Pregnancy Week 40

Week 40

If you haven’t gone into labour yet, don’t worry. Due dates are just an estimate, mothers go into labour both before and after the 40th week of pregnancy. Only 5% of women actually deliver on the actual due date, unless delivery is medically planned. Just keep working with your healthcare team and everything will be fine.

The baby should be around 20 inches in length and close to about 7.5 lbs in weight, some babies weigh less and are shorter but are in perfect health. The skin of the baby at the time of birth is usually reddish-purple and can change to a pinkish-red shade in a couple of days. The pink shade is due to the thinness of the skin as the blood vessels can still be seen. It takes about six months for the skin color to develop fully.

Mom, your body may feel stressed, you may feel tired and anxious, just relax your baby will be in your arms soon. Talk to your doctor about anything that makes you uncertain and practice your breathing exercises, it’s important and it also helps to calm you.