What is the Difference Between Age of Pregnancy and Age of Fetus?

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Often when you're pregnant, many people ask how old you are. However, your actual gestational age does not always reflect the true age of your fetus. So, if your gestational age is 4 weeks, not necessarily the fetus in your womb is also 4 weeks old. This is why, fetal growth in the womb may differ between mothers.

What is the difference between gestational age and fetal age?

Sometimes, when you do an ultrasound examination at an obstetrician at the age of five or six weeks of pregnancy, the results show that the age of your fetus is different from the age of pregnancy that you know before from your doctor. The age of your fetus can be smaller or larger than gestational age.

This can occur due to differences in calculations. The age of pregnancy is calculated from the time of your last menstruation, even though fetal development has not started until fertilization (the egg is fertilized by sperm). Meanwhile, the age of the fetus is the actual age of the fetus that is growing in your womb.

Why has the gestational age been calculated before conception? Because actually every time a woman experiences menstruation, a woman's body is preparing for pregnancy. This gestational age includes about two weeks before conception, because generally fertilization occurs about two weeks or on the 11th day after the first day of your last menstruation.

No one knows for sure when conception occurs in your uterus, so this is said to be "roughly". The gestational age generally lasts for 40 weeks until delivery, if calculated from the last time you menstruated.

Doctors usually use gestational age (for 40 weeks from the time of the last menstruation to delivery) to estimate when the baby will be born. Meanwhile, when you do an ultrasound examination, what comes out is the age of your fetus. Ultrasound can estimate the age of your baby by measuring various parts of the baby's body, such as the head, stomach, and legs.

What if the age of the fetus is smaller or bigger?

In the second and third trimesters, the age difference of up to two weeks between gestational age and fetal age (age indicated by USG) is still considered normal. This is because indeed gestational age does not count from the day of the actual conception. You don't need to worry about problems with your baby's development. At the next examination, the doctor may make sure the difference in gestational age and the fetus is not farther away.

If the age of the fetus is smaller than the age of pregnancy

If there is a difference in gestational age and a distant fetus, this can be worrying. Age of the fetus smaller than gestational age can make a baby look smaller. This can be caused due to genetic factors (heredity). Both parents of the fetus have a small body, which decreases to their child.

But often, a fetus that is smaller than gestational age is caused by growth problems in the fetus during pregnancy. This can be caused because the baby lacks nutrients and oxygen needed for growth and development during the womb.

If the age of the fetus is greater than the age of pregnancy

Age of the fetus greater than than gestational age can be seen from fetal weight greater than normal. This can also occur due to genetic factors (parents of babies have large bodies). In addition, it can also be related to the amount of increase in maternal weight during pregnancy. A large fetus can also be caused by gestational diabetes that affects the mother during pregnancy.

Diabetes during pregnancy can cause an increase in the amount of maternal blood sugar to the fetus. Then, the body of the fetus makes more insulin in response to its body. As a result, additional sugar flow from the mother and insulin production in the body of the fetus can cause the fetus to grow bigger and store more fat. So, the fetus looks bigger than it should at the age of pregnancy.

What is the Difference Between Age of Pregnancy and Age of Fetus?

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