The claim

「Babies arrive on their due date」

Q: Babies arrive on their due date

Myth — A due date is an estimate, not a deadline. A study of naturally conceived pregnancies found the span from ovulation to birth still varied by 37 days even after excluding preterm births, with a median of 268 days (38 weeks, 2 days). Birth anywhere from 37–42 weeks is normal.

Verdict

Myth

A due date is an estimate, not a deadline. A study of naturally conceived pregnancies found the span from ovulation to birth still varied by 37 days even after excluding preterm births, with a median of 268 days (38 weeks, 2 days). Birth anywhere from 37–42 weeks is normal.

Sources

Hum Reprod · Human Reproduction
Human Reproduction. (2013). Length of human pregnancy and contributors to its natural variation. Human Reproduction, 28(10), 2848–2855. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/det297
Direct source · Peer-reviewed paper · checked 2026-08-02

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「Babies arrive on their due date」

Verdict

Sources

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Further reading