Baby born how many days

The other half will not. In , Oberg et al. They found that genetics has an incredibly strong influence on your chance of having a birth after 42 weeks:. Overall, researchers found that half of your chance for having a post-term birth comes from genetics. The risks of some complications go up as you go past your due date, and there are at least three important studies that have shown us what the risks are.

In their study, Caughey et al. However, when the researchers used a statistical method to control for the use of interventions, the risks still increased with gestational age. For more information about meconium, see this article by Midwife Thinking about meconium stained waters. In this section, we will talk about how the risk of stillbirth increases towards the end of pregnancy. For example, if the absolute risk of having a stillbirth at 41 weeks was 1. But some people may consider the actual or absolute risk to still be low—1.

Please see our handout on Talking about Due Dates for Providers for tips on how providers can discuss the risk of stillbirth. The second important thing that you need to understand is that there are different ways of measuring stillbirth rates. Depending on how the rate is calculated, you can end up with different rates. Up until the s, some researchers thought that the risk of stillbirth past weeks was similar to the risk of stillbirth earlier in pregnancy.

So, they did not think there was any increase in risk with going past your due date. However, in , a researcher named Dr. Yudkin published a paper introducing a new way to measure stillbirth rates. Yudkin said that earlier researchers used the wrong math when they calculated stillbirth rates—they used the wrong denominator! Yudkin, Wood et al. Instead, we need to know how many stillbirths happen at 41 weeks compared to all pregnancies and births at 41 weeks.

In other words, you have to include the healthy, living babies that have not been born yet in your denominator. When researchers began using this new formula to figure out stillbirth rates, they found something very surprising—the risk of stillbirth decreased throughout pregnancy, until it reached a low point at weeks, after which the risk started to rise again.

This finding—that the risk of stillbirth decreases throughout pregnancy, and then increases sometime after weeks—has been found many times by different researchers in different countries. In other words, there are higher rates of stillbirth earlier in pregnancy, then they go down until around weeks, after which they rise again. Because the risk of stillbirth starts to go up even more at 40, 41, and 42 weeks, some researchers argue that although 40 weeks and days may be the physiological length of pregnancy, 40 weeks may be the functional length of a pregnancy.

And although the stillbirth rates may seem low overall, if you happen to be a parent who experiences the 1 in event at 42 weeks Muglu et al. Even after researchers began using the new way of calculating stillbirth rates, there was still controversy about the best way to calculate this new formula for measuring stillbirth rates.

Other researchers argued that most people and doctors! Hilder et al. They just want to know what the risk would be if they waited one more week until the next appointment, or even a few days. Boulvain et al. In the end, you will find that stillbirth rates vary from study to study, depending on whether the researchers report the actual stillbirth rate, or the open-ended stillbirth rate.

Some of the researchers used open-ended stillbirth rates, and some of them used actual stillbirth rates. All of the researchers found a relative increase in the risk of stillbirth as pregnancy advanced.

To get an accurate picture of stillbirth in people who go past their due date, it would be best to look at studies that took place in more recent times. To see all of the other studies, click to view the entire table here. All 3 of these studies used the actual stillbirth rate—not the open-ended stillbirth rate.

Two studies used ultrasound to calculate gestational age, and one study used the LMP. The largest meta-analysis to date on risks of stillbirth and newborn death at each week of term pregnancies was published in Muglu et al. The researchers included 13 studies 15 million pregnancies, nearly 18, stillbirths. The risk of stillbirth per 1, was 0.

Based on their data, Muglu et al. To experience one additional stillbirth, there would need to be at least 2, people waiting for labor for one more week starting at 39 weeks. At 40 weeks, 1, people would have to wait for labor for one more week to experience one additional stillbirth. At 41 and 42 weeks, only and people, respectively, would have to wait for labor for one more week to experience one additional stillbirth.

The researchers also found evidence that health care systems are failing Black mothers and babies—an alarming but common theme in health care research.

Black mothers were 1. When they looked only at low-risk pregnancies, the risk of stillbirth was 0. Low-risk pregnancy was defined as pregnancies with a single baby, no congenital abnormalities, and no medical conditions in the mother. There was no additional risk of newborn death when giving birth between 38 and 41 weeks, but the risk of newborn death did increase beyond 41 weeks.

Other factors that do not necessarily cause stillbirth but may increase the risk of stillbirth, in general, include:. Of course, parents can still experience the stillbirth of a child even when none of these risk factors are present. To read more about theories of unexplained stillbirth, read this article here. However, up until recently, there was no research on this topic.

In , researchers published the first study looking at biological markers of aging in placentas. In this study, researchers in Australia collected placentas from 34 people who gave birth between weeks of pregnancy, 28 people who gave birth between weeks, and 4 people who experienced stillbirths between 32 and 41 weeks Maiti et al. Five or more tissue samples were removed from each placenta, and the samples were analyzed using a variety of biochemical tests.

Overall, the analysis of the placentas from the week pregnancies and from the stillbirths showed increased signs of aging, with decreased ability to transport nutrients to the baby and waste products away from the baby, compared to the placentas from the earlier term births. The rate of placental aging varied in different pregnancies, and the authors stated that not all of the week placentas showed signs of aging.

We reached out to the authors to find out more, and they told us that one-third of the week placentas showed increased signs of aging compared to the week placentas. This means that two-thirds of the week placentas did not show signs of aging. You can watch a minute video describing the findings of this emerging research here. I would also like to thank my expert reviewers for an earlier version of this article—Shannon J. Join others who also want to help bring evidence-based care to their local community.

