Your doctors and possibly your medwife will tell you that it is unsafe to go past 42 weeks, but it is not like your placenta will shrivel up and die because you go that long. There is a woman in, I think, the natural birth community, who went to 45 weeks and has a healthy baby.
I guess it is up to you really, what you want to do. I went almost 42 weeks and had made the decision that I would not be induced but rather go in every other day for tests to see how the baby was doing and go from there. If you do not want to be induced, this would be the way to go. As long as the foetus is doing well, there really isn't any reason to induce, unless, of course, it is what you want to do.
Well, my daughter was born at 42 weeks, and my midwives were fine with me going beyond that as long as we did non stress tests and an ultrasound or two to check on the placenta and make sure everything is holding up well. The told me of one woman who went to 48 weeks and had a healthy baby with an uncomplicated delivery.
It varies from practice to practice, but I was told at my first birth class that "term" is considered 37-42 weeks. Where I will deliver, they won't let me go beyond 42 weeks, but some places will with close monitoring.
I understand your concern. We have the same due date! Anyways, my doctor told me that he liked to talk about induction after 41 weeks, but if I insisted on natural birth, I could go in for daily NSTs until things progressed naturally. That's the route I'll take if it comes to that. Best of luck to you and your baby!
My mom claims I went to 44 weeks. Given that dating technology was a little less sophisticated in 1965 than it is now, I'm a little dubious, but docs were also less freaked on this point back then and tended to go with the patient's wishes--partly, I'm guessing, because induction technology was also a lot less developed.
On the other hand, she had to labor in a hospital bed on her back, so it's not like I'm saying that those were the golden days of delivery...
Still, I wasn't enormous, she delivered vaginally, and everyone was healthy and fine.
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I guess it is up to you really, what you want to do. I went almost 42 weeks and had made the decision that I would not be induced but rather go in every other day for tests to see how the baby was doing and go from there. If you do not want to be induced, this would be the way to go. As long as the foetus is doing well, there really isn't any reason to induce, unless, of course, it is what you want to do.
Good luck!
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On the other hand, she had to labor in a hospital bed on her back, so it's not like I'm saying that those were the golden days of delivery...
Still, I wasn't enormous, she delivered vaginally, and everyone was healthy and fine.
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