Although being pregnant is an amazing experience, there are many unanswered questions, particularly regarding the best time to give birth. A common question for expectant parents is, "When will the baby arrive?" Despite medical professionals’ best estimates of due dates, most babies don’t follow a rigid schedule.
Many women give birth between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy, but the exact start of labor can vary depending on a number of factors. While some women may naturally go into labor sooner or later than anticipated, others might require medical attention.
Parents can feel less nervous and more prepared if they are aware of the factors that affect when babies are born. Let’s examine more closely when most babies are born and the factors that may influence the onset of labor.
| Week of Pregnancy | Factors Influencing Birth Timing |
| 37-38 weeks | Often influenced by medical conditions like high blood pressure or preeclampsia |
| 39-40 weeks | Most common time for natural childbirth, as the baby is fully developed |
| 41-42 weeks | Some women may give birth later if the baby needs more time or due to hormonal changes |
Between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy—40 weeks being the most common—most women give birth. Genetics, the baby’s development, and any health issues affecting the mother or child can all have an impact on the timing. While some pregnancies may come earlier, first-time mothers may give birth a little later.
- Average statistics
- What can influence?
- Premature birth
- Delivery after the expected date of delivery
- Video on the topic
- PREMATURE BIRTH | At what stage of pregnancy can a child survive childbirth
- At what week do they give birth depending on the sex of the child and the number of births?
- AT WHAT WEEK DO THEY GIVE BIRTH TO THE FIRST, SECOND CHILD: STATISTICS. HOW TO PREPARE FOR CHILDBIRTH!
- WHEN DOES CHILDBIRTH COME | At what week do they give birth depending on the sex of the child and the number of births
- AT WHAT WEEK OF PREGNANCY IS IT TIME TO GIVE BIRTH | Premature, urgent, late birth
- How long does pregnancy last?
- What happens to the baby and mother at 38 weeks of pregnancy? 9 months of pregnancy. Third trimester.
Average statistics
Labor begins when both the woman and the baby are ready for it. This preparation is very painstaking, it occurs at a variety of levels – from hormonal to muscular. Therefore No one can give a clear answer to the question of when to give birth, because the pace of preparation of the female and child"s bodies for childbirth is different for different women. There are medical statistics that allow us to get only an approximate picture of what is happening and understand at what week births occur most often. If we take into account that pregnancy lasts 40 obstetric weeks (counting from the first day of the last menstruation to conception), then a pregnancy from 37 to 42 weeks is considered full-term. Exactly at the end of the 40th week is the very EDD (estimated date of birth), on which many mothers place such high hopes.
The EDD is merely an approximate "signal flag" that helps a woman and medical professionals better navigate the gestational period, so it is most definitely not worth hoping for.
Only 5% of cases of childbirth occur on this day, which is proudly displayed on every expectant mother’s exchange card from the time of registration at the consultation, according to WHO data. Firstborns typically give birth between 39–40 weeks and 40–41 weeks (between these two weeks, up to 75 percent of births take place). Most often, repeated births happen between 38 and 39 weeks and between 39 and 40 weeks (30 and 50%, respectively). About 4% up to 41–42 weeks.
If you consider Premature birth, which occur from 22 weeks of pregnancy and up to 37 weeks, then The most frequent period at which delivery occurs is from 32 to 34 weeks. Very rarely give birth to 24-26 weeks. The fetus from 22 weeks of pregnancy is considered viable, however, survival at this time is very low, and the risk of disability of the survivors is, on the contrary. As the term of the pregnancy increases, forecasts for survival are increasingly favorable. Born in 23 weeks survive in 16% of cases, and born at 29 weeks – in 90% of cases, the risk of irreversible consequences from premature birth also decreases as the baby is ripening.
The Russian Ministry of Health’s clinical guidelines state that a planned cesarean section should be performed after 39 full obstetric weeks. When necessary, an emergency cesarean section can be carried out whenever there are urgent indications.
What can influence?
- Genetic predisposition. To understand whether a woman has a chance of giving birth prematurely or carrying her child to term, you need to find out when her own mother and grandmother gave birth. If women in the family gave birth prematurely, there is every reason to believe that in this case nature will repeat the genetic program.
- Age factor. Too young pregnant women (under 20 years old) and older mothers who are over 36 years old, more often than others, deviate significantly from the day marked as the EDD, in one direction or another.
- Order of birth. Primipatous women take longer to prepare for childbirth – muscle tissue is less stretched, the cervix is tighter, and therefore they have a tendency to late births. The more births there were in your personal history, the higher the probability that the birth will take place before the due date.
