When determining the gestational age, it is easy to get confused by the numbers. There are two starting points:
Obstetric term. It starts on the first day of your last period.
Embryonic term. It is counted from the date of ovulation when conception is most likely to occur. Typically, this is the 12th to 16th day of a 28-day cycle.
The embryonic gestation period is shorter than the obstetric one by an average of 14 days. And although this method of calculation seems more logical, it is obstetric that is used all over the world [1]. In our application, we stick to the obstetric term as well.
Why does the app say I am 10 weeks and the gynecologist says that it is the 11th week?
The obstetric term is not so simple. It may happen that you come to the gynecologist and she says, for example, that you are at 11 weeks, and in our application you may see 10 weeks and three days. Who is right? Everyone is right, the gynecologist just told you the current week of pregnancy, and we indicate the full week and day in the application.
I know exactly the date of conception, so can I use the embryonic term?
Even if you know the date of conception, the gestational age may differ by several days. A sperm cell can live for up to five days inside a woman’s body. So it’s impossible to know the exact day the egg was fertilized.
If you want to get more accurate information about the gestational age, then the ultrasound period will help you. From the 11th to the 14th week, the ultrasound diagnostics doctor will measure the coccygeal-parietal size of the baby and give the most accurate estimate of the actual period of its development. This data can be set in our application. To do this, go to the "Profile" - "Settings" - "Setting the due date" - "Enter the pregnancy period".
