How to calculate the date of birth by ultrasound?

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

In the life of every woman, definitely the most exciting moment is the birth of a child. The period of pregnancy is a special time when the expectant mother feels everything in a new way, in a different way. During this period, she involuntarily makes others constantly draw attention to herself, she is especially beautiful, harmonious. And of course, she is worried not only about how to preserve and maintain the he alth of a baby who has not yet been born, but also how to calculate the date of birth.

Since ancient times, people have been busy calculating the date of the expected birth and the gender of the child for pregnant women. Almost all nations have tried to calculate the date of birth by menstruation. But every nation had its own ways. Someone counted according to the lunar calendar, someone deduced various formulas, and some simply trusted signs, watching a pregnant woman.

But progress has advanced a lot, and in today's world it is easy to calculate the date of birth and the sex of the baby without resorting to outdated methods. And the most accurate and reliable method is ultrasound (ultrasoundresearch).

How do pregnant ultrasounds work?

Ultrasound is a completely safe procedure for both a woman and a child, moreover, thanks to this procedure, malformations and pathologies can be detected in the early stages.

Two sensors are connected to a special device - abdominal and vaginal.

The vaginal probe is inserted into the vagina using a special ultrasound condom, this allows you to very accurately determine the presence of the ovum in the uterus or its absence (for example, if there is a suspicion of an ectopic pregnancy or a threatened miscarriage). Such a sensor is used only in the first three months (up to 13 weeks).

The abdominal probe is driven over the skin, in this case, over the belly of the pregnant woman. Beforehand, a special gel is applied to the patient's skin and to the sensor itself so that the air does not interfere with the monitor image.

With the help of ultrasonic waves on the screen, the doctor sees the child's body, takes measurements of the arms, legs, head and other parts. Even the internal organs of the baby are clearly visible on the machine.

There are certain norms for the development of the fetus, based on them, the ultrasound doctor draws conclusions and sets the correct gestational age.

How do ultrasound doctors calculate the expected date of birth of a child?

By setting the gestational age in weeks and knowing the date of the last menstruation, the doctor can calculate the date of delivery. The woman calls the first day of the cycle, which was the last time (the first day when menstruation began), the doctor enters the date in the program installed on the deviceUltrasound, and the program itself issues a specific date when the baby should appear.

Often, the date set by doctors does not coincide with the actual date of delivery. There is nothing to worry about, because the child himself decides when to be born, and sends an impulse to the brain, and the brain, in turn, to the woman's nervous system. The only exceptions are cases in which the pregnant woman had some kind of pathology, as a result of which the child was born prematurely.

In any case, during pregnancy, it is possible to calculate the date of birth and the sex of the baby on ultrasound only after the 12th week. Parts of the body and internal organs of the fetus can be carefully examined only at this time, and without measuring the organs, the corresponding gestational age cannot be established. Only after conducting all the necessary studies, the uzist doctor can tell exactly what period the fetus corresponds to, and thanks to this data, calculate the date of birth.

Is it possible to see the sex of the fetus on ultrasound in the earliest possible time?

No, you can't. Even the most experienced, highly qualified ultrasound specialist will not be able to accurately say who is in the womb - a boy or a girl. Until the fetus reaches development at 10 weeks, it will not be possible to discern the sex, because until this time the embryos are almost indistinguishable from each other and do not have clear sexual characteristics.

The development of the sexual organs of a child in the womb begins after his body begins to produce hormones. The production of hormones usually occurs for a period of 8 weeks. However, at the 9th week, the sex of the baby is already established, since the combination of male and female cells gives outa certain set of chromosomes, which suggests one or another gender of the fetus.

The sexual organs complete their formation at about 12 weeks, sometimes a little later - at 14.

How to find out the sex of the fetus without ultrasound?

Experienced obstetricians and gynecologists often guess the sex of the baby in the womb by the heart rate.

With the help of a special wooden tube - a stethoscope - the doctor listens to the fetal heartbeat. The doctor puts one end of the tube to his ear, and the other to the woman's stomach. If the heart rate is about 140 or less, most likely a girl in the tummy. But if the heartbeat is more than 140 beats per minute, then the woman is probably expecting a boy. Obstetricians also listen to the rhythm and pattern of the heartbeat. A clear, measured and loud sound indicates a male fetus. An unstable, unstable heartbeat indicates being in the womb of a girl.

And yet, many obstetricians do not share this opinion. They believe that the heartbeat primarily depends on the activity of the child, individual characteristics, time of day, mother's he alth, uterine tone.

You can also determine the sex of the fetus with the help of tests. In case of serious pathologies or suspicion of them, a pregnant woman is offered to undergo a procedure for taking amniotic fluid through the placenta - amniocentesis. This procedure is not entirely safe, since in rare cases it can provoke a miscarriage, and therefore the decision on the need for this procedure is made by the woman herself, she has the right to refuse to perform it.

Also to this kind of procedures with the possibility of determining the sexincludes cordocentesis (blood sampling from the umbilical cord) and chorionic biopsy (sampling of chorionic villi). Such tests are prescribed only in exceptional cases, they are not safe and do not apply to widely available methods for determining sex.

How do gynecologists calculate the due date?

Gynecologists and obstetricians most often use one method. Using a calendar, they count exactly 40 weeks (or about 280 days) from the day when the last menstruation was. The term set in this way is called obstetric. The obstetric gestational age is considered the most correct; it is used when issuing certificates, benefits and other documents. Although due dates given by gynecologists are only correct 20% of the time.

