Week 33
Your baby measures about 42.4 cm (16.7 in) from crown to heel and weighs roughly 1.7 kg (3.7 lb). Babies vary, and a healthy baby may sit well above or below that figure. From here until birth, many babies gain around 200 g (7 oz) a week, mostly as fat. Your baby is also receiving antibodies from you through the placenta, a head start on fighting infection.
This is a good week to get the hospital or birth centre bag packed, so it is ready if your baby comes early. You will also read about what happens if your baby is still breech, choices about cord blood, how to tell a leak from your waters, and everyday ways to protect your mood.
Day 225 · 32 weeks 0 days
You are passing on protection to your baby
Over these last weeks, antibodies from your blood cross the placenta into your baby. These proteins carry the memory of infections you have had and vaccines you have received. After birth they protect your baby for the first months, while the baby's own immune system is still learning. The transfer increases steadily through the third trimester, which is one reason vaccines given in pregnancy, such as the whooping cough vaccine you read about earlier, are timed the way they are. Your care provider may also talk with you about other vaccines recommended in pregnancy where you live, such as for flu or RSV.
Your baby is filling out quickly now. Much of the weight gained from here on is fat, which rounds out the face and limbs and helps with warmth after birth.
With less room, the way you feel your baby may change. Big kicks may give way to rolls, stretches and pushes. Movements should not become less frequent, though. As you read in recent weeks, a drop in your baby's usual pattern is always a reason to call, the same day.
Try this: Ask at your next visit whether you are up to date on all the vaccines recommended in pregnancy where you live.
Day 226 · 32 weeks 1 day
Pack your bag while you still have energy
Most babies arrive between 37 and 42 weeks, but having a bag ready from now on means one less thing to think about if labour starts early. Check first what your hospital or birth centre provides. Some supply pads, gowns and diapers, others very little.
For labour, think about comfort: a loose top or nightgown you do not mind ruining, warm socks, a hair tie, lip balm, a water bottle with a straw, snacks for you and your support person, a phone charger with a long cable, and anything that helps you relax, such as music or headphones.
For after the birth, pack several pairs of large, high-waisted underwear, plenty of heavy-flow maternity pads, a nursing bra or soft stretchy bra, breast pads, a dressing gown, slippers, toiletries, and loose clothes to go home in. You will probably still look several months pregnant, which is normal.
Keep important papers in one easy-to-grab place: your health card or insurance details, prenatal records if you hold them, your birth plan, and a list of medications you take.
Try this: Pack one bag today, even half-full, and put it by the door with a sticky note listing the last-minute items still to add.
Day 227 · 32 weeks 2 days
A small bag for the baby, and one for the support person
Your baby needs surprisingly little at the birthplace. A few sleepers or onesies in newborn size and the next size up, a hat, socks or booties, a soft blanket, and a going-home outfit suited to the weather. Check whether diapers and wipes are provided; if not, bring a small pack. The car seat goes in the car, installed.
Support people often forget themselves, and labour can last a long time. They need snacks and drinks, a change of clothes, a toothbrush, any medications, a sweater for chilly rooms, and something to do during quiet hours. Coins or a card for parking and vending machines save a lot of hassle.
Keep a short list of phone numbers on paper too, in case a phone dies: your care provider, the labour unit, whoever is caring for older children or pets, and the people you want told first.
If you are planning a home birth, your midwife will give you a list of supplies to gather instead. Packing a small bag is still wise in case you need to transfer.
For your partner: Pack your own bag this week, add the parking details for the birthplace, and save the labour unit's number in your phone.
Day 228 · 32 weeks 3 days
If your baby is still breech, there is time
At around 32 weeks, a fair number of babies are still bottom or feet first. Most will turn by themselves in the next few weeks. Your care provider will keep checking at each visit, and may confirm the position with a quick ultrasound if it is unclear.
