I’M SO SICK OF DUE DATES

They count 40w from your last period, adjust based off baby’s growth, and then call it a day.
Meanwhile it’s mentally so tough to approach your “due date” and mamas are getting pressured to be induced etc bc they’re past their “due date” and
WHAT ARE WE EVEN TALKING ABOUT??
As if babies in the womb know our schedule??

Imagine if we assigned due dates for babies to be walking by or crawling by. Or a due date for a mama to have healed by post-birth?
I guess we do actually do that, but is that ok?? Also ofc we can have hard lines of “this is no longer normal/safe” but that would be at like 43 weeks, NOT 40!!! So many ladies deliver between 40 and 41 weeks! Many even go 42!
Why are we making women feel like there’s a deadline when it’s actually not a deadline AND an unrealistic expectation? Why don’t we just have a safety “cut off” or something like with other milestones?

Does anyone get what I’m saying?? Does anyone agree???

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It depends on the mothers health. Sometimes, they have to come out sooner. Sometimes mother isn’t healthy enough to carry past 40. Also, it’s an estimated due date and everyone should know things don’t go as planned all the time. Also, personally I wanted to meet my son so it was comforting to know the estimated due date so I could count down. Also there are milestones months for kids to be walking or doing other stuff too lol. But I respect your pov. We’re all different

Some countries refer to them as like “expected period” or “due weeks”. Like you say it always baffles me about the maths behind it etc. It was nice to have an anticipated arrival but I definitely tried not to pin my hopes on a certain day, more like a week either side x

I definitely feel your stress and it's so much pressure on women when there is so much information overload on top of the actual ordeal of being pregnant.
But I do think it's worth remembering that it wasn't very long ago that childbirth was a seriously risky business. Mortality rates have dropped significantly due to a better understanding of these statistics. Still birth rates are lowest in weeks 39 and 40, making these, statistically, the "safest" weeks to give birth. Doctors will always recommend staying within them for very good reason, even though there are plenty of healthy women that could just go to natural term with no problems. A doctor will be asked, why did you take the risk?
As someone who would definitely have died if I had given birth 100 years ago, or in the wild (lol) I'm pretty grateful to have someone advising me on how to cut risk.
I think that the pressure on women is also there to have a "natural" birth too. Sometimes nature is shit. But I get it 🩷

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