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Your pregnancy: 37-40 weeks

Your baby

Your baby will be about 51cm long and weigh about 3.4kg. If it is a boy, his testicles will have descended.

The baby is building up waste made out of amniotic fluid, blood and skin in her intestines. She will excrete this after she is born.

The baby is now fully developed and ready to be born.

You

As you get heavier, you may find walking more of a struggle. It is important to keep moving, however.

When the baby’s head is engaged, you may feel more comfortable as the baby puts less pressure on your stomach.

Some of your digestive problems and feelings of breathlessness may be reduced but you may feel more pressure on your bladder. Some women experience a “nesting” instinct in the last four weeks, in which they feel the urge to clean or tidy or get the house ready for the baby.

If you are feeling energetic, now is a time which other mothers have said they’ve found useful to make some meals to put in the freezer, because there may not be much time for cooking after the baby is born. If you are planning to give birth at home, make sure you have the phone number of the midwife to hand, ready for when you go into labour (see "Home birth: all you need to know" for more information).

Your midwife will probably visit you at around 37 weeks to drop off a pack containing the things she will need for the birth. She will bring the entonox (gas and air) and pethidine on the day. You might also like to have the following to hand: 

  • Some plastic sheeting, a plastic shower curtain, or some old newspapers to protect your floor and furniture, and a protective covering for your bed, if you plan to use it 
  • Birthing ball (available through NCTShop) 
  • Plasticine or Blu-TackTM to block the overflow if you want to use your bath for pain relief 
  • Snacks for you to eat, and drinks with bendy straws 
  • Food and drink for your midwives that your partner or birth supporter can leave out 
  • Large towel to put around you and your baby after she’s born 
  • Bowl or bucket to put the placenta in 
  • Bin bags for clearing up 
  • Emergency bag in case you need to transfer to hospital (see below).

If you are planning to go to hospital to give birth, make sure you have the phone number of the midwife or hospital to hand, ready for when you go into labour. Also, it is a good idea to have a plan for how you will get to the hospital to give birth – you won’t be able to drive once you are in labour.

If you are planning on giving birth in hospital, it’s a good idea to pack your hospital bag at about 36 weeks, just in case the baby arrives early. Your hospital bag should contain: 

  • Dressing gown 
  • Slippers 
  • Water spray to cool you down in labour 
  • Nursing bras if you are breastfeeding 
  • Front-opening nightgowns if you are planning to breastfeed 
  • About 24 sanitary towels to deal with the blood loss after labour (for more information, see “Blood loss after birth”) 
  • Changes of knickers 
  • Washbag with toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush and so on 
  • Sleepsuits and plenty of nappies for the baby. 

Many of the items in the above list are available from NCTShop.

Your cervix will soften in preparation for labour, and you may experience some signs that labour is starting:

  • increased (clear) vaginal discharge
  • the plug of mucus (‘show’) released from the cervix, perhaps with a streak of blood
  • feeling unusually energetic etc. – you may start cleaning the house (the ‘nesting instinct’)
  • frequent ‘practice’ contractions of the uterus felt as a hardening of the abdomen or maybe as backache.

It’s generally not a good idea to go into hospital too early in your labour, because you might end up doing a lot of hanging around. If your contractions are occurring regularly at intervals of about 10 minutes, that’s a good time to go in. You can phone the midwife at the hospital first to ask her advice if you’re not sure.

Don’t worry if you don’t go into labour when you were expecting to. Only 5% of babies are born on their due date, so you are unlikely to go into labour on that day. Second and subsequent babies are more likely to arrive before your due date, as are twins. See "Induction and augmentation" for more information.

If you are a healthy woman with a normal pregnancy, the safest birth for you and your baby is a straightforward vaginal birth. Your midwife will aim to support you in a way that makes this more likely. See “Straightforward birth” for more information.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition or you or your baby develop problems during pregnancy, you may be offered other birth options. If this is a second or subsequent baby, your birth options may be affected by the type of birth you had with earlier babies.

Often women who are pregnant after a previous caesarean would like to have their next baby ‘normally’. Many women have a strong physical and emotional desire to labour and give birth; it matters to them to have this experience if they can. Vaginal birth has physical as well as psychological benefits for both mother and baby. However, some women are apprehensive about VBAC, especially if they have had a previously difficult birth experience. Additional restrictions will often be recommended for a VBAC, although evidence shows that the care of a woman in labour after a ceasarean with a low horizontal scar on the uterus need not be different from that of any other woman in labour.

See “Vaginal birth after caesarean”,  “Guide to labour”,  “Straightforward birth” and “Positions for labour and birth” for more information.