Sarah The Doula
The due date; a brief history lesson
Why is it that health care professionals start getting their twitch on when you start approaching 41 weeks. Have you ever wondered how the length of pregnancy was calculated? Let me start by giving you a brief history lesson:
Harmanni Boerhaave, born in 1668, was a Dutch botanist and physician who had a theory that the human gestation period lasted for ten lunar months. Years later, Dr Franz Naegele, a German obstetrician, born in 1728, developed this theory and created a formula. He studied 100 women (yep, 100) and used the formula to calculate the length of time a mother is pregnant for, also known as Naegele’s rule. Here it is:
Date of last period + 1 year – 3 months + 7 days =280 days (40 weeks)
That looks legit, right? But there is a flaw in the plan. A lunar month is 29.53 days, which actually makes 10 lunar months equate to 295 days. Boerhaave’s theory of 295 days is 15 days longer (42+1) than Naegele’s. Unfortunately, Naegele’s formula is the one that is used today by health professionals to calculate a mother’s estimated delivery date.
So let’s throw some cats amongst those pigeons. Let’s say, you have a short cycle, or a long cycle? Let’s say that you didn’t ovulate on day 14 and the egg wasn’t fertilized for 4 days afterwards? Or, let me just put this out there, you are actually an individual and unique person that carries your baby in your own way? Did you know that in France you aren’t considered overdue until you are 43 weeks? In fact studies have shown that 50-80% of women will gestate beyond 40 weeks, so why is the EDD is still based on Naegle’s theory? I don’t know, but here are some things some mums to be find useful to prepare themselves for a looming induction that they would rather not have:
• Read up. There are some fantastic resources available for this very subject. For example, AIMS (Association for Improvements in Maternity Services) have a book titled ‘Inducing Labour: Making Informed Decisions.’ Id actually recommend visiting the site too: http://www.aims.org.uk/
• Know your hospital. Each hospital have different guidelines and policies, it’s useful to get to know the differences so you have an understanding of your options.
• Use your B.R.A.I.N. This is a great acronym for anything related to your pregnancy.
B- Benefits. What are the benefits of this procedure?
R- Risks. What are the risks involved?
A-Alternatives. Are there any alternatives?
I- Intuition. What is my gut telling me?
N-Nothing. What would happen if I did nothing or waited for a while?
So,can you say ‘No’ to induction if the healthcare professionals feel that you are ‘overdue’? The short answer? Yes! This is your body, carrying your baby.
Ask yourself a few questions; What are the benefits of an induction and will it affect your birth plan? Ask about the risks and alternatives, what is your gut telling you? And what if you do nothing and wait?
Would you buy yourself a beautiful bunch of lilies and force them open? Feed, love and cherish them, wait a few more days and watch them bloom!
