Week 36
On average babies measure 48.6 cm this week, and weigh 2.9kg. Your baby is almost full-term – and they could breathe independently if they were born now. You’re almost there. The waxy vernix on their skin (which protects his skin from the amniotic fluid) will be coming away now, but there will still be quite a lot of it at birth.

Week 37
By week 37 – month 10 (nearly there!) – babies are on average 49.8 cm long and weigh 3.1kg. Your baby will be increasingly tightly curled up – in the “foetal position” since there’s not much spare space in your uterus now. As always, keep track of his kicks and movements and if anything changes markedly, tell your Midwife.

Week 38
This week, babies measure on average 50.7 cm and weigh 3.3 kg. Your baby is starting to build some reistance to infection in preparation for the birth. The antibodies they receive now are from your blood – after the birth she’ll get them from your breastmilk. Their brain is developing more and more, helping their strength and coordination.

Week 39
Babies average 51.2 cm in length now, and 3.5kg in weight. Your baby is ready to come into the world, complete with fingernails, hair, eyebrows and eyelashes and all internal organs in place. Development will still continue after birth but they are ready to be born.

Week 40
At 40 weeks babies average 51.2 cm in length and 3.5kg in weight. Your baby is so tightly packed in now that you might see foot or hand prints on your tummy. You might even feel hiccupping!

For a list of useful contact details for The Portland Hospital, please click HERE.