- Health. Chronic diseases of the expectant mother always increase the likelihood of premature delivery, and endocrine pathologies, on the contrary, often lead to post-term delivery.
- Negative external conditions. Smoking, alcohol during pregnancy, as well as prolonged stress experienced by the expectant mother, increase the likelihood of premature delivery. Low physical activity, obesity contribute to post-term delivery.
- Emotional unpreparedness of a woman for childbirth. Fear of childbirth often leads to the fact that the cervix does not mature on time, labor does not begin for a long time. The desire to give birth quickly, if it is strong, may well lead to premature delivery.
- Multiple pregnancy. Twins and triplets exert greater pressure on the internal os of the uterus – a kind of locking ring. The stronger this pressure, the faster labor begins. Therefore, twins and triplets are usually born before the 39th week.
- Individual biological rhythms. Women with a short menstrual cycle (less than 28 days) usually give birth 1-2 weeks earlier than the EDD, and women with a long menstrual cycle carry children up to 41 weeks or even more.
The majority of the time, it is impossible to determine the exact cause of an early birth or a prolonged pregnancy. As a result, the natural gestation period for a given woman is just taken for granted.
Premature birth
When it comes to premature birth, it is important to remember that a child born two to three weeks before the estimated date of delivery is not necessarily considered premature. Specifically, we are discussing births where the fetus is between 22 and 37 weeks old and is functionally and physically immature.
The mechanisms and causes of these births are not entirely understood by medical professionals. At 22 weeks and a little after, neither the mother nor the child are obviously ready for labor, but something in the pregnant woman’s body sets off that very birth dominant, starting the fetus’s expulsion process. Usually, the precise cause of an early birth cannot be determined. Consequently, the following are the only variables thought to be predisposing:
- on the mother"s side – surgical operations on the uterus, miscarriages and abortions in the anamnesis, premature births before;
- on the child"s side – developmental anomalies, Rhesus conflict, breech presentation;
- features of pregnancy – polyhydramnios and oligohydramnios, cervical insufficiency, neoplasms in the uterus, cervix, sexually transmitted infections, viral infections suffered at an early stage.
However, the environment the expectant mother lives in must also be considered. A woman’s risk of giving birth early rises if she has poor nutrition, is frequently anxious, and depletes her vital vitamins.
Only at 22 weeks is the fetus considered conditionally viable; this is contingent upon how prepared its body is for life outside the uterus. Over time, viability rises. It has been observed that boys are more likely than girls to be born prematurely.
Delivery after the expected date of delivery
Another common scenario is when the woman does not even notice the signs of impending labor and the scheduled delivery day has already passed. It’s important to maintain your composure and patience rather than attempting to incite or induce labor on your own. Pregnancy that is longer than 42 weeks is not post-term; the two are not the same.
Let’s examine the factors that may cause the gestation period to lengthen.
- Incorrectly established dates. Usually this does not happen often. To make a mistake with the calculations, you need to not know or completely forget when exactly your last menstruation was, not remember not only the day, but also the month. This happens after long-term hormonal treatment, long-term use of oral contraceptives, ovarian failure. Then the pregnancy period and EDD will be established based on the results of an ultrasound in the first trimester. A deviation of 2 weeks from the norms of fetometry is not considered a developmental delay, and this is how a woman gets 2 extra weeks in the pregnancy.
- Large and giant babies. A birth weight of 4 kilograms gives grounds to call the fetus large, and a weight of 5 kilos – giant. Such babies usually prefer to sit in their mother"s womb until the last.
- Hormonal disorders. A small amount of oxytocin, estrogens and an increased content of progesterone do not create the most favorable background for the onset of labor. While progesterone remains high, the birth dominant does not develop at the hormonal level.
- A sedentary and inactive lifestyle. Muscles are weakened, their tone is reduced, this applies to all muscles, including the muscles of the uterus, cervix.
- Threats of miscarriage during pregnancy. Often women say that they "kept the pregnancy so successfully that they could not persuade the baby to be born". The point is not that medications were used to maintain the pregnancy, but that the woman is so psychologically set up to continue the pregnancy that now, at a psychogenic level, it is very difficult to persuade her to let go of the child, who was saved with such difficulty.
Every woman gives birth at a different time, but typically, a baby is born between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy. When labor begins depends on a number of factors, such as the mother’s health, the baby’s development, and whether or not this is the first pregnancy.
Although full-term pregnancies typically result in healthier babies, babies born before or after can still be in excellent health. Medical procedures like cesarean sections and induced labor can also affect the time of delivery.
Ultimately, every pregnancy is different, even though we can approximate the most typical time for delivery. It’s critical to keep an eye on the health of both the mother and the unborn child during the pregnancy and to heed medical advice.
