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Article: Eliminate Due Date

A commentary in the December, 2001, issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology suggests that it is time to do away with the concept of a "due date" in expecting mothers. Why? Because babies seem to be on their own schedule and only 5% of them show up "on time" anyway. Dr. Vern Katz of the Center for Genetics and Maternal Fetal Medicine in Oregon, says that a due date frustrates and makes expecting parents anxious if their baby is late. This, in turn, tends to put pressure on doctors to "do something." As a result, the number of induced labors have skyrocketed in the last few years, many of them unnecessary. One reason due dates are flawed is that the 14-days-from-the-last-period formula doctors use to figure it out is flawed. "How often," Katz asks, "does conception occur exactly 14 days to the minute after the first drop of menstrual blood appeared?" Variability among women is also a factor. Women expecting twins or in poor health with hypertension or diabetes can all expect to deliver early. Katz suggests that doctors start using the concept of a "delivery week." He says this "will be helpful for all parties concerned." "It may allow biology to take its course a bit more." We feel this is an interesting concept. Could nature possibly know more about when a baby is ready to make its entrance into the world? We think it likely. How much help did the baby need to develop from two cells into a fully formed and functioning human being in the short space of nine months? Does the intelligence that guided that process abandon the baby at delivery time?

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