Subscribe

Week 40

Back

Size of Baby

51.2cm

Development of Baby

Your baby is continuing to build both fat and iron as they prepare for life outside the womb.

Maternal Symptoms

It is normal to feel quite frustrated at this stage, particularly if you haven’t been experiencing Braxton-hicks, or other signs of early labour. Think about how you, and you birth partner or support person, can support you during this time. It is not known exactly what starts the cascade of hormonal changes that mark the beginning of labour so you will hear of many different things to try. These include sex as sperm contains prostaglandins that can help to ripen your cervix and the rise in oxytocin can help to stimulate the uterine muscles, foods that will irritate your bowel such as spice or pineapple and walking or spending time on a pregnancy ball, using gravity and movement to encourage baby to move further down into your pelvis.   

Things to Consider

You have reached your due date! Most people don’t birth their baby on their due date, research from the Perinatal Institute showed that only 5% of people give birth on their due date. Knowing this can help to take the pressure off slightly, although it is normal to feel a wide range of emotions from frustrated to excited to nervous and so on.




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…

Founder of The Parent Education Company

3 minutes

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…

Founder of The Parent Education Company

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…

Founder of The Parent Education Company

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…

Founder of The Parent Education Company

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…

Founder of The Parent Education Company

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?…

Founder of The Parent Education Company

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…

Founder of The Parent Education Company

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.
More info Accept