I'm sure I can't be the only person who didn't know that the whole 'nine months' thing is a steaming great pile of cack?
I naively thought that when they say, 'Congratulations Mrs Miggins; you're eight weeks pregnant,' this estimate might actually have some sort of connection with how old the bundle of cells in the woman's belly actually is. Well, I suppose it does have some sort of connection, just not the apparently-not-as-obvious-as-I-thought direct correlation between the age of the bundle of cells and the age they tell you it is. Why date it from the last period? I mean, I realise that my being a little surprised about all this is not exactly going to force a revolution in pregnancy dating, but how does their system make sense?
'How long have you been a professional footballer, Mr Beckham?'
'Seven years. Well, only actually been one for five, but I wanted to be one for two years before that...'
Okay, here's how I understand it (if I am being desperately thick, please let me know): A woman has a roughly 28 day menstrual cycle. On day 1, she has a period. At about day 14, she ovulates and is capable of conceiving, with a couple of days either side leeway. So, why not say, 'When was your last period?', add two weeks to that to give the date of the ovulation, and the difference between that date and today's date is how long you've been pregnant? Why add two weeks before the whole 'when a mummy and a daddy love each other very much' part?
Like I say, it's not that I think my moaning about things will cause a change in long-established medical practice, but if they've lied about this, what else have they lied about..?
I naively thought that when they say, 'Congratulations Mrs Miggins; you're eight weeks pregnant,' this estimate might actually have some sort of connection with how old the bundle of cells in the woman's belly actually is. Well, I suppose it does have some sort of connection, just not the apparently-not-as-obvious-as-I-thought direct correlation between the age of the bundle of cells and the age they tell you it is. Why date it from the last period? I mean, I realise that my being a little surprised about all this is not exactly going to force a revolution in pregnancy dating, but how does their system make sense?
'How long have you been a professional footballer, Mr Beckham?'
'Seven years. Well, only actually been one for five, but I wanted to be one for two years before that...'
Okay, here's how I understand it (if I am being desperately thick, please let me know): A woman has a roughly 28 day menstrual cycle. On day 1, she has a period. At about day 14, she ovulates and is capable of conceiving, with a couple of days either side leeway. So, why not say, 'When was your last period?', add two weeks to that to give the date of the ovulation, and the difference between that date and today's date is how long you've been pregnant? Why add two weeks before the whole 'when a mummy and a daddy love each other very much' part?
Like I say, it's not that I think my moaning about things will cause a change in long-established medical practice, but if they've lied about this, what else have they lied about..?
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