Estimated date of delivery (DPP): What is it? How is it calculated? What is it for?

to which 40 weeks are added. Knowing the most likely day on which the baby will be born allows the expectant mother not to be unprepared for the event.

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The presumed date of delivery is also useful for the gynecologist and the obstetrician who are following the woman, to plan the scheduled checks (ie the examinations and recommended visits during pregnancy) and to monitor that the development of the fetus inside the uterus proceed at normal physiological rhythms.

The expected date of delivery is indicative: considering that the calculation is based on the "standard" duration of a pregnancy (on average, 280 days from the "start of" the last menstruation), the menstrual cycle is 28-30 days and the pregnancy proceeds without problems, the actual birth of the child can occur between the two weeks preceding and those following the day considered most probable.

If the cycle is not regular, however, the gynecologist could "re-date" the presumed date of delivery based on the parameters measured during the first ultrasound.

, for a total of 40 weeks. At the first antenatal visit, the doctor, through the obstetric ruler, will establish the presumed date of delivery, also taking into account other anamnestic data, such as the average duration of the menstrual cycle or the most likely day of ovulation.

The ultrasound of the first trimester allows to establish the presumed date of delivery by ultrasound (ultrasound DPP). In practice, on the basis of the findings observed in the early stages of fetal development, the examination confirms the dating of pregnancy (in women with regular cycles) o makes possible the possible reduction (in case of menstrual irregularities or uncertain initial estimate).

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