All about the expected delivery date (DPA)
Everyone knows that pregnancy lasts about 9 months. Yet no one can predict the exact date of delivery. However, for parents, having an end-of-pregnancy estimate is a way to reassure themselves and to organize themselves.
That’s why doctors offer patients an assumed delivery date (DPA).
What is it exactly? How do you calculate it? And can you trust it? Here are the questions we will answer in this article.
Expected date of delivery: explanation
If this is not your first child or if you are already a few months pregnant, you have probably already experienced this situation where, when you declare your pregnancy to your gynecologist, he immediately gets what is called a pregnancy disc. Then, there is always an important question: the date of the last period.
In fact, this allows you to evaluate a theoretical pregnancy end date. Indeed, taking into account the presumed beginning of pregnancy, it is possible to predict with more or less precision the date of entry into maternity. So, delivery.
Method of calculating expected delivery date
Why? Because you have to know, usually ovulation happens 14 days later.
Obviously, this is a statistical average. And this is not necessarily the case for all women. Some women do not ovulate on the 14th day of their menstrual cycle. Moreover, this cycle may not last 28 days.
This is why the gynecologist-obstetrician then performs a dating ultrasound. This occurs between the 11th and 13th week of absence of rule (amenorrhea). With this ultrasound, the doctor can measure the craniocaudal length of the fetus. This allows him to specify even more the pregnancy start date (based on a reference curve) with a margin of error of a few days.
So the expected date of delivery.
Usefulness of the expected delivery date
Obviously, you have understood that the expected delivery date is just a theoretical reference. In other words, it is almost impossible to predict the exact day of delivery. Indeed, this calculation is based on approximate dates that take into account a 28-day menstrual cycle including a ovulation period on the 14th day. This, as we have said, is not the case for all women. Not to mention that we may not know precisely the beginning of the last period and that the egg may not have been fertilized on the date estimated by the doctor.
That being said, the dating ultrasound is supposed to be more reliable. Yet, nothing says that your child will not be born a few weeks early or late. As such, in France, the end of pregnancy corresponds to 41 weeks of amenorrhea. At 37 weeks, the child is considered premature.
However, even though CCA is theoretical, it remains important. In fact, this allows parents to plan the possible arrangements in the house or apartment as well as the purchase of childcare products to accommodate baby in the best conditions.
But PAD is also important at an administrative level. Already to know when the future dad will have to take paternity leave. But also to tell medical teams when to trigger the delivery if the baby is too late. Not to mention the fact that Sickness Insurance also uses this date to calculate maternity leave dates.
So, whether you’re at the beginning of your pregnancy or already pregnant for several months, you understand that you’re still hearing about DPA.