Subscribe
Back

Size of Baby

49.8cm

Development of Baby

Over the next week or so your baby will start to move down into your pelvis and engage. This will be monitored by your Midwife at each appointment.

Maternal Symptoms

Around this time you may start to experience the pregnancy “waddle”. This is a combination of baby’s head being low in your pelvis, as well as an increase in the levels of relaxin, a hormone that loosens the cartilage in your pelvis, helping it to shift and move slightly as baby descends through it in labour.

Things to Consider

This week is your 38 week appointment. The usual checks will be carried out, including your baby’s descent into your pelvis, measured in 5ths. You may see “4/5ths palpable” for example, written in your notes. This means the Midwife can feel 4/5ths of your baby’s head outside of your pelvis, and the top 1/5th of your baby’s head is now within the brim of your pelvis.




Recommended Articles & Resources:

Courtney with theatre gown and cap, ECG pads, and a blood pressure cuff holding her newborn baby Adam Gordon
Add to Favourites

Positive C-Section Birth Story

My baby boy Adam Gordon was born via a scheduled c-section. He was breech and I feel like I tried everything to flip him, including yoga, handstands in the lake, accupuncture, and chiropractic. I went in for an ECV around 36 weeks and it was unsafe to try as his…

3 minutes

Read more →
Soft Brown Bag
Add to Favourites

Packing Your Hospital Bag – The Top 3 Things to Consider

As your birth edges ever closer, getting packing your hospital bag becomes top of the list. This task is often described as one of those moments that makes the idea of birth and parenthood feel very “real”. When I worked as a midwife, one of the commonly asked questions at…

5 mins

Read more →
Add to Favourites

COVID-19, Pregnancy and Birth – What we know so far

The last twelve months have changed life as we know it. From lockdowns and working from home to masks and social distancing, the way we live has been altered and despite the optimistic vaccine drive, will continue to be for far longer than we initially expected at the beginning of…

10 mins

Read more →
Add to Favourites

Breastfeeding: How different could it be?

I have been fortunate enough to breastfeed both of my boys. When I was pregnant with my eldest, I told myself I would give it a good go, and if it worked for me and the baby, then great. If it didn’t, there were other ways in which I could…

10 mins

Read more →
Add to Favourites

Eating and Drinking when Pregnant at Christmas

Knowing what is OK to eat and drink during pregnancy is a steep learning curve as it is (anyone else surprised by the potential of raw egg in some homemade chocolate mousse?!) but over Christmas it gets even more challenging. This guide is here to help you feel confident in…

10 mins

Read more →
Add to Favourites

The Parent Education Company’s Story

This week’s blog post looks a little different, but it still has the same theme. In today’s blog I will be sharing more about how the Parent Education Company came to be, the reason that it was set up, and why I am so passionate about Parent Education as a…

5 mins

Read more →
Add to Favourites

Dave’s Birth Story

As a male this situation is very passive (in my opinion) as you are there to support your partner as she brings your child into the world that she carried for both of you for so long. During this time, you feel hopeless, useless, wrong, incompetent… Need I go on?…

10 mins

Read more →
Add to Favourites

Charlotte’s Birth Story

I had the birth I always dreamt of, and this is my story… I made very clear throughout my pregnancy that I wanted to have as natural a birth as possible. After all, this is what my body was made to do; I grew my baby without intervention, why should…

5 mins

Read more →



We use cookies and similar technologies to enable services and functionality on our site and to understand your interaction with our service. By clicking on accept, you agree to our use of such technologies for marketing and analytics.