Your pregnancy and birth

12 Weeks

You and your baby at 12 weeks:

At just 12 weeks after your last period, all your baby's organs, muscles, limbs and bones are in place and baby is ready to grow and mature. You may have started to notice some changes to your own body too.  

Baby Buddy App:  

A free multi-award-winning, interactive pregnancy and parenting app, created to support parents, co-parents and caregivers.

Stopping Smoking:

There are a number of organisations in Nottinghamshire that offer free support and advice on how to quit smoking when you find out you are pregnant (Nottinghamshire) visit Love Bump to find out more.

Weight management:

Weight gain in pregnancy varies greatly. Putting on too much weight can affect your health and increase your blood pressure. But pregnancy isn't the time to go on a diet. It's important that you eat healthily and keep fit - it will improve your health and your baby’s, find out more at Tommy's Pregnancy Hub.

Alcohol:

There is no known safe level for drinking alcohol during pregnancy.  Tommy's Pregnancy Hub has some useful information to help you understand how alcohol may affect you and your baby during pregnancy.  

Exercise:

Keep up your normal daily/weekly exercise routine - exercise will not harm your baby. Find out more on our main NHS site.

16 weeks

You and your baby at 16 weeks:

Find out about your baby at 16 weeks and things you may wish to start thinking about on our main NHS website.

Breastfeeding: 

If breastfeeding is something you think you might want to do, you can find out about the benefits of it here: Tommy's Pregnancy Hub.

18 weeks

You and your baby at 18 weeks:

Your baby will be starting to move around and you may experience your first 'flutterings'. 

For your Partner: 

Information on paternal mental health from Father's Reaching Out, a not for profit organisation providing support.

Feeding Your Baby:

Start4Life is brought to you by the NHS and provides lots of great information about breastfeeding, including a national helpline.  

20 weeks

You and your baby at 20 weeks:

Congratulations you are now half way through your pregnancy!

Healthy eating in pregnancy:

Useful and realistic information on healthy eating and keeping healthy from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Skin to Skin contact:

Find out about the benefits of skin to skin contact for you and your baby from Unicef. 

Becoming a parent or carer:

The Baby Buddy app offers you the knowledge and practical skills to look after yourself and give your child the best start.

22 Weeks

You and your baby at 22 weeks:

What to expect at this stage of your pregnancy from increased baby movements to stretch marks, find out more here - You and your baby at 22 weeks

Improving Mental Wellbeing:

With everything that's going on it's easy to overlook your own mental health, Tommy's offer helpful advice and coping strategies.

24 Weeks

You and your baby at 24 weeks:

Useful things to be thinking about as your pregnancy progresses.

Pelvic floor exercises:

Help get your pelvic floor into great shape with this simple guide from Tommy's 

26 Weeks

You and your baby at 26 weeks:

Your baby's eyes will start to open for the first time around this time and if you haven't already thought about your pelvic floor health, now is a good time to find out more. 

Breastfeeding:

It's never too soon to find out about breastfeeding to help you prepare and feel more confident. 

30 Weeks

You and your baby at 30 weeks:

Around this time your baby should now be able to suck his or her own thumb and you might start to get leg cramps.  Read more here - You and your baby at 30 weeks .

32 Weeks

You and your baby at 32 weeks:

At this stage your baby may already be lying head down and if not, don't worry, there's still time for baby to turn, find out more here: You and your baby at 32 weeks

Preparing for birth:

The Baby Buddy app has lots of friendly information on this subject or you can visit our own Giving Birth pages. 

33-36 Weeks

Our maternity services offer and book home visits by our maternity support workers (MSW) between 33-36 weeks.  If you'd like a visit please speak to your midwife.

At these home visits, you can talk about things like what to pack when you come into hospital, current visiting arrangements or even what to expect!  It's also an opportunity to find out what leaflets/information may be useful for you, contact numbers to be aware of or referrals for smoking advice and weight management if required.   

35 Weeks

You and your baby at 35 weeks:

Your baby is now curled up but will still move around and you will likely see movements on the surface of your bump.  

Reducing your risk of perineal tears:

There are some simple massage techniques you can do that may help reduce the risk of tearing during birth, especially if you are expecting a large baby or this is your first baby. Find out more at the Royal College of Gynaecologists.  

Coping with labour:

Around this stage, you may be thinking about the birth and how you may cope, visit our Giving Birth pages to find out more, including our information booklet, the Latent Phase of labour.

Your Emotions:

If you feel like you are on an emotional roller coaster or need advice following the birth of your baby, please visit our Emotional Wellbeing page

Infant feeding leaflets:

For information and advice on breastfeeding and bottle feeding, visit our library to see our range of booklets.

37 Weeks

You and your baby at 37 weeks:

At 37 weeks, your pregnancy is considered full-term. The average baby weighs around 3-4kg.

Screening tests for your newborn baby:

Your newborn baby will be offered some screening tests in their first 6 to 8 weeks.  You can find out more on our main NHS site.

Baby Check – health

This very useful information is available from the Lullaby Trust 

39 Weeks

You and your baby at 39 weeks:

Your baby's head may now be engaged and you may want to start thinking about packing that all important bag.  

Baby Blues:

Up to 80% of women are affected by the Baby Blues after giving birth, find out more from the National Childbirth Trust.   

Planned caesarean at 37-39 weeks:

Steroids are sometimes offered to women due to have a planned caesarean birth between 37 - 39 weeks. Find out what this may mean for you and your baby - Use of antenatal corticosteroids before planned caesarean birth at term

40 Weeks

You and your baby at 40 weeks:

Pregnancy normally lasts about 40 weeks – that's around 280 days from the first day of your last period. Find out what to expect at this stage of your pregnancy.  

Baby Buddy App:  

Full of great information check out this free multi-award-winning, interactive pregnancy and parenting app, created to support parents, co-parents and caregivers.

Induction of Labour:

Offered for a variety of reasons, find out more on our Induction of labour pages.

Postnatal depression and perinatal mental health:

Mind is registered charity that provides information, support and advice, please visit their pages to find out more.
 

41 Weeks

You and your baby at 41 weeks:

Here is what expect at 41 weeks: You and your baby at 41 weeks .

42 Weeks

You and your baby at 42 weeks:

In most pregnancies, labour will have naturally started by 42 weeks