Obstetricians use another method when trying to calculate the date of delivery during pregnancy - this is the measurement of the volume of the uterus (bottom height). Thanks to this method, the gynecologist can determine the approximate period in weeks at the very first appointment. Since the uterus increases according to the duration of pregnancy, it is not difficult for the doctor to determine which week a woman is in. Certain parameters of the height of the uterus correspond to certain terms. It is almost impossible to make a mistake in this case. And yet, this method is advisable to apply only up to three months, that is, up to 12 weeks.

How to calculate the estimated date of birth, knowing the date of conception?

To calculate the date of birth in this case, you need to know the date of conception directly. Butgiven that spermatozoa tend to remain viable in a woman's vagina for 3-5 days, such a calculation will not be perfectly accurate, since it is impossible to say with certainty in which of these five days conception occurred. If a woman knows the date of conception, 40 weeks are added to it, the resulting date is considered the date of birth. Such a period is called embryonic, where the starting point is the day of fertilization.

How to find out the approximate date of conception?

It is possible to calculate the date of conception by childbirth as correctly as possible after the birth itself - usually obstetricians determine the gestational age by the state of the placenta and umbilical cord. The experienced eye of he alth workers allows you to most accurately calculate the gestational age in the weeks in which the birth occurred. The number of weeks is subtracted directly from the date of birth and the date of conception is obtained.

Calculating your due date online

In the early stages, you can only guess the gender or use various tables and calculations that are replete with the Internet.

Many sites have free online calculators that allow you to calculate the due date from your last period. Also like these calculators, there are online applications for smartphones that can be downloaded. In addition to the calculator, such applications often contain useful information, for example, the features of the development of the embryo by week, dangerous symptoms for the expectant mother, the counter of contractions.

These calculators have a standard formula that helps calculate the due date by weekpregnancy. To calculate, enter the start date of the last cycle into the calculator (the first day when menstruation began), the program calculates and displays the approximate date of birth.

How to determine the date of birth, knowing the date of ovulation?

Calculate the date of birth by menstruation is possible on the onset of ovulation. Ovulation means that the egg has left the ovary and is ready to be fertilized. It is after ovulation that conception occurs within 5 days. On average, ovulation occurs on the 12-17th day from the beginning of the cycle.

But some women experience "abnormal" ovulation, which occurs at the beginning or end of the cycle. Also, the menstrual cycle is far from being stable for every woman, and then it is almost impossible to calculate ovulation in a calendar way. But you can watch the body. It is necessary to constantly measure body temperature, several times a day. On the day of ovulation, body temperature will be at its highest. An increase in sexual desire, an increase in secretions from the genital organs, their increased viscosity can also indicate ovulation.

For more accurate calculations, you can buy an ovulation test at a pharmacy. 280 days (at least 266) or 40 weeks (or 36-38) are also added to the date of ovulation. The revealed date can be considered the date of birth.

Folk methods for determining the sex of the child and the date of birth

Some rely on signs and observations (eating habits and appearance of the expectant mother, pregnancy, etc.).

It is believed that if the belly of a pregnant woman is high,raised or positioned so that looking from behind, you can understand that the woman is in position, which means she is wearing a girl. If the belly is low, but stretched forward and the woman does not look pregnant from the back, then the boy is in the womb.

Some believe that if a pregnant woman has a slightly larger right breast than the left, she will give birth to a boy. And if vice versa - a girl.

Many people notice that if a woman is expecting a boy, then during pregnancy she "blooms", becomes especially attractive. And if she is waiting for a girl, then, on the contrary, she does not shine with beauty. They explain this by the fact that the girl takes away her beauty from her mother.

Once people believed in such a sign that if a pregnant woman faints in the seventh month of pregnancy, then she is expecting a boy.

In the last months of waiting, you can calculate the date of birth by weeks of pregnancy using physiology. In many women in position, the mucus plug begins to separate 1-2 weeks before delivery. Given that the cork leaves no earlier than 2 weeks, you can easily calculate the approximate date. By the day when the cork began to leave, you need to add 2 weeks. A woman, of course, can give birth earlier, but cork rejection is a sure “bell” for an early birth.

The female body is very interesting, because there are cases when in a pregnant woman the mucous plug begins to separate always a certain number of days before childbirth (for example, always 10 days before), and it doesn’t matter if it is the first birth or the third. Thanks to this, expectant mothers accurately calculate the days of the appearance of their children. But somethe cork does not leave until the very birth.

Unusual ways

It is possible to calculate the date of birth and the sex of the child using various tables, formulas.

Japanese table offers a calculation option consisting of two tables. According to the date of birth of the parents and the month of conception, the tables give the number and percentage of the probability of the appearance of a child of one sex or another. The ancient Japanese made their special tables with the help of the influence of the moon. We can say that this method is astrological.

A very popular method is to renew the blood of dad and mom. It is believed that male blood makes a renewal 1 time in 4 years, and in women - 1 time in 3 years. The day of renewal is usually considered a birthday. Also, cases associated with large blood loss are considered an update: childbirth, abortion, miscarriage, surgery, blood transfusion, blood donation for donation. By the time of conception, you need to see whose blood was "younger", fresher. If the father's blood was fresher, a boy will be born. If mother's blood turned out to be more "young", a girl will be born.

There is a Chinese table that helps determine the sex of the baby. Scientific institutes in China assure that the reliability of this table is 95%! The table is based on various numbers corresponding to the age of the expectant mother and the months in which conception took place. At the intersection of the two data is the answer - M or D, which means a boy or a girl.