title: Naegele's rule revisited.
abstract: Recent literature suggests that Franz Carl Naegele's (1778-1851) rule for estimating the date of delivery has been misinterpreted, resulting in this being brought forward by five days. Baskett and Nagele's work underpinning this argument has become widely accepted and quoted in obstetrical and midwifery textbooks. However, our re-examination of Naegele's original statements does not support the recent findings. On the contrary, the original textbooks of Naegele clearly advise taking the first day of menstruation for the calculation of the date of delivery.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Professions, Institute of Midwifery, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland. Electronic address: christine.loytved@zhaw.ch.
authors.forename: Christine Anna Lieselotte
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Loytved
authors.affiliation: School of Health Professions, Institute of Midwifery, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fleming
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D005865:Gestational Age; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008598:Menstruation; D008880:Midwifery; D009774:Obstetrics / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: History; Naegele; Pregnancy; Rule