With Kate Middleton past her expected due date, royal baby fever runs rampant in entertainment news, the British press, and even in gambling halls, as everyone speculate over every detail over the arrival of the future monarch of England.

The big question: When? Buckingham Palace never disclosed the official due date, but said that the Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge would be expecting in mid-July. The expected delivery date, calculated by adding 40 weeks or 280 days to the date of the last menstrual period, is at best an estimate; less than 5 percent of births occur precisely on this date.

Now that the date has passed, the world watches and waits. The press wondered if the Middleton would give birth in time for Queen Elizabeth's annual summer holiday, which commenced on July 19 in Balmoral. A new rumor hints that the baby will arrive after July 23, since Kate's mother Carole purportedly told friends the baby will be Leo, the zodiac sign corresponding to late July and early August. In the betting world, a spokesperson from William Hill, an online sports betting website, said that bets on the birthdate are suspended, since many people have rushed to bet on the next upcoming days. You can still bet, however, on the name and gender, as well as who between Will and Kate will be holding the baby when it's presented to the public.

Which brings up the question: will Middleton induce her labor as Princess Diana was when she gave birth to Prince William. While labor induction is quite common — about 22 percent of all labors — in the U.S., where labor is often scheduled for convenience, obstetricians usually wait until the baby is around 10 days overdue to induce.

A woman might decide to induce labor for a number of reasons. Labor may be induced if the pregnancy is physically demanding on the mother, because of abdominal pressure or conditions like preeclampsia, which can only be alleviated by giving birth. Similarly, remaining in utero could be dangerous for the fetus, since the placenta — the organ that transfers oxygen, blood, and nutrients to the fetus — gets fatigued and overworked as the pregnancy is prolonged. In the case that a mother is overdue, the fetus is assessed — through ultrasound, fetal kick counts, biophysical profile — to see if the pregnancy is well tolerated. If not, it might be best to induce labor.

Typically, labor is induced by administering pitocin, a synthetic version of the naturally occuring hormone oxytocin. After the cervix is softened using a prostaglandin, pitocin is given to stimulate contractions of the uterus, as oxytocin would do in a natural birth.

Eventually, with enough uterine contractions and pushes from the mom, a baby is born. Currently, betting odds predict it'll be a girl named Alexandra.