While I'm perpetually showing up to places right on time—okay,
I'm usually late—my wife is always early. But as she neared her
pregnancy due date, it became clear that one of the greatest
anxieties of childbirth comes at the very end. Will the labor
start naturally on time, or will the baby be so late that
induction or Caesarean section is necessary? If the goal is a
drug-free birth—as ours was—being told you have to be induced
could force a dramatic reimagining of your birth plan. If the
goal is a vaginal delivery, being told you will need a Caesarean
could be heart-wrenching. Yet being past your due date is not
only a common anxiety for pregnant women, it's an incredibly
common situation. The 40-week—or nine-month—pregnancy feels like
an indelible part of our culture. Store shelves are lined with
books that reference it, movies have been named for it, and
serious medical decisions are made because of it. The concept of
a 40-week pregnancy was popularized nearly 200 years ago by
Franz Naegele, director of a