What to expect at 36 weeks pregnant
Your baby
Baby continues to put weight on, weighing around 2.6kg now and measuring over 47 cm crown to heel. By now the layers of lanugo, the fine hair that covered its body, and the vernix caseosa is almost all-but gone. Not all babies will lose these before birth however and some will instead shed them afterwards. Baby is most likely head down and in position for birth now, however don’t worry if it’s not, there’s still time for it to move, either naturally or with medical manipulation. However if baby is unable to be moved your doctor or midwife might discuss the pros and cons of a vaginal breech birth vs a caesarean section with you.
How you’re feeling
Baby has well and truly taken over now, you find yourself waddling instead of walking, only being able to fit in small meals before feeling full and getting indigestion – only to be hungry again 20 minutes later. Hang in there mama only a couple of weeks to go!From now on you will most likely have weekly visits with your doctor or midwife to monitor both you and your baby ahead of its arrival.
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Weekly tip
If they haven’t already, your midwife or doctor will advise you against any more travel from now on (and most airlines will no longer let you fly) so from here on, with the chances of you going into labour increasing every day, try and keep all your outings fairly close to home if you can – and make visitors come to you! If you do go into labour you want to make sure you are in relative close proximity to your hospital or at home if you need to wait it out. Use this time to finalise anything else you need to do before baby arrives – or better yet, get your partner or a friend to do it for you!
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Dr Christine Catling Follow +
Dr Christine Catling, a midwife for over 25 years, is the Director of Midwifery Studies at UTS. She believes research, innovation and good quality midwifery are pivotal to the well-being of mothers and young families. Christine has extensive experience in antenatal education, policy development and research, and has published on workforce issues, homebirth, vaginal birth...
