How Many Weeks Is A Pregnancy?

How long does a normal pregnancy last? How many weeks is it in total? What week is the baby fully formed? Every pregnant woman who is under prenatal care will count from week to week to know her baby’s progress. Here, we explain to you the reality of what happens in the weeks that last a pregnancy.

In the face of the first pregnancy, many doubts arise. Among them, how many weeks it will last is one of the most common. If you’re a first-time mom you’ll have that information about 9 months of pregnancy in mind, but that’s not how it works.

A normal pregnancy lasts around 40 weeks. If each month is about 4 weeks long, the result is to last like…10 months? Yes, 10 months. How is this possible?

Nine months of pregnancy?

The accounts are right. A normal pregnancy lasts 40 weeks. However, the count of time of gestation is not the same for the moment of conception. That’s because we don’t always have the exact date. Therefore, when talking about weeks, the doctor starts counting from the first day of his last

menstruation

. So you make sure that fertilization took place two weeks before or two weeks after the date indicated.

However, it is important for you to know that when you perform the first ultrasound, you will be able to know the exact time of pregnancy, as it is one of the measurements that are taken in this first image of your baby.

When you take this into account, the scores add up perfectly. Pregnancy will develop over an interval of 38-42 weeks. It is during this time that the baby can be born fully formed. The pregnancy is then considered to have ended.

Can a baby be born prematurely?

Of course you can. The weeks of gestation also determine the chances of your baby’s completion of its formation process and there is the security of being born healthy.

Babies born at eight months or even seven months of gestation survived and had no problem in their development. In the

multiple baby pregnancies

, for example, preterm births usually happen. The reason is that the space available for babies is less, so they are born earlier. Even so, there is no reason for them to have complications of any kind.

The limit of viability is at 26 weeks, even if at that time the baby is not yet 100% formed. This limit marks the point at which the baby could be born and survive, but it does not mean that it is the most suitable for him.

How are the weeks of pregnancy divided?

Pregnancies are divided into three trimesters or phases, which comprise the development of the fetus. These trimesters are divided according to the week of pregnancy you are in:

• First trimester. Weeks 1-12. At week 5, your baby’s heart starts beating.
• Second trimester. Weeks 13-28. During week 15, the genitals have just been defined. Therefore, the fetus can already be identified as a girl or a boy. Between week 17 and 18, the baby is able to hear, although he doesn’t differentiate sounds perfectly.
• Third quarter. Weeks 29-40. In this last week, the baby rapidly increases its size. In addition, throughout week 19, he begins to open and close his eyes, noticing a figure, and dilating his pupils.

Each trimester presents an important milestone or change in the baby’s development. There is an abundant

information

in the market about how the fetus is developing and which organs are developing.

You can write down each week that passes and know what happens inside your body during this phase. This will help you make the wait easier to carry.

As you get closer to week 38, the baby will choose the preparatory position for delivery, usually the cephalic position. In this position, adopted by most babies, the head is wedged between the bones of the pregnant woman’s pelvis. From now on,

the baby will be able to be born

any time.

We recommend that you see your doctor so that he can give you all the information you want about embryonic and fetal development in pregnancy.