HiPP due date calculator: the easiest way to determine your due date

Are you pregnant and you want to know your baby’s due date? We at HiPP have developed a due date calculator that you can use online and free of charge! Learn how to “calculate your due date”.

How do I determine my due date?
Determining the due date with your gynaecologist or midwife
Determining the due date after assisted conception
Determining the due date when you’re expecting twins or multiples
Calculating how far along you are
Why you should know your baby’s due date
How accurate is the estimated due date?
Reasons why some children arrive early or late
Getting ready for the birth of your little one
What happens if my baby is overdue?
The most important questions about the due date

How do I determine my due date?

For many parents, determining the due date is one of the most important steps after getting a positive pregnancy test. They want to prepare as well as they can for the birth of their little one and everything that comes after. So knowing when their little one is due to arrive is key. However, knowing your due date is also important for medical reasons. It is an important point of reference regarding fetal development.

You can determine the due date yourself using a simple formula. However, it’s even easier if you use our HiPP due date calculator.

Due date & pregnancy week

This is how your due date is calculated: An average pregnancy lasts 40 weeks. Pregnancy begins on the first day of your last period. This is also the way doctors and midwives calculate your due date. 

Determining the due date after assisted conception

When calculating the due date after assisted conception, you normally don’t use Naegele’s Rule. In these cases, doctors calculate the due date based on the transfer date. This means that the starting point of their calculation is not the first day of your last period but the day of the actual conception. It’s hard to pinpoint that day with conventional conception.

With assisted conception, however, doctors know the exact date of conception of your little one. This means that your due date would be calculated as follows: conception date - 3 months - 7 days + 1 year.

Determining the due date when you’re expecting twins or multiples

Expecting more than one baby means that your little ones have to share the limited space inside your belly. That is why multiples are often born a little earlier.

Use our due date calculator to determine the regular estimated due date. Now you have to subtract some weeks as multiples are often born in the period between week 37 and week 38.

Calculating how far along you are

You want to figure out which week you are currently in? That’s super easy with our HiPP pregnancy calculator. Enter all the required data and get your results within seconds.

Below the estimated due date you will find the week of pregnancy you are currently in.

Note: If you are yet to get pregnant, you can use our HiPP ovulation calculator to determine your most fertile days.

4. Planning your parental leave

Parental leave is a similar concept and is scheduled to start on the day of the estimated due date. This means that parental leave refers to the time after birth in which you are allowed to stay at home and raise your child.  

5. Applying for child benefit

You are also entitled to child benefit from the day your baby is born. This will always be dependent on your arrangement with your insurance company.

6. Registration at the clinic or birth centre

Remember to register in due time at the hospital or birth centre where you want to give birth or with your doctor (or midwife).  

7. Registering the child’s birth

Law requires you to register your baby. The civil registration office will then issue the birth certificate. Do you already know our checklist for necessary for the registration? 

How accurate is the estimated due date?

One thing is certain: The estimated due date is usually not the actual date of delivery. Various factors play a role in the calculation of the due date. For example, if you cannot tell exactly when the first day of your last period was, the result may differ by a few days. Having longer or shorter cycles can also lead to deviations from the due date.

Also, while pregnancy usually lasts 40 weeks – some children take a little longer, while others are born earlier. All of this is perfectly normal. This means that you should not fixate too much on the estimated due day.

If the estimated due date is 13 April 2021, as in our example, your baby may well arrive between 3 April 2021 and 23 April 2021. Deviations of plus/minus ten days are quite usual. Babies born well before the due date, i.e. before week 37, are considered premature babies.

Reasons why some children arrive early or late

As mentioned above, there are several reasons that can affect the length of pregnancy. In the following, we would like to discuss the most common reasons for an earlier or later delivery.

Why are some pregnancies shorter?

• Miscalculation of the due date
  Even if the due date calculator is quite easy to use, the due date it suggests might still be incorrect. Reasons for that could be that you’ve entered your data incorrectly (e.g. mistyping) or because you do not know the exact date of the first day of your last period. To avoid miscalculations due to typing errors, always double check the data you’ve entered before clicking “calculate now”.
• Psychological factors
  Emotional stress can have a negative impact not only on your own health, but also on the health of your unborn child. That’s why it’s particularly important to take care of yourself during pregnancy. Due to hormonal fluctuations, many women are more susceptible to emotional stress during pregnancy. Worries about their child, about their financial situation or about their relationship can add to that stress. All of this will have an effect on their body. For example, it has been proven that people who suffer from permanent stress are more susceptible to infections or diseases. It is this high susceptibility to infections that can lead to complications during pregnancy, causing the baby to be born too early.

Getting ready for the birth of your little one

Even though the due date is calculated, a baby may well be born earlier. For many first-time parents this fact is associated with a certain level of unease. Many of them would prefer a more plannable birth.

The exact date of birth, however, is difficult to predict. Actually, only 4 percent of babies are born on the day predicted by doctors, midwives or a due date calculator.

That’s why you should prepare for birth in due time. This way you can be sure to be ready for when your little one finally decides to arrive into this world – even if they do so a bit earlier than expected. We therefore recommend you also have your hospital bag packed and ready. It should contain clothes for you and your baby as well as important documents such as your maternal health record.

What if my baby goes over?

Usually, there’s nothing to worry about if your baby is born a few days late. Once you’ve passed the due date, your gynecologist (or your midwife) will check that your baby is still well every two days.

If there are still no signs of labor after several days, birth can be induced. However, as long as your baby is doing well inside your womb and there is no risk of complications, doctors (and/or midwives) will usually wait for labor to start naturally.