The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Words

I've said it before and I'll say it again, and again, and again- The words we use are so very powerful!

There are the obvious choice words that have a negative impact, 

like "my" epidural. Or, "when would you like your epidural?"

and "my doctor is going to let me"

and my least favorite, "I had to get induced"

And then there's the more subtle words, who's impact is quietly wreaking havoc

like "due date" -two little words that don't really mean what you think they mean. 

It used to be that a baby was due, or rather expected, within a certain season or "around Christmas" whereas now, we've come to expect a baby by a certain day! This idea, that a baby should come by a certain day, is enforced by our care providers, by insurance companies, by well meaning friends and family and now, by pregnancy announcements! I recently saw an announcement, beautifully creative with charming colors and cliche phrases referring to a bun in the oven.  It was all fine and dandy until that announcement made known that the baby would be cooked by 7/26/14*. STOP!! For real?! Your due date is not an expiration date! Now I'm sure the well meaning designers of this particular announcement and the loving family were not necessarily trying to imply that this is truly what they thought but when we see things like this over and over again, when we repeat "July 26" over and over again and then that date comes and goes... it really has an impact. The wording in this seemingly harmless announcement encourages the idea that a baby is done being in utero precisely when we say so.

Infographic by: Birth By Heart

Too many women are under the impression that when they pass their "due date" they are "overdue" when in fact ACOG states post dates is past 42 weeks!  Thankfully, not all beautiful announcements are quite such precise recipes; just remember, your due date is simply a guesstimate of the time period around when your baby may decide to be born. ACOG's most recent guidelines are

• Early Term:  Between 37 weeks 0 days and 38 weeks 6 days
• Full Term:    Between 39 weeks 0 days and 40 weeks 6 days
• Late Term:   Between 41 weeks 0 days and 41 weeks 6 days
• Postterm:     Between 42 weeks 0 days and beyond

So, when is your baby due?? Let's say "early spring"

*All dates and time periods and fictional and simply for example. Any similarities to real life scenarios is simply coincidence.