Paper
Naegele’s rule and the length of pregnancy – A review
Published Oct 20, 2020 · G. Lawson
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
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Abstract
The proposition that a pregnancy is 40 weeks or 280 days in duration is attributed to the German obstetrician Franz Naegele (1778–1851). His rule adds nine months and seven days to the first day of the last menstrual period. The expected date of confinement from this formula is approximately right in the majority of cases. However, the idea that this rule can apply to every pregnant female – young or old, nulliparous or multigravida, Caucasian, Asian, African, or Indigenous – stretches credulity. In addition, many women regard the 40‐week date as a deadline, which if crossed, may then place the baby under stress. Forty weeks is such a simple, round, convenient figure that it has proved difficult to challenge, despite criticism. Nonetheless, what might have been an appropriate formula in Germany in the 19th century deserves to be revisited in the 21st.
The 40-week pregnancy rule, attributed to Franz Naegele, may not apply to all pregnant females and may place the baby under stress.
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