Pregnancy is normal if it lasts anything from 37 weeks to 42 weeks. The trouble with being given a due date is that you and your partner and all your friends become focused on one particular day of the year rather than on the one or two weeks around that date. In fact, only around five per cent of babies arrive on their due date.

Once your due date has come and gone, you will probably find that relatives start ringing you on a daily basis to find out if anything has happened! It is hard not to become stressed and tired under such circumstances.

Try the following strategies to take the pressure off:

• Early on in pregnancy be suitably vague about your due date to friends and relatives. For example, try saying you are due the first week or so of June, rather than May 29. Remember to use the accurate date on all medical and official forms though!