Transmission: When the baby is late

The 41st week of pregnancy usually means that your child will be a little later than calculated. This affects around four to 14 percent of expectant mothers. However, it’s not something you need to worry about too much. Because only four percent of children are actually born on time. Two thirds of all children are born in the 10 days before and after the calculated due date. A due date is therefore only an approximation, not an “appointment”. The date of delivery is calculated according to the Nagele rule based on the first day of the last period and not based on the day of conception. Determining the real age of the child is therefore very difficult. Even with the help of ultrasound, this moment cannot be perfectly pinpointed.

cause of transmission

It is therefore very difficult to determine whether a baby is too long in coming. That is why doctors today rely less on the calculated date and more on their observations and examinations during the check-up. The placenta receives special attention . Because the problem of transmission is usually to be seen in the aging placenta, which no longer supplies the baby with oxygen and nutrients as well. This risk increases the mortality rate from transmission (although still low):

• 37th week of pregnancy = 1 in 3,000
• 42nd week of pregnancy = 3 in 3,000
• 43rd week of pregnancy = 6 in 3,000

More frequent check-ups

If you are overdue, your doctor or midwife will ask you to come for a check-up every two days. If you exceed the deadline by more than ten days, the interval is reduced to daily. With the CTG , the child’s heart sounds are checked and it is recorded whether labor is already occurring . The ultrasound is used to check whether there is still enough amniotic fluid and whether the placenta still makes a good impression.

Midwifery Tips: Give baby a nudge

Midwives can give some tips on how to give the baby a little “nudge” in this situation. For example , acupuncture , homeopathic treatments, a warm bath, sex , a castor oil mixture (only after consultation with the midwife, please!) or a spicy curry dish are tried out by impatient pregnant women.

Shorten your waiting time

But it’s best if you distract yourself and wait. Because the baby usually has its own idea of ​​​​when it wants to come. This will definitely work with the following ideas:

• Plan something nice every day: an appointment with the hairdresser, a massage, drinking coffee with friends. That way you won’t start thinking and can enjoy the last few days a little more. But try not to stray too far from home or the clinic.
• Cook a little before you go to bed:  That way you can always eat your favorite dishes.
• Do something with your partner: eat out, go to the cinema or the theatre. Once the baby is here, it becomes much more difficult.
• Rest, get a lot of sleep or lie down on the coach and watch your favorite films on DVD:  you will still need your energy when you give birth.
• Buy the baby something nice , that lifts the spirits!

Labor induction at transmission

If your baby’s health situation deteriorates, your doctor will advise you to induce labor. But sometimes clinicians only suggest induction because they routinely recommend it at a certain week of pregnancy. It is therefore often worth asking again about the reasons for this recommendation. Then you can better weigh up whether there really is a medical reason for the measure. Because the baby usually comes all by itself in the next few days.

Signs of transmission in newborns

Most children come when the time is right for them. So there is usually no need to worry at all. If you miss the deadline, the doctor will still be on the lookout for signs of possible transmission after the birth. These signs are also called Runge signs:

• yellow skin, yellow membranes/umbilical cord
• Washerwoman’s hands = dry, cracked, parchment-like skin on hands
• Exfoliation of the epidermis, the top layer of skin
• red scrotum/red labia
• no fruit spread/cheese spread
• relative lag in development

Another differentiation of the symptoms of a newborn is based on the 3 degrees of Clifford’s syndrome:

• Grade I = no cheese smears, hardly any pronounced fat deposits and skin atrophy, a so-called tissue loss of the skin
• Grade II = skin and fetal membranes have a green color due to amniotic fluid containing meconium – meconium is the first excretion of a newborn
• Grade III = the skin is macerated in light yellow and the amniotic fluid is yellow-brown

However, most children show no long-term damage, but recover after a short time from their short-term undersupply. In this case, too, there is only limited cause for concern.

More information on the “ birth process ” and “ complications during birth ” in our “ Birth ” section.