Rebecca Dekker Don't miss an episode! Don't miss an episode! Subscribe to our podcast: iTunes Stitcher On today's podcast, we're going to talk with Ihotu Ali, MPH, who is writing about research on the effects of racism on pregnancy and birth outcomes. Rebecca Dekker. Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page.

Length of gestation Determining baby due date Pregnancy ultrasound Premature babies Overdue babies Where to get help Things to remember. Some clues to the length of gestation include: Ultrasound examination especially when performed between six and 12 weeks Size of uterus on vaginal or abdominal examination The time fetal movements are first felt an approximate guide only. The general procedure for a pregnancy ultrasound includes: The woman lies on a table.

The transducer is moved across the abdomen. The sound waves bounce off internal structures including the baby and are transmitted back to the transducer. The sound waves are then translated into a two-dimensional picture on a monitor. Premature babies A baby born prior to week 37 is considered premature. Often there is no known cause for a premature labour; however, some of the maternal risk factors may include: Drinking alcohol or smoking during pregnancy Low body weight prior to pregnancy Inadequate weight gain during pregnancy No prenatal care Emotional stress Placenta problems such as placenta praevia Various diseases such as diabetes and congestive heart failure Infections such as syphilis.

Overdue babies Around five out of every babies will be overdue, or more than 42 weeks gestation. Tests include: Monitoring the fetal heart rate Using a cardiotocograph machine Performing ultrasound scans. Some of the methods of induction include: Vaginal prostaglandin gel - to help dilate the cervix Amniotomy - breaking the waters, sometimes called an artificial rupture of membranes ARM Oxytocin - a synthetic form of this hormone is given intravenously to stimulate uterine contractions.

Where to get help Your doctor Your obstetrician Midwife or childbirth educator Things to remember The unborn baby spends around 38 weeks in the uterus, but the average length of pregnancy, or gestation, is counted at 40 weeks. Since some women are unsure of the date of their last menstruation perhaps due to period irregularities , a baby is considered full term if its birth falls between 37 to 42 weeks of its estimated due date.

For starters, a compound in her lungs called surfactant, which enables her to breathe independently, continues to be produced in greater amounts during the last month of pregnancy and decreases her risk of developing breathing problems once she arrives. Her liver is still undergoing changes that will enable it to properly filter toxins, such as jaundice -causing bilirubin, out of her body. Her skin is thickening and she is accumulating more body fat, which will help her to maintain her own body temperature after she's born.

Brain development is still underway; at 35 weeks, for example, its volume is only about two thirds of what you'd expect at 39 to 40 weeks, says Dr. Additionally, important brain and nerve connections are being made to help her suck, swallow, breathe, regulate her body temperature, and even sleep better once she's born.

Slowly but surely the birth culture of "induction or C-section on demand" has changed. Now, most doctors have received the memo that unnecessary inductions are potentially dangerous for moms and babies.

If there are solid, compelling medical reasons to induce or schedule a C-section, then, by all means, that's what those procedures are there for. However, if the medical reason can wait until a baby is full term, mothers and babies both fare better. Another great thing about these guidelines is that it spells out that a woman isn't really "over due" when she goes past her due date a week or two. For a long time now, doctors have been fixed on that week mark as if a timer will go off and all hell's going to break loose if the baby isn't born lickety-split.

Their concern is about babies growing too big for mom's pelvis, or a placenta growing too old to sustain a baby. While those things do occasionally happen, they don't happen very often.

Since post due date pregnancies put doctors on the defense legally speaking however, the birth culture pressed hard for women to accept medical interventions to push them into labor once the buzzer went off.

The thing is that prior to when all those crazy inductions took over the birth industry in the 80s and well into the s, women delivered safely a week or two past their due dates all the time and it was no big deal. Sure, they were crazy uncomfortable and frustrated, but nobody considered that there was anything wrong with them. According to the National Center for Health Statistics , most babies are born full term.

To be specific:. Some women experience recurrent preterm deliveries having two or more deliveries before 37 weeks. Just like having a previous preterm baby is a risk factor for having another preterm baby, women with a prior post-term delivery are more likely to have another post-term delivery.

The odds of having a post-term birth increase if you are a first-time mother, having a baby boy, or obese BMI greater than Most of the time, the cause of a premature birth remains unknown. However, women with a history of diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, or high blood pressure are more likely to experience preterm deliveries. Other risk factors and causes include:. There are many health risks for preterm babies. Major life-threatening issues, like bleeding in the brain or lungs, patent ductus arteriosus , and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome , can sometimes be successfully treated in the neonatal intensive care unit NICU but often require long-term treatment.

Most of these conditions will require specialized care in a NICU. This is where the healthcare professionals will perform tests, provide treatments , assist breathing, and help feed premature infants.

The care a newborn receives in the NICU will help ensure the best quality of life as possible for your baby. First, practicing kangaroo care, or holding baby directly skin to skin has been shown to reduce rates of mortality, infection, illness, and the length of hospital stay.

It can also help parents and babies bond. Second, receiving human breast milk in the NICU has been found to improve survival rates and dramatically reduce rates of a severe gastrointestinal infection called necrotizing entercolitis compared to babies who receive formula. Moms who give birth to a preterm baby should start pumping breast milk as soon as possible after birth, and pump 8 to 12 times per day.