Is it that common to go 2 weeks over?

[obeliaboo]

Exactly that - i'm 34 &5 atm, and a lot of friends, family etc have been telling me that its very common that you go two weeks over with your first.
Maybe a bit of a daft question but how accurate is that??

Anecdotally, yes common to go over. Two weeks though does happen but not that frequently.

Good luck btw.

If I recall correctly, I think it's fairly even the percentages of births that go over or under, and something like 5% born on due date!

So, it's common to be overdue, but also common to go a bit early, and not that common to be born on due date (but I was )

I was 11 days over but I was never that sure of my dates

It's not that common to go a full two weeks over. I read stats recently that suggested that about 50% of ftm's go overdue (can't find the link just now), but that could be a day or 14 days. Basically, with every day that passes you are more likely to have the baby

A normal pregnancy is 37-42 weeks. You're not technically overdue until you hit 42 weeks. The 40 week think is just a guide to care. In France for example, your 'due date' is 41 weeks.

It really is better to think of it as a 'due period' and not a magic date.

I'd say no as DD was 15 days overdue (induction delayed due to staffing problems & then it took me 48 hours to give birth) and, in the 5yrs since she was born, I've only met one person who also gave birth 15 days after and none who were later than that. Lots say they were really overdue but just mean a week or so.
Also, when pregnant with DC2, most MW seemed surprised at how overdue DC1 was.

I was 15 days late. Failed induction, then c-section. He really wasn't ready. So I would have been even longer if left. Not sure how common it is.

I was similar to cake - I didn't quite make it as far along as that because of high blood pressure and suspicious protein in my urine so I was induced at 41 weeks.
I'm certain DS wasn't not prepared to make an appearance for weeks yet.

But don't worry, that baby HAS to come out sometime
It's so hard not to countdown to that magic date though!

I read it as around 3% go to 43 weeks.

I went to 17 days over with my first one, but wasn't induced.

It's a bell curve peaking at around 40 weeks I think. this blog explains if you are interested in the stats.

I went 2 weeks over with both my first 2, was induced with them both which led to failure to progress ended up with CS's, next one was an ELCS at 38 weeks and she was clearly too early, I'm currently overdue 40+3 with ELCS on Thursday if I don't go into labour and I've no signs yet! I think mine take a lot of cooking!

I was 14 days over according to NHS. According to my dates, I was only 7 days over. Both times. NHS didn't like adjusting for longer cycle.

15 days over with my first, brought in to be induced at 13 days over but it took a while.

If you want some numbers, from the book "Expecting Better" (which is superb if you want a summary of the science/data behind a lot of pregnancy info) of all babies born in 2008 in the US approx 7.5% of babies were born in the 41st week of pregnancy (compared with 30% in the 39th week, 18% in the 38th week and 17% in the 40th week).

The obviously doesn't take into account 1st, 2nd babies etc.

It is quite common to go 2 weeks over, I was induced at 42 weeks with my first and prob will with second but thinking of refusing this time!
When we conceive our baby's it is usefully in the middle of our cycle ( 14 days or so) so when the doc goes from the date of our last period really it was only 2 weeks ago you conceived not a month.
I asked this question to the midwife when I was induced in hospital and said I actually knew I was only 40 weeks instead of 42 as I knew exactly when I conceived as I used ovulating kit (as had lots of trouble) she agreed and understood where I came from but said they had to induce going by last period dates !!

Shaz they take that into account when calculating due dates. Going by conception date is harder as no one knows precisely when they conceived, even if they can hazard a good guess, so going by last period date is an easier way to measure. The 40 weeks based on last period is what they use as standard so on that basis you really were 42, otherwise they would date from ovulation and the standard length of a pregnancy would be 38 weeks with women being induced at 40 weeks, it would still be the same length of time.

I heard with your first baby the average is about 41 weeks. I think France are sensible to go with the 41 week due date!
But the percentage of women who go more than 14 days overdue is small.

My first was born 5 days late (went into labour 3 days late) and my second turned up in a few hours on her due date. I wonder if she'll be that punctual when she grows up

Thanks for all the replies! Well if i do go over, it'll be nicely timed for OH's birthday then xD