✓ Thirty-ninth week of pregnancy

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Thirty-ninth week of pregnancy

Past the XNUMXth week of pregnancy, every day can be the right one for the onset of labor. So here's what happens to your body and your baby during thirty-ninth week of pregnancy. With the scientific advice from gynecologist Elisabetta Canitano, president of the non-profit association Vita di donna.

Read also: Thirty-eighth week of pregnancy

Symptoms of the thirty-ninth week of pregnancy

The fateful moment is getting closer and the future mother just has to be prepared, without letting herself be taken by anxieties or worries. Net of swelling at the feet and difficulties sleep (probable symptoms), it is therefore important to rest properly, but remain quite active during the day, obviously without making excessive efforts.

Pay close attention to contractions keeping in mind, however, that the labor it is heralded by contractions regular It's long (at least 45-50 seconds), with increasing intensity.

Read also: Last month of pregnancy, 8 things to know

Labor

In the days preceding the birth, some symptoms warn the organism that something is changing and that the fetus is preparing to go out: you may feel a sensation of greater pressure in the pelvis, you can lose the mucous plug, you can intensify the contractions of Braxton Hicks.

The actual labor, however, can be considered started only when the contractions become more and more intense, prolonged and regular and cause discomfort (or pain) in the abdomen, hips or back area. Generally, doctors advise against going to the hospital at the first symptoms of labor and suggest going there when the contractions have been regular (every 10-15 minutes) and long enough (about 20 seconds each) for at least two hours. However, if the waters (or, as they say technically, the membranes) should break, you have to go to the hospital even if the labor has not yet started. No fear: it is practically impossible not to notice the breaking of the waters, because you have the distinct impression of having peed without having had time to reach the bathroom ... Read also: Labor: what it is, how it starts and the signs

The stages of childbirth

There are three stages of childbirth:

The first is called "dilative", is characterized by contractions and ends when the cervix reaches its maximum opening, which corresponds to about 10 centimeters in diameter.
The second, called "expulsive" it is the push phase and ends with the birth of the child.
The third phase is called "afterbirth ". During this last stage, which usually occurs about 30 minutes after the baby is born, the placenta is expelled with a slight contraction.

Read also: Childbirth: 10 things you need to know but no one tells you

The fetus in the XNUMXth week of pregnancy

The child continues to grow, especially in terms of weight. Now in fact the fetus it is long on average 50 centimeters and weighs around 3 kg and 300/400 grams.

Now his movements are extremely limited, tight as it is in the uterine cavity which has now become really too small for him. The bones at this moment I am particularly elastic to facilitate the phases of exit from the uterus. The placenta provides the baby with antibodies that will be used to fight the first infections after birth and the umbilical cord is more than 1 centimeter thick.

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

FONTI: NHS; BabyCenter

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.