Categories: Pregnancy

Gestation

Gestation is that time frame between the time an egg is fertilized up to the time of delivery. This time frame is within the period the baby takes to grow inside the mother’s womb. The term is normally employed to describe how long a pregnancy takes and the unit of measurement is usually in weeks.

If you want to calculate your gestational period, you do it from the first day of your last menstruation to date. Normally that of a woman would range from thirty eight (38) to forty two (42) weeks.

If you deliver a baby before its 37th week, that baby is deemed “premature”. If you deliver a baby after its 42nd week, it is deemed “postmature”.

When trying to work out gestational period before the baby is born, the professional will have to make use of an ultrasound machine to determine the size of certain parts of the body of the baby. These include the thighbone, the abdomen and the baby’s head. Knowing the sizes of these parts of the body will give a good indication of how the baby is faring in the womb.

When trying to work out gestational period after the baby is born, the professional will have to use other parameters such as the following:

Weight of the baby
Height (length of the baby)
The circumference of the baby’s head
Others such as the baby’s reflexes and the tone of their muscle
The skin and color of the baby

After the calculations are done, and the gestational is found to be equal or matches with the calendar age, that baby is considered to be alright for the gestational period calculated or determined. This is known as Appropriate for Gestational Age (AGA).

Babies who are said to be AGA a less likely to have health issues and possible death than those that are of a less or more AGA.

For babies who pass the “AGA test” their weight is normally within the ranges of 2.5kg to 4kg

The weight for full-term infants that are born AGA will most often be between 2,500 grams (about 5.5 lbs or 2.5 kg) and 4,000 grams (about 8.75 lbs or 4 kg).