Home / Due Date Calculator

Due Date Calculator

Estimate your due date from your last period or conception date, using the same 280 day rule your provider starts from.

Details

Results

Estimated due date -
Conception (approx) -
How far along today -
Trimester -

Estimate only, not medical advice.

Two starting points, one formula

Both entry points here run through the same underlying arithmetic. Choosing "last menstrual period" adds 280 days to the first day of your last period, the calculation known as Naegele's rule. Choosing "conception date" instead adds 266 days, roughly 280 minus the two weeks between the start of a cycle and ovulation. Either path lands on the same due date if your cycle runs a textbook 28 days.

Where 280 days comes from: a full-term pregnancy is dated from the first day of the last period, not from conception, because that date is usually known while the exact day of conception rarely is. Forty weeks from that starting point is the long-standing clinical convention.

Why the estimate has a two week spread

A due date is the midpoint of a normal range, not a deadline. Term length varies naturally from one pregnancy to the next even when dating is accurate, which is why only a small share of babies arrive on the exact calculated day. Most births happen within roughly two weeks on either side of the estimate, and a birth several days early or late is not on its own a sign that anything is wrong. An early ultrasound can tighten this estimate; your provider may adjust your due date if a first trimester scan disagrees with the last period date by more than a few days.

Adjusting for a shorter or longer cycle

Naegele's rule assumes ovulation happens around day 14 of a 28 day cycle. If your average cycle runs longer or shorter, ovulation shifts with it, so this calculator adds or subtracts the difference from the standard 280 days. The table below shows how that adjustment scales.

Average cycle lengthAdjustment to the 280 day baseline
24 days4 days earlier
26 days2 days earlier
28 daysNo adjustment
30 days2 days later
32 days4 days later
35 days7 days later

Cycle length is the single biggest lever in this calculation. If yours has varied a lot recently, or you are not confident in the date, an early ultrasound is the more reliable dating method and will generally take precedence over date math like this.

Share or print this estimate

The "Copy shareable link" button above encodes your inputs into the page address, so you can send the exact same result to a partner, family member, or your own notes without retyping the dates. "Print summary" produces a clean, one page version of the results panel with the header, navigation, and footer removed, useful for a folder of prenatal paperwork or a first appointment.

Good to know

FAQs

What exactly is Naegele's rule?

It is the standard method of adding 280 days, 40 weeks, to the first day of your last menstrual period to estimate a due date. It assumes a 28 day cycle with ovulation around day 14.

Why does the calculator ask for cycle length?

Naegele's rule assumes a 28 day cycle. If yours runs longer or shorter, ovulation shifts, so we adjust the estimate by the difference between your cycle length and 28 days.

How often do babies arrive on their due date?

Rarely. Only a small share of babies are born on the exact estimated date, and most arrive within about two weeks before or after it.

Does an ultrasound change this date?

It can. An early ultrasound, particularly in the first trimester, is considered a more precise dating method than LMP alone, and your provider may use it to set or adjust your due date.

Can I use this after the first trimester?

Yes, but a later ultrasound is less precise for dating than an early one, so if your dates were never confirmed early, expect a wider margin of error.