Pregnancy Calendar - 39th Week
- Ask for the emotional support of your partner!
- Discuss your fears and worries and let your wishes be known!
- Help yourself relax with the use of the breathing techniques and massaging.
For the mother:
- At any time during this week it is possible for birth pains to commence, so you might be afraid that you may not realize when exactly the process of childbirth begins.
- You may now start to feel pseudo-contractions, which are a kind of preparation of the uterus as the cervix softens, for the actual moment of the commencing of birth pains.
For the baby:
- The fetus is clinically mature and may be born at any time. The placenta, which contributed decisively to the development, has begun to wane and operates less efficiently in relation to the transportation of nutrients.
- Most of the mother's antibodies cross the placental barrier and enter the fetal blood in order to strengthen the immune system.
- The amniotic fluid surrounding the baby is reduced, while the umbilical cord, having now about the same size as your baby is about to complete his work.
- Meconium, a greenish-blackish sticky substance builds up in your baby's intestine, making up his first feces.
- The circumference of the embryo’s abdomen is now slightly larger than his/her head.
- Gravity combined with the fact that the fetus is now located very low in the pelvic region, causes a compression on the embryo’s skull.
- The size of the fetus (head-tail distance) now reaches about 48cm and weighs approximately, 3,25 kilograms.
