9 months?? Uhmm no 10 months!!?

Question

Why is it everyone thinks women only carry a baby for 9 months? Full term is 10 months, thats 40 weeks. Thats how long women are suppose to carry babys. Please tell me why everyone thinks its 9 months?!

Answer 1

by calander months is 9 mos....by weeks ..40...its 10 months....

Answer 2

because the first month you do not know about the baby

Answer 3

Pregnancies are considered full term at 40 weeks, and many women count four weeks as a month while they are pregnant, making the result a ten month pregnancy. On average there are actually 4.33 weeks in a month, however that a third of a week tends to get lost in the pregnancy shuffle for much of us

Another way to look at it is if you consider a pregnancy of 40 weeks to be ten months, and that a year has 52 weeks in it - which you also count four weeks as one month - wouldn’t this mean that your baby would be 13 months old before he turned a year, and you could celebrate his first birthday?

Answer 4

Good calculations by Mominsd!  One more kink - they always ask you the date of your last period and calculate your due date 40 weeks past that point.  Well for those first two weeks, you're not even pregnant yet - no egg drop, no fertilization, not pregnant.  That's where the 9 months comes in!

Regarding your edit - not every mom wants to be done early.  I was happy to carry my baby until two days before my due date because I knew that the longer he stayed in, the better off he would be.  I had a 9lb 4oz baby.  I didn't complain because I knew that it was my job to give my baby the best chance!

Answer 5

OMG i thought the exact same thing! its is true ur technically pregnant for 10 months not 9

Answer 6

40 weeks is not 10 months.  If you'd like a precise answer-- 40 weeks is 280 days.  Take 280 days divided by 365 (# days in a year) and you get .77  So 40 weeks is .77 of a year (or 77%, if you like).  Multiply that by 12 (number of months per year) if you want to know how many months that is -- you get 9.2 months.  So basically, it's 9 months and almost a week.

Or you can use your calendar, if you don't believe me. :)

Also, if you think 4 weeks is a month, then 52 weeks (number of weeks in a year) would be 13 months by the same logic.

Answer 7

i think its because 9 months is when the baby is actually grown and you cant get an abortion.

9 months is the full process .

10 months is that time and the first month your body is still trying to figure out everything.

Answer 8

It is calender months (e.g. 1st may to the 1st june) versus lunar months (the time it takes for the moon to orbit the earth).

It is 40 weeks from your last menstrual period to your due date.

Lunar months are four weeks (28 days) long so that is 10 months

It is 9 calender months (with the months carying from 28 days (feb) to 31 days long) from conception to your due date....

Either is right but considering we use calender months more regularly than lunar months, it is more common to say 9 months for pregnancy.

Most women who are pregnant use weeks.... it's much more consistent

Answer 9

because not many woman carry to full term..they usually give birth, or at least it's safe to give birth, at 36 weeks or more.  It's really common. but you are right.

Answer 10

They have just always been told or heard it is 9 months.  It is 9 1/2 months from conception to due-date but they add the 2 wks before actual conception making it 10 months which confuses people.  

Answer 11

most calendar months arent 4 weeks. that 1/2 a week or so every month adds up... its 40 weeks but not 10 months.