Inside Your Body

The growth and development of your baby has slowed down considerably and this is a good thing, because if growth of your baby continues at the previous rate, delivery via the vagina will be difficult. He/she is now over 3kg!  Your baby is also preparing for his/her first appearance and starting to shed his/her lanugo and vernix (white coating).  If your baby is born later, there will be less of lanugo and vernix at birth.  He/she is also absorbing and building up his/her antiobodies to face the world.

Your Signs And Symptoms

During this week, you may start having some degree of cervical dilatation, which is necessary to ensure the safe delivery of your baby through your vagina.  As such, there will be a release of mucus plus, which is a mucus coat that covers the external part of your cervix, and it was there to prevent any infectious agent from entering your body or affecting your baby.  There is no need to panic as you are heading in the right direction and it won’t be long until you feel strong contractions that marks the beginning of labor pains.

What Tests To Expect

Your doctor will do an internal examination to assess how prepared your birth canal is for the baby.  He/she will also confirm to you about the position of your baby.  If your baby is not in the right vertex position, he/she will discuss with you a few options for delivery.  A safe option is Caesarian section.  However, some women are very scared of any type of surgery or exposure to anaesthesia during pregnancy, and for them there is another option of external rotation of the baby from the abdomen.  However, this procedure requires an expert gynaecologist to perform, otherwise it can be very hazardous.  In any event, such procedure would require a C-section to be a fall back if anything goes wrong.