Home When Will I Give Birth? Due Dates, Birthdays and More

When Will I Give Birth? Due Dates, Birthdays and More

30.06.2023

2 mins of reading

The anticipation of welcoming a new life into the world brings joy, excitement, and a whole lot of questions. One of the most common questions expectant parents have is, "When will I give birth?" The due date serves as a pivotal milestone, giving parents a date to work towards and helping families prepare for the arrival of their little one.

What is the most common time to give birth?

Just as the day of birth is unpredictable, as is the time – even when you go into labour, it does not mean you will give birth that day.

Research shows that the most common time of day for births is between 9am and 5pm on weekdays, however most spontaneous births take place between 1am and 7am, with a peak at 4am. The early hours timing of spontaneous labours is likely due to our evolutionary nature where labour and birth overnight would provide both mother and baby some protection from external dangers.

Does the time of day or day of the week affect cord blood collection?

The time of day or day of the week does not typically affect cord blood collection. Here at Smart Cells, we recommend that you get in touch with us at least 4-6 weeks before your due date and let us know your estimated due date which will ensure that we can arrange to have one of our phlebotomists available around the time of your birth. Your kit will be sent to your home approximately 6 weeks before your due date. When you go into labour, whenever that may be, you simply need to inform your phlebotomist who will quickly make arrangements to be present at the birth. Medical professionals are available 24/7 around the clock to collect the cord blood promptly after the baby is born. The focus is on ensuring that the cord blood is collected safely and efficiently, regardless of the specific time or day. The priority is to maximise the quality and viability of the collected cord blood stem cells for future use. You can find out more about stem cell cord blood collection by requesting your free guide from us here.

Method

We analysed the dates of birth for 17,648,040 babies born between 1st January 1995 and 31st December 2021 which was compiled from ONS birth characteristic data. From this data, we took the averages of how many babies were born on each weekday in each year, then took the averages of how many babies were born on each weekday across the years. For those occasions where the year had an additional day (Leap Years), the data was adjusted accordingly.

Data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TSNFvD_t230qMfVn4hISmuvMOUDxlUad3zbqPKnXtnw/edit?usp=sharing

Sources/References