Turns out that waaaaay back at the beginning, when I questioned the calculation of the due date, that there is no general agreement of average gestation.
Most people accept 40 weeks for caucasians; some medics think 41 is full term. For asian and african women, 39 weeks is more usual.
Statistically, women are more likely to have problems the longer the pregnancy continues - placenta failing, fetal distress. Most hospitals prefer to induce at 41 weeks to avoid problems, not because it is over term.
Curiouser and curiouser. Pic from The Victorian Web. http://www.victorianweb.org/ Good grief, there really is a web site for everything.
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