How To Work Out When My Baby Is Due

Due dates are not guarantees of when babies will arrive; doctors generally say that any time two weeks before or after your expected due date is when your baby will likely arrive. Still, having that date in your mind allows you to plan for your impending arrival and gives you something to mark on the calendar and count down to. All you need to know to estimate your baby's due date is the date of your last menstrual period and some simple math.

Step 1

Note the date that your last menstrual cycle began.

Step 2

Count back 3 months from that date. If your last menstrual period was on June 5, for example, you'll count back to March 5.

Step 3

Add seven days to this date. March 5 plus seven days gives you an approximate due date of March 12.

Tips and Warnings

Your doctor or midwife will measure your uterus and may perform an ultrasound. These things can help determine your baby's due date, so don't worry if you don't know the exact date of your last menstrual cycle. Doctors consider 40 weeks to be a normal pregnancy. However, these 40 weeks are actually counted from the first day of your last period, not the date you conceived.