Will Baby Sussex Be Born Late? Here's Why Meghan Markle May Go Past Her Due Date

To say that people are obsessed with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s baby would be an understatement. Everything from the gender, the name, the size, and where the baby will sleep has become a source of international speculation. But none of these details will be revealed until precious Baby Sussex makes his or her debut. Unfortunately for royal fans, everyone is likely to be waiting longer than expected for the birth.

There are few good reasons to believe that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s first child will be born in early or mid May, not in late April as some royal family fans are hoping for. Here’s why.

No one knows Baby Sussex’s exact due date

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle may know their baby’s due date, but so far, they haven’t shared that information with the public. This follows the royal tradition of releasing as few details as possible about the new baby before he or she is born.

When the royal palace announced the pregnancy, all they said
was that the baby was due in “spring.” But then Meghan Markle’s friend, George
Clooney, said she was “seven months pregnant” in mid-February. Based on those
comments and some other clues, Cosmopolitan crunched the numbers and discovered
that Markle is probably due on
or around May 10.

Royal fans will start paying very close attention to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s movements in mid-April. But are they wasting their time?

Meghan Markle probably won’t give birth on her due date

At the end of the day, knowing the exact due date for Baby
Sussex wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway. Studies estimate that only about
5%
of women give birth on their literal due date. It’s likely that Meghan
Markle will go into labor either sooner or later than that day.

And since this is Meghan’s first pregnancy, it’s far more likely that she’ll be late, not early. LiveScience reported that firstborn children are much more likely to be born later than 40 weeks compared to second, third, or fourth babies. Interestingly, the same research found that firstborns are also more likely to be born prematurely at 37 weeks or earlier.

Why would Meghan Markle deliver late?

One of the biggest reasons that Meghan Markle may go past
her due date is that it seems she’s interested in pursuing natural childbirth. Assuming
everything is medically sound, the Duchess of Sussex may decide to just let
things naturally take their course rather than being induced. That’s because induced
labors are more likely to require epidurals or c-sections. At 40 weeks, she’ll
have to start visiting her doctor or midwife more frequently and taking it easy,
though.

Then again, Markle’s age could play a factor, too. Advanced
maternal age pregnancies often result in more premature births compared to younger
moms. Since Meghan Markle is 37, she’s at risk for delivering early just based
on her age.

A due date is really just an estimate and women don’t have
an internal clock counting down to 40 weeks. It’s incredibly likely that Meghan
Markle will give birth sooner or later than expected. We all just have to wait
and see!

Source: Read Full Article