✓ Fifteenth week of pregnancy

Source: Shutterstock

Fifteenth week of pregnancy

The baby bump is slowly exploding and for some it is now clearly visible, the hormonal changes play some tricks and the baby continues to grow, proportioning itself more and more. With the scientific advice of the gynecologist Elisabetta Canitano, president of the non-profit association Vita di donna, let's see what happens to the woman's body and that of the child during the fifteenth week of pregnancy.

Symptoms of the fifteenth week of pregnancy

With the baby bump now clearly visible, it is normal for the expectant mother to tire much more easily. Even the phenomena of epistaxis (nosebleeds) can become more frequent, due to progesterone, the hormone that helps the pregnancy run smoothly, which makes the mucous membranes more fragile.

Other common symptoms are:

headache
dizziness
cramps in the lower limbs
more intense vaginal secretions
hot flashes
foot pains
stomach ache

During this phase it is also very important to take care of your own Personal care and keep under control any symptoms (itching, burning, etc.) attributable to urinary tract infections, such as cystitis.

Risk of miscarriage

From the end of the thirteenth week of pregnancy the risk of miscarriage is much diminished.

Pain in the lower abdomen: when they need to get suspicious

In the first weeks of gestation, abdominal cramps are one of the most common symptoms of early pregnancy, but pain accompanied by bleeding, shoulder pain, problems with bowel movements and urination should never be ignored. These symptoms could indicate an ectopic pregnancy, and symptoms typically appear between 4 and 12 weeks of pregnancy.

When to get suspicious? If you have the feeling of impending menstruation, with a sense of pain in the lower abdomen and kidney pain: the uterus is in fact anchored to the utero-sacral ligaments, which, stretching following the contraction, cause resentment in the kidney area, just as happens during menstruation.

Health advice in the fifteenth week of pregnancy

Physical Activity

If there are no specific contraindications, exercising is definitely healthy during pregnancy it helps circulation, blood pressure, maintenance of a correct weight. And also to the mood, because it helps to relieve stress.

Advice: the ideal would be to dedicate oneself at least 3-4 times a week with gentle physical activities, such as walking, swimming, cycling, or bodyweight gymnastics. Obviously, however, common sense dictates that during pregnancy you avoid sports and activities that involve excessive effort or the risk of falls and trauma to the abdomen. Not even diving: some studies have pointed out that diving is associated with the risk of harm to the child.

Risk of infections and food poisoning

Some foods can carry microorganisms that are dangerous for the health of mother and baby. In pregnancy, some of these infections, such as toxoplasmosis, listeriosi, salmonellosis, can impair fetal development or lead to miscarriage or premature birth.

Advice: enough to prevent, avoiding foods that carry the greatest risks. Here is the list of foods no:

Raw or undercooked meat, including cold cuts
Raw seafood
Raw milk
Soft cheeses prepared from raw milk and with molds
Raw or undercooked eggs
Raw vegetables and fresh fruit if eaten away from home. At home it is possible to consume them after a thorough washing.

Read also: Sports in pregnancy, the benefits

What to do in the fifteenth week of pregnancy

Fetal DNA test

From the end of the tenth week you can also submit to non-invasive screening test: the Fetal DNA test. This examination is carried out with a simplification blood collection and serves to identify early the risk that the fetus is affected by chromosomal abnormalities such as trisomy 21 (down syndrome) 13 e 18.

Amniocentesis

From the fifteenth week it is also possible to carry out the amniocentesis test to identify any genetic diseases o congenital anomalies in the unborn child.

Non-invasive screening tests

Today there are also several options that allow you to make one Down syndrome risk screening. It means that in this case a certain result is not obtained, but an estimate (actually more and more accurate and precise) of the risk that the fetus is affected. Possible options include:

Translucenza nucale Ultrasound measurement of the thickness of the nape of the fetus;
Bit test o duo test. Maternal blood analysis to measure the level of two substances, Beta HCG and PAPP-A, altered in babies affected by Down syndrome;
Combined test It consists of a combination of bitest and nuchal translucency;
Fetal DNA test on maternal blood.

The amniocentesis

If you decide to have an amniocentesis done, this is a good week to perform this investigation, typically indicated around 15-16 weeks. The exam consists of withdrawal of a very small amount of amniotic fluid and is performed with a needle that is inserted into the abdomen. In the two days following the exam it is good to stay at rest, with suspension of work and sexual intercourse. If bleeding and pain appear, you should immediately contact the doctor who performed it. Taking medicines to prevent contractions or antibiotics is not routinely proposed, but can be decided by the doctor on a case-by-case basis.

