting fact: a future mother who was born at one time with overweight, pregnancy lasts longer. Calculations have shown that every 100 g of extra weight at birth adds one day of pregnancy to a woman.

20-30 years ago, a pregnant woman at the age of 30 was called old-bearing. Today, these terms have shifted to 35-40 years. The reasons for this shift are explained by social status, career growth, and high employment. Therefore, pregnancy after 35 has its advantages and disadvantages.

Negative aspects of late pregnancy

Some doctors insist not to delay the decision to have a baby. It has nothing to do with the goal of increasing the birth rate. The thing isthat in fact there are negative aspects of late pregnancy. These include:

1. Women aged 35-40 have a rather low percentage of the likelihood of becoming a mother. With age, malfunctions of the ovaries begin.
2. Eggs that are unable to renew themselves at this age accumulate the physical negativity of the expectant mother, acquired during the life before pregnancy.
3. Long duration of rehabilitation after childbirth.
4. The risk of preterm birth is increasing.
5. Psychological factor.

The above items do not always appear in women aged 40 years. A he althy female body without physiological abnormalities, problems associated with immunity, is ready for serious changes, and the expectant mother can be sure of the birth of a he althy child. The state of he alth does not depend on age, but on lifestyle.

Benefits of late pregnancy

Many women are not afraid to give birth a little later than is customary in society. Because they see only positive aspects in not rushing into such an important decision. Benefits of late pregnancy include:

1. Financially sound. Parents who decide to have a child at the age of 35 are mostly financially secure.
2. Late pregnancy is almost always planned. For many years, the life of the spouses lived side by side is a big plus for the proper upbringing of the unborn child.
3. A woman's body rejuvenates after childbirth.
4. A woman who decided on a late pregnancy,psychologically set to change in life.

What determines the duration of pregnancy?

Factors affecting how many weeks from conception a woman's pregnancy will last:

• The he alth status of the expectant mother. The he alth of the father of the unborn baby is also important.
• The state of mind of a pregnant woman.
• The length of the menstrual cycle.
• Sperm activity, life expectancy after entering the vagina.
• The time it takes for an egg to penetrate the uterine wall.
• Genetics. The attention of doctors is often concentrated on relatives in case a pathology is detected.
• Development of the fetus, its internal organs.
• What is the number of pregnancy.

If all these factors meet the standards, the duration of the gestation of the baby should be 39-40 weeks. This is exactly how long a pregnancy lasts in weeks in a person based on its physiological characteristics. But do not worry if the gestational age has already exceeded the specified period. The body of each person is purely individual and should not strictly meet the standards established by someone.