Your birth plan: what to decide and what to ask the maternity unit
A short birth plan helps you think about your birth partner, pain relief, time with your baby and feeding before contractions begin.
4 min read
Third trimester
Week 36 of pregnancy
Your baby is the size of a winter melon. It may move lower into your pelvis, ready for the birth.
Your baby is the size of a winter melon
- Length, head to heel
- ≈ 47.4 cm
- Weight
- ≈ 2.6 kg
Your baby this week
- The baby may move lower into your pelvis; in a first pregnancy this often happens a few weeks before the birth.
- The gums are firm and the baby is ready to feed.
- Most babies are now head down.
Your body this week
- When the baby moves down, breathing may get easier, but there is more pressure on your bladder.
- You may feel aching or heaviness in your pelvis when you walk.
- Many women feel the urge to tidy the home and get everything ready for the baby.
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Read more for this stage
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The ways to ease labour pain, what an epidural does and does not do, and the questions worth asking your maternity unit before the birth.
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The stages of labour: from the first contraction to the placenta
What happens at each stage of labour, how long it usually lasts, when to set off for the maternity unit and when to call straight away.
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General information written by the mam.al editors. Every pregnancy is different and sizes are averages; it does not replace advice from your doctor or midwife. Sources include the NHS week-by-week guide to pregnancy. NHS. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.