5

My friend told me on the phone that she got pregnant. I was so happy to hear that. Then I wanted to know how many months old was her baby in her abdomen, but I was thinking how to ask it correctly (I did not ask her that question). Is it correct to ask,

How old is your unborn baby?

Improve this question
5
  • 7
    "How many months along are you?" (or similar) is a common way to ask your question. "When is the baby due?" is another common question asked of pregnant women, the answer to which will provide the same information.
    – nnnnnn
    Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 10:24
  • Hi nnnnnn. Is it alright if I ask this instead, How many months along with the baby are you? I added 'the baby' after along to make the question more clear. Is it still correct?
    – kitty
    Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 10:42
  • 2
    You could say "How far along is the baby?" If the conversation is about pregnancy or pregnancy is mentioned, there will not be a question about what you mean or confusion.
    – LawrenceC
    Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 10:50
  • 1
    kitty - To me, "in the pregnancy" feels a little more natural in that sentence than "with the baby". There's no need to get the grammar perfect in an informal conversation of that nature. Note, though, that to somebody who is pregnant the question would be clear even if you don't mention the baby or the pregnancy explicitly, and even if you hadn't just been talking about pregnancy. They will already be (or soon will be) used to answering similar questions.
    – nnnnnn
    Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 10:51
  • 1
    To the already suggested I can add the formal "How long has she been pregnant (for)?"
    – Victor B.
    Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 10:55

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
6

"How old is your unborn baby?" is not grammatically wrong, but is not the way people usually ask the question. We normally count age from birth, not conception -- I presume because we know exactly when a baby is born, but we rarely know for sure when he was conceived -- so to be consistent an unborn baby's age would be a negative number!

The common way to ask the question is, "How far along are you?" or "How far along is your baby?" A woman will often say, "I am three months pregnant". But then we also say "the baby is three months old" or whatever number.

Doctors will say that a baby is "three months gestation". Sometimes they talk about age since the mother's last menstrual period, as in, "the baby is three months LMP". LMP is also a date that the mother is likely to know. It's usually a couple of weeks before conception, but close enough. Medical researchers talk about "embryonic age", which may be abbreviated to simply "age". But these terms are rarely used in casual conversation.

Improve this answer
6
  • 4
    +1 Also common: When are you due? Not exactly the same question, but it gets at the same information.
    – Adam
    Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 15:27
  • 3
    "the baby is three months old" - That expression usually means that the baby was born three months ago.
    – nnnnnn
    Commented Jun 2, 2016 at 18:07
  • @nnnnnn Depends on context. If the baby is still in the womb, "He is three months old" is understood to mean three months after conception. If he's outside the womb, "three months old" is understood to mean three months after birth. If you asked a pregnant woman, "How old is your baby?", very, very few would be baffled and say, "What do you mean? He's not born yet?" They'd calmly and routinely give the gestational age.
    – Jay
    Commented Jun 3, 2016 at 5:03
  • @Adam Absolutely true. As a computer geek, my immediate thought is: one is derivable from the other! time until due = 9 months minus time since conception. You can readily translate back and forth.
    – Jay
    Commented Jun 3, 2016 at 5:04
  • 1
    Sure, obviously nobody would be confused in context. I'm just saying that I'm not used to hearing "three months old" for an unborn baby - maybe it's a regional thing? Of course these all mean the same thing, but before the birth I'm used to hearing either a due date, or "three months pregnant".
    – nnnnnn
    Commented Jun 3, 2016 at 7:44

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .