- Preparing for Pregnancy
- Diet and Exercise
- Emotional Wellbeing
- Health
- Antenatal Care
- Preganancy at 1-3 Weeks
- Preganancy at 4 Weeks
- Preganancy at 5 Weeks
- Preganancy at 6 Weeks
- Preganancy at 7 Weeks
- Preganancy at 8 Weeks
- Preganancy at 9 Weeks
- Preganancy at 10 Weeks
- Preganancy at 11 Weeks
- Preganancy at 12 Weeks
- Preganancy at 13 Weeks
- Preganancy at 14 Weeks
- Preganancy at 15 Weeks
- Preganancy at 16 Weeks
- Preganancy at 17 Weeks
- Preganancy at 18 Weeks
- Preganancy at 19 Weeks
- Preganancy at 20 Weeks
- Preganancy at 21 Weeks
- Preganancy at 22 Weeks
- Preganancy at 23 Weeks
- Preganancy at 24 Weeks
- Preganancy at 25 Weeks
- Preganancy at 26 Weeks
- Preganancy at 27 Weeks
- Preganancy at 28 Weeks
- Preganancy at 29 Weeks
- Preganancy at 30 Weeks
- Preganancy at 31 Weeks
- Preganancy at 32 Weeks
- Preganancy at 33 Weeks
- Preganancy at 34 Weeks
- Preganancy at 35 Weeks
- Preganancy at 36 Weeks
- Preganancy at 37 Weeks
- Preganancy at 38 Weeks
- Preganancy at 39 Weeks
- Preganancy at 40 Weeks
- Labour and Birth
- The First Few Days
Pregnancy at 37 Weeks
If you are planning to have your baby in hospital, by now your bag should be packed. Since your baby could arrive any time, remember to take essentials (money, phone, address book) with you when you go out, and take your hospital bag with you in the car -just in case! Even if you intend to have your baby at home, you should pack a hospital bag in the event that things do not go according to plan.
Development
All major development of your baby is complete. From now on he will continue to grow in size and strength and to lay down fat- up to 28 g a day! The cells in his brain will continue to multiply and develop for the first few months of life after the birth.
In boys, the testicles usually descend into the scrotum about now. However, in approximately 3 per cent of cases, this does not happen until after the birth and surgery may sometimes be necessary, usually before the age of 2 years.
Appearance
Your baby's appearance will not change drastically now. He is a slightly smaller version of what he will look like when born.
Movement
At about this time your baby's head will start to descend into the pelvis. Once his head is well down and engaged, you may notice that your bump has 'dropped' and looks lower.
If this is not your first baby, this dropping often does not happen until labour, because your muscles do not have the tone they had first time round and so don't hold the baby in place so well. When he does descend his movements will probably seem less vigorous, although you should still be feeling at least ten movements a day.
| I'm 37 weeks pregnant and last week my midwife told me that my baby is in the posterior position. What exactly does this term mean? |
| This means that, at the moment, your baby is lying with his back towards your back, although he might turn during the first stage of labour so that he is lying with his back towards your front (anterior), which is the ideal position. There are things that you can start doing now to encourage him to turn into the anterior position. |