If your baby is still breech at around 36 weeks, you will be offered choices. The main ones are:
trying to turn the baby by hand from the outside of your belly, a procedure called external cephalic version, or ECV;
planning a caesarean birth;
in some settings, with experienced staff, planning a vaginal breech birth.
Each has benefits and risks, and the right choice depends on your health, your baby, your past births, and what is available where you will give birth. You will read about ECV in more detail in week 35.
Breech position is not your fault and is not caused by anything you did. It is more common in first pregnancies, with twins, and when there is a lot or very little amniotic fluid, but often there is no clear reason at all. Try this: If your baby has been breech at recent checks, ask your provider when they will reassess and what options are offered locally.
Day 229 · 32 weeks 4 days
Your choices about cord blood
After your baby is born, blood remains in the umbilical cord and placenta. It is rich in stem cells, and you may be asked to make some decisions about it.
The first is timing. Waiting at least 30 to 60 seconds, and often a minute or more, before clamping the cord, called delayed or deferred cord clamping, lets more blood flow to your baby. For healthy babies, this raises iron stores for months afterwards. For premature babies it brings even bigger benefits. Most major bodies now recommend it unless the baby or parent needs urgent care.
The second is whether to save the leftover blood. Public cord blood banks, available in some areas, collect donated blood for free and make it available to anyone who needs a stem cell transplant. Private banks store the blood for your own family for a fee, often a large one. The chance a family will ever use its own stored cord blood is very small, so major medical bodies do not recommend private banking routinely, except where a family member has a condition it might treat.
Collecting cord blood may limit how long the cord can be left unclamped, so ask how your hospital handles both.
Try this: Find out whether a public cord blood bank collects at the hospital where you plan to give birth.
Day 230 · 32 weeks 5 days
Is it urine, discharge or your waters?
You read in week 19 that more discharge is normal in pregnancy. In these last weeks a new question often comes up: is this wetness discharge, urine, or my waters?
Leaking a little urine is very common now, because your baby presses on your bladder. A sneeze, a laugh or a cough can bring a small spurt. It smells of urine and stops once the moment passes. Pelvic floor exercises, from week 17, help. Discharge is thicker, white or clear, and does not soak through your underwear.
Amniotic fluid is usually clear or pale straw-coloured, with little smell. It may come as a gush, or as a trickle you cannot stop that keeps going when you stand or move. Waters breaking before 37 weeks need checking straight away, because labour may follow and the risk of infection rises. If you cannot tell which it is, call anyway. A quick exam and a simple test can tell, and no one will mind if it was urine.
Call your care provider if your discharge changes colour or smell, or comes with itching, soreness or burning.
Get help right away if you have any vaginal bleeding, fluid leaking from the vagina, or regular tightenings or period-like cramps before 37 weeks. Try this: Wear a pad, not a liner, if you think you might be leaking, so you can show or describe the colour and amount when you call.
Day 231 · 32 weeks 6 days
Everyday habits help protect your mood
You read in week 30 that low mood and anxiety in pregnancy are common and treatable. If you are struggling, treatment comes first, and your care provider is the place to start. Alongside that, and for anyone simply feeling worn down, a few everyday habits help protect your mood.
Get outside in daylight most days, even for a short walk. Light and movement both lift mood and help set your sleep rhythm. Eat regular meals, since long gaps can leave you shaky and irritable.
Stay connected. Late pregnancy can feel isolating, especially once you stop work. Plan one call, coffee or walk with someone each week; prenatal classes and parent groups are good places to meet people at the same stage. Notice what drains you, too. Endless scrolling through birth stories can feed worry, and it is fine to mute, unfollow or step away.
Partners can feel anxious or low in pregnancy too, and the same habits and help apply to them.
Call your care provider if low mood or anxiety has lasted more than two weeks, or is getting in the way of daily life.
Get help right away if you have thoughts of harming yourself or others. Call your local emergency number or a crisis line.
Try this: Put one outdoor walk with a friend or family member in your calendar for this week.