Your Due Date Sucks (and doesn’t matter)

Jul 19

Let’s clear something up: your due date is not a magical countdown clock. It doesn’t mean your body suddenly stops knowing what to do at 40 weeks + 1

YOU ARE NOT A CARTON OF MILK.

When you’re expecting a baby, one of the first things you’re given is a due date - marked on calendars, asked about at every appointment, and often treated like a deadline. But here’s the truth:

Your due date is not an expiration date.

It’s an estimate, not a ticking time bomb.

In Hypnobirthing and other evidence-based approaches to birth education, we emphasize that every body, baby, and birth unfolds in its own timing. While due dates can help guide prenatal care, they’re often misinterpreted as the day labor should begin. And that misunderstanding can lead to unnecessary anxiety, interventions, or even pressure to schedule an induction - especially when you’re “past due.”

How Due Dates Are Calculated

Traditionally, due dates are calculated using the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP), which assumes a perfect 28-day cycle with ovulation on day 14. But many people don’t ovulate on that schedule, and some may not remember the exact date of their last period.

Ultrasound dating, especially in the first trimester, is generally more accurate than LMP-based estimates. Still, even the best early ultrasounds can be off by several days. Later scans? Even less precise.

So while technology has improved, it still doesn’t account for natural variation in gestational length - or the fact that your baby hasn’t read your calendar. Even the most accurate due date, like those given to families who conceived with IVF, don’t take into account how long your individual baby needs to gestate. There’s no test for that!

So… When Should Labor Start?

Studies show that:

Only about 5% of babies are born on their due date
Most first-time births occur after 40 weeks
Healthy, low-risk pregnancies can safely continue up to 42 weeks with proper monitoring

You are not “late.” You are not failing. You are just… still pregnant.

And yes—stillbirth rates do begin to rise slightly as gestation continues beyond 41 weeks. But the increase is small, and context matters.

39 weeks = 3.5 per 10,000
40 weeks = 4.2 per 10,000
41 weeks = 6.1 per 10,000
42 weeks = 10.8 per 10,000

With informed conversations and watchful care, many families choose to wait for spontaneous labor, knowing it supports better outcomes and a smoother physiological birth. Or don’t! Accepting risk is extremely personal, and there are risks to waiting as well as risks to inducing. Birth is never one size fits all.

The “Big Baby” Pressure

Another common reason many are rushed into early inductions?

Fear of a “big baby.”

Suspected macrosomia (a baby estimated over 8 lb 13 oz or 9 lb 15 oz, depending on the definition) is one of the most common reasons providers recommend intervention - but studies show that ultrasound weight estimates can be off by a pound or more, in either direction. And unless your baby is estimated to be over 11 pounds, the risk of shoulder dystocia and other complications is low, particularly with proper positioning and support during labor. There is research that also shows that your care provider simply believing you have a big baby puts you at higher risk of getting a c-section, regardless of how big your baby actually is!

Your baby growing well is not a problem. Your body is not a lemon.

Trusting Your Timing

If you’re navigating late pregnancy and feeling pressure to “do something,” know this:

You can ask questions and request evidence-based information
You can use tools like the BRAINES acronym to guide decisions
You can decline or delay induction while choosing increased monitoring
You can honor your baby’s natural timing without guilt

Hypnobirthing reminds us that birth is not a performance. You don’t have to control it - you create space for it. That means trusting your baby, your body, and yourself.

So if you’re past 40 weeks and everyone’s asking “Still pregnant?” (HOT TIP: don’t give out your due date, or lie and give the 42 week date instead! Removes a TON of pressure from well meaning friends and family)

You can smile and say:

“Still growing. Still waiting. Still trusting.”

Because you are not a carton of milk.

You don’t expire. You evolve. 💫