You are 40 weeks pregnant

Your baby

The moment your baby arrives, a team of doctors and nurses (if you’re in a hospital or clinic setting) will give her a serious once-over. After some quick cuddling from Mum (that’s you!...Read more

Your body

Woo-hoo! You made it to your due date. But hey - where’s the baby? Granted, you knew how small the odds of having your baby on your due date were. Yet, when the day comes and goes, you can&rs...Read more

Your life right now

Among the bazillions of thoughts swimming through your head right now, this may be one of them: What if I need an episiotomy? Eek! Here’s what you should know about the procedure: An episioto...Read more

Mums like me

‘Perineal cold packs were awesome. When I ran out of them, DH went to the chemist and got cold/hot gel packs that I would wear with a second pair of undies over the mesh pants they give you a...Read more

The moment your baby arrives, a team of doctors and nurses (if you’re in a hospital or clinic setting) will give her a serious once-over. After some quick cuddling from Mum (that’s you!), she’ll be weighed, measured, cleaned up and wrapped in cozy blankets. Hey, even in a warm delivery room, it’s still chilly compared to the fairly stable environment your newborn was used to! Footprints will be taken and she’ll get an antibiotic ointment or solution in her eyes to prevent infection and a vitamin K injection to help with blood clotting. Your newborn will also receive an APGAR score. This test is a general measure of the baby’s health. Your doctor will evaluate five factors: heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflexes and colour. This is one case where a completely pink, crying, vigorous baby is considered a great thing! APGAR is rated on a scale of 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest). Don’t be upset if your baby doesn’t get a ‘perfect’ score - most babies get 7, 8, or 9 in a normal, healthy delivery.

Woo-hoo! You made it to your due date. But hey - where’s the baby? Granted, you knew how small the odds of having your baby on your due date were. Yet, when the day comes and goes, you can’t help but feel disappointed. It’s only natural! At this point you’re just soooo excited to meet your little one. And you’re also probably more than ready to not be pregnant anymore. But hang in there! The reality is that only 5 percent of babies are born on their due date, and lots of babies come three weeks early or even two weeks late. You’ll meet the little guy soon enough! At your next check-up, you might want to ask your doctor at what point he would consider inducing you. He may want to just let nature take its course - and see if you’ll go into labour on your own sometime in the next week or two. Or for a variety of reasons (if your go beyond 41 or 42 weeks, your water has broken, but labour hasn’t started, or you have complications that put the baby at risk for instance), he may decide to induce labour. Find out what you can expect. And if you don’t have instructions about when to call your doctor if labour does happen naturally, get details on that now, as well. Your doctor or midwife should also let you know when to head to the birthing centre or hospital - and other little things like if it’s ok for you to eat or drink in early labour (often it’s fine). You may have heard that it’s time go to the hospital when contractions are 5 minutes apart for at least an hour, but keep in mind that you may need to leave sooner if your labour is progressing rapidly. This can vary with every woman. Your best bet is to follow your doctor’s instructions exactly as they are tailored to you and your unique pregnancy.

Among the bazillions of thoughts swimming through your head right now, this may be one of them: What if I need an episiotomy? Eek! Here’s what you should know about the procedure: An episiotomy is an incision made between the vaginal opening and the anus - that enlarges the vaginal opening as the baby’s head emerges and which, some doctors believe, may help a woman avoid unnecessary trauma to the perineum as the baby is born. But there’s an on-going debate about it. Some doctors say it’s better to let a woman tear naturally (if she’s going to) rather than cutting. If you haven’t already discussed this with your midwife, find out what her stance on this is - and express any opinions you have. Then try not to worry about it! Plenty of women don’t tear at all. Also good to know: Perineal massage (which should be started about a month before your due date (usually around 34-36 weeks) can help gently stretch this sensitive area before labour and make it more comfortable for you to deliver and reduce the likelihood of tearing, or trauma or the need for an incision down there. Your midwife can give you all the details on how to do it.

‘Perineal cold packs were awesome. When I ran out of them, DH went to the chemist and got cold/hot gel packs that I would wear with a second pair of undies over the mesh pants they give you at the hospital. The nurses gave me extra when I left the hospital, and I'm guessing they felt sorry for me given how long my labour was!’ -shijin13

Meet other mums at the same stage as you on our Mums Due Pregnancy Forums