How to Plan a Baby's Birth Date

Determine your target due date. Many factors will influence this date, such as travel and work schedules or seasonal preferences. Maybe you want to have a winter baby to avoid being pregnant during the hot summer months.

Understand the gestational time line for pregnancy. A typical pregnancy is 40 weeks, measured from the woman's last menstrual period until the birth. A baby is considered full term at the end of 36 weeks and can be born as late as two weeks past the due date, or even later. According to the American Pregnancy Association only 5 percent of babies are born on their actual due date.

Discuss factors that could delay your pregnancy past the predetermined time frame. Decide what you and your partner will do if you are not pregnant by that time. Will you stop trying to conceive? Will you resume use of a non-hormonal birth control?

Stop using birth control a few months before you want to conceive. Once you stop taking hormonal birth control, it might be a few months before ovulation resumes and your menstrual periods become regular. This makes it harder for you to know when you're fertile and why it might take longer for you to conceive. Once you begin to have a normal menstrual cycle, you can start trying to conceive.

Chart your temperature for a few months to detect a pattern and pinpoint your likely ovulation date. Plan to have sexual intercourse during the two to three days preceding the day your temperature normally rises because this is when you are most fertile. Another sign of when ovulation occurs is when your cervical mucus becomes clear, slippery and stretchy.