More people are scheduling delivery a little bit early for non medical reasons. However this can  cause problems for both mother and baby. It is best to  wait  for at least 39 weeks. If your pregnancy is healthy , wait for labor to start on its own. Lots of important things happen during the last few weeks of pregnancy .

Babies born too early may have health problems at birth and later in life. Being 39 weeks pregnant gives your baby’s body all the time it needs to grow.

Why babies need at least 39 weeks

A lot of things happen during pregnancy week 39. This include :

• important organs like the baby’s brain, lungs and liver  get the time they need to develop
• the baby is less likely to vision or hearing problems after birth
• the baby has more time to gain more weight in the womb
• the baby has decreased risk of medical problems or developmental delays

What is the effect of scheduling an early delivery on my pregnancy and baby

Scheduling an early delivery ( induction or cesarean)  for non medical reasons can cause problems for you and your baby. Here are some of the reasons why you may encounter some problems with scheduled early delivery

• your due date may not be right . Sometimes  it can be as off as 2 weeks. If you schedule an early delivery and your due date is off by 2 weeks, your baby will be born early
• inducing labor can cause the following problems for both you and your baby
  • stronger and more frequent contractions
  • possible infections
  • uterine rapture ( rare)
• Inducing labor may not work and your may end up needing a cesarean section. Once you have a c-section, you may end up needing a c-section for your other pregnancies. The more c-sections you have, the more problems you and your baby may have including problems with the placenta