Along with CVS, amniocentesis is the only test for certain prenatal diagnosis of fetal chromosomal abnormalities, especially Down syndrome. However, being both invasive practices, they carry one percentage of risk (albeit minimal).

Il National Health Service offers CVS and amniocentesis to patients for whom there is a high risk of fetal chromosomal abnormalities, for example for: advanced maternal age; increased risk of chromosomal disease based on screening tests (or the outcome of ultrasound scans); previous child with chromosomal abnormality; parents with chromosomal alterations.

The fetus in the fifteenth week of pregnancy

During the fifteenth week of pregnancy, the fetus is about the size of an orange (8-9 centimeters). The auricle assumes a shape and a position more and more similar to those it will definitely have (giving the fetus the possibility of perceiving the first sounds), movements they become more accentuated and the body becomes more and more proportionate, with the legs that begin to stretch more than the arms.

Le gums the fingers of the hands - which the baby is now starting to suck - and the little feet are now fully formed and perfectly outlined.

Movements of the fetus

At the fifteenth week i movements of the fetus are perceived? It depends from pregnancy to pregnancy. On average we begin to hear them around 20 weeks, but more generally between 16 and 24 weeks. That said, there are mothers who from the sixteenth week have the sensation of feeling something, others who until the twenty-fifth week feel practically nothing.

What does the baby feel in the belly?

Mother's tastes are learned from the amniotic fluid. The taste buds on the tongue begin to form around 8 weeks, and continue their development until birth. Also smell receptors they begin to develop early, around 8-9 weeks, when the nerves and olfactory bulbs begin to form. However, we do not know exactly when all these receptors actually start to function, and therefore from what exact time the child perceives tastes and smells ".

For the other senses, such as sight and hearing, you have to wait around 20 weeks.

Gestational age: four months (DPP CALCULATION - Expected date of delivery)

FONTI: NHS; BabyCenter

Questions and answers

When do you start feeling your baby move during pregnancy?

Although from the fifteenth week the movements of the fetus become more pronounced, it is usually from the twentieth week of pregnancy that the mother begins to feel the movements of the baby.

Do you see the baby bump?

From the fifteenth week the baby bump begins to be visible.

6 PHOTOS

The position of the fetus in the belly explained with a painting

go to the gallery

With her head down, her hand clinging to the umbilical cord, her seraphic face and her eyes closed: the Dutch artist Marieke Van Den Dungen-Crone has captured ...

Also find out about all the other weeks of pregnancy

Pregnancy week by week

We follow the growth of the embryo which then becomes the fetus from first week of pregnancy up to the fortieth. We will see the growth of the fetus and how the body of the expectant mother changes, until the due date is expected. All the useful information on the forty weeks of pregnancy, in the articles a lot of information on the development of the baby, on what is happening to the body and useful advice on the tests to be done based on the calculation of the weeks of pregnancy.

First week of pregnancy
Second week of pregnancy
Third week of pregnancy
Fourth week of pregnancy
Fifth week of pregnancy
Sixth week of pregnancy
Seventh week of pregnancy
Eighth week of pregnancy
Ninth week of pregnancy
XNUMXth week of pregnancy
Eleventh week of pregnancy
Twelfth week of pregnancy
Thirteenth week of pregnancy
Fourteenth week of pregnancy
Fifteenth week of pregnancy
Sixteenth week of pregnancy
Seventeenth week of pregnancy
Eighteenth week of pregnancy
Nineteenth week of pregnancy
Twentieth week of pregnancy
Twenty-first week of pregnancy
Twenty-second week of pregnancy
Twenty-third week of pregnancy
Twenty-fourth week of pregnancy
Twenty-fifth week of pregnancy
Twenty-sixth week of pregnancy
Twenty-seventh week of pregnancy
Twenty-eighth week of pregnancy
Twenty-ninth week of pregnancy
Thirtieth week of pregnancy
Thirty-first week of pregnancy
Thirty-second week of pregnancy
Thirty-third week of pregnancy
Thirty-fourth week of pregnancy
Thirty-fifth week of pregnancy
Thirty-sixth week of pregnancy
Thirty-seventh week of pregnancy
Thirty-eighth week of pregnancy
Thirty-ninth week of pregnancy
Forty week of pregnancy

TAG:

15 weeks pregnancy
fifteenth week of pregnancy
fifteen weeks pregnancy
weeks 14 28

Fifteenth week of pregnancy

In this article