Contents:
- Medical Video: Here's What Your Baby Will Look Like
- Why is age content important to know?
- How to calculate the age of the womb
- What if I don't know or forget the last menstrual date?
Medical Video: Here's What Your Baby Will Look Like
To find out how old your womb is, you will usually go to the doctor and do an ultrasound examination (USG). In this way, you can easily find out how many weeks or months of your womb age. But, do you know how to calculate it? When does it start to say a week, two weeks, or three weeks even though you and your doctor don't know when fertilization occurs in your womb?
Why is age content important to know?
The age of the womb is certainly very important for you to know. This can help you to find out when your baby will be born and what prenatal care you should do.
Often, you may hear the womb in the month. Many pregnant women are accustomed to saying that my womb is 6 months, 7 months, 8 months, and so on. In fact, the right one is the gestational age expressed in weeks and days. On average, the gestational age from conception to childbirth is 40 weeks, not 9 months. Why?
Actually, there is no way to know when conception occurs. So, the womb age will be calculated based on when you experience last menstrual period, including about two weeks when you are not pregnant. Because in general fertilization occurs about two weeks after you menstruate.
So, if calculated, the gestational age will last for 40 weeks or 280 days (in general) until you give birth. Therefore, the age of the womb will be different from the age of the fetus. The age of the fetus is the number of weeks the fetus has passed since conception.
How to calculate the age of the womb
You will definitely go to the doctor to find out how old your womb is. But, it turns out you can count it yourself at home. This certainly helps to estimate when your baby will be born, so you can prepare for birth in advance.
To find out how many weeks of your pregnancy you have, you can use a calendar. You need to record regularly when the date of your last menstruation. The habit of recording this date seems very important to know your fertile period and also to find out your current gestational age.
If you know when or the first date of your last menstruation, then this will make it easier for you to calculate how old you are and when your baby will be born. From the first date of your last menstruation, count forward per week, up to 40 weeks. That's the date where your baby will be born normally.
For example, if your last menstruation is January 8 and after that you are declared pregnant. So the first week of your pregnancy on January 15, two weeks 'gestation is on January 22, three weeks' gestation on January 29, and so on until your 40-week gestation on October 15.
What if I don't know or forget the last menstrual date?
It will be difficult for you to know the gestational age if you do not know when exactly the date of your first menstrual day. So, another way you can do to find out is by checking your pregnancy to a doctor. Your obstetrician will do an ultrasound to measure the length of the baby from the head to the buttocks (coccyx) of the baby. This is called crown rump length (CRL). This CRL can provide a more accurate measure of your gestational age.
