In the medical world, when the pregnancy time exceeds the actual time, it is called prolonged or post term pregnancy. Basically, normal pregnancy or at term occurs for 38-41 weeks. Besides, the pregnancy time which exceeds more than 42 weeks is categorized as post term. The number of pregnant mother who has pregnancy time more than limit time is relatively small; it is only about 3 to 12%.
Miscounting
The number of pregnancy time which exceeds the normal limit is not that much. Usually, these cases happens because of there is miscounting when calculating the pregnancy age. This miscounting can be happened because of the menstruation cycle of the mother is irregular. It means, miscounting of the pregnancy time happens from the beginning when the mother knows that she is pregnant.
To know the exact time when the mother starts to be pregnant, it is good if the mother does the USG checking. By doing checking through USG and measuring the height of uterus regularly in the early trimester of pregnancy, pregnant mother will know the exact time of fertilization in the uterus happens. It happens because when she gets late menstruation it is not sure that the fertilization has occurred in her uterus. It is possible if the fertilization happens about 2-3 weeks after the mother gets late menstruation.
However in some cases, even though the mother has done several checking like what is mentioned above, there is always childbirth which is missed from the estimation day. And until today, there is no clear way the cause of the missed of this birthing time. Some obstetricians guess that the miscount of the birthing time can happen because of mother factor and also the embryo in the uterus.
If it is seen from the mother factor, post term pregnancy can happen because of the genetic and heredity factor from the previous pregnancy. Besides, post term pregnancy can also happen because of genetic or heredity factor, the lack of sulfates enzyme in the placenta, the lack of thyroid hormone number, and many others. On the other hand, when it is seen from the embryo factor which is in the uterus, post term pregnancy can happen because of there is mistake in the embryo place or the growing abnormality in the skull. Or, this kind of pregnancy can happen because of the embryo is in the big size or often called microsomal. Some people also believe that post term pregnancy often occurs to the male embryo instead of female embryo; even though there is no research which says that this statement is true.
Maternity
As mentioned before, if a pregnant mother exceeds 42 weeks of pregnancy and the baby in the womb does not show maternity signs, the obstetrician will check whether the mother’s pregnancy really exceeds the time. Usually, the doctor will check and evaluate through the USG notes during the early trimester and when the mother had her last menstruation. If it is true that the pregnancy time exceeds the normal time, so the doctor will try to find the cause and also check the baby condition in the womb. The amount of amniotic fluid, cardiotocography and placental maturity are also checked to guarantee mother and baby’s safety.
After checking the embryo condition in the womb, the doctor can decide whether the maternity should be done quickly or not. In this case, the doctor will also consider the way of maternity that should be used. For normal maternity, the doctor usually uses induction through certain ways and medicines. If the induction is failed or the embryo condition is impossible, for example the baby size is too big or emergency embryo, the doctor will suggest the mother to do the caesarean section.
That is why pregnant mother should prepare her mentality and physical condition perfectly from the beginning of the pregnancy. They also do not need to worry about post term pregnancy because it rarely happens, and this kind of pregnancy would not danger as long as the embryo condition is monitored meticulously by the doctor.
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