Pregnant in Week 36? In this article, you can read everything about this week of pregnancy. You’ll get information about your baby’s development, changes in the mother’s body, and useful tips for this stage of the journey.

Baby: The foetus is approximately 47 cm long and weighs around 2.6 kilograms 📏

The subcutaneous fat has increased, which means that the skin is significantly thicker than before. Since week 35, the baby has mostly changed its weight rather than length!

Vernix – foetal fat

If the baby were to be born at week 36, the skin will most likely be white, sticky and smeared with vernix. The vernix is a natural ointment that protects the baby’s sensitive skin during the first period after birth, so don’t wash it off following the birth! Instead, it’s good to massage it in, vernix collects easily in armpits or groins.

Lanugo Hair

Lanugo hair is the shaggy hair that earlier in the pregnancy was present everywhere on the body, but at birth is probably almost gone. The little lanugo hair that is still visible usually sits on the back, shoulders and upper arms and a little fuzz on the ears. Lanugo hair can be both light or slightly darker in colour.

Foetal movements

The more the belly and the baby grow, the less room there is for the baby to move around inside and therefore, the closer you get to the birth. The foetal movements may start to be felt in a new way than before. For example, they may feel less strong even though your child is awake several times a day.

Movements may feel different during different parts of the pregnancy, it is good to rest for a while every day and pay attention to the baby’s movements. Describe them to yourself, to remember how they feel. Maybe the movements feel like kicks, buffs, twists or something else entirely? You can also try to note what times the baby is awake or most mobile and simply try to find a pattern in the baby’s movements.

Mother: Have you photographed yourself while being heavily pregnant? This late in your pregnancy, you might feel big and heavy – but it can be nice to look back on when your baby is born! 💜

Moods

This week, your baby and uterus are probably pushing everywhere on your internal organs and it may feel tight or uncomfortable, especially up against your ribs but also down towards your abdomen. Or at worst both at the same time. A burning sensation in the ribs can also occur because the uterus is pressing and squeezing nerves in this area.

The pressure on the organs can make you feel short of breath. As your abdomen starts to drop, many women find that it becomes easier to breathe, this usually happens in the last weeks before childbirth. The fact that your abdomen drops is due to your baby’s head pushing further and further into the pelvis. Just before this happens, you may have increased problems with acid reflux and heartburn and this is because there is much less room in your abdomen the more the baby grows.

From week 32 of pregnancy, the midwife will check how the baby is lying in your abdomen. The head or bottom maybe down in the pelvic inlet, the midwife will feel if it is mobile or engaged. It is good for your midwife to know whether the head or bottom is in relation to the pelvic inlet.

When the head or the bottom moves into the pelvic inlet, you can usually feel a sense of heaviness and increased pressure in your abdomen. That feeling can also run down your legs or groin. You may then find it difficult to bend or even walk as it feels like your baby’s head or bottom is right between your legs. It is more common for new mothers to feel this tangible pressure against the abdomen as the baby descends.

Libido

Libido will be affected differently from woman to women and while some will see it increase, others will see it decrease. It can also come and go during pregnancy. During this final stage, it is good to know that intercourse cannot harm the baby or the pregnancy in any way, however, the mucous membrane in the vagina is usually more fragile or swollen, which may be uncomfortable for you. During intercourse, there may be a streak of blood, but it is neither dangerous nor unusual! If you are enjoying yourself and have an orgasm, you may feel more contractions in the moment or soon after which is due to the oxytocin being released, but this does not mean that labour has started. If the contractions feel uncomfortable after intercourse, you can take paracetamol, if it continues to feel uncomfortable, you should speak with your local maternity unit..

The early days with your newborn

What do you want to remember from the early days with your newborn baby? It may be nice to start planning if you want to keep some kind of diary, notes or fill in ready-made books about the early days or first year with your baby. You think you would remember every detail from babyhood, but young children go through huge developmental leaps in their first year, which means it can be difficult to remember all the details that seem so obvious.

Partner: Is your partner becoming forgetful or clumsy? There’s no need to worry, these are common symptoms during pregnancy and are likely due to the pregnancy hormones.

It can also be due to all the thoughts going around your partner’s head during the final stages of pregnancy like childbirth, work and other things that can feel stressful.

How is your partner doing now?

Being understanding of your partner in these final weeks is important, as is the acceptance that she won’t remember everything or will forget things. Try to repeat things several times and be clear in your communication, which will make things easier for her and your relationship.
Now is the time to prepare yourself mentally for the role you will have after childbirth. If you will be bottle feeding, you can help with this.

If your baby is to be breastfed, you need to help more at home so that you get a good flow in your everyday household chores. Breastfeeding is a full-time job, because newborns eat between 8-12 times per day, and a single breastfeeding session can last 40 minutes! Breastfeeding therefore takes a lot of time, and it may also disturbs your partner’s sleep so their energy levels may be very low.

As breastfeeding is a way for your baby to get food, nourishment and comfort as well as to help them calm down and fall asleep, you as a partner can feel unimportant or helpless – but there is so much you can do besides breastfeeding! Like changing your baby’s nappy, going for a walk in the buggy, getting up with your baby in the morning or creating your own lovely moments and routines together. Experience suggests that it is good to prepare for this and have the right expectations about this before your baby is born.

Do you already have children?

There is a big difference between coming home from the maternity ward as brand new parents compared to if you’ve had children before. You may feel a little more secure in what lies ahead with a newborn, while life with two or more little ones may feel like a mystery.

It is important that you help each other with the children as much as possible and that all children receive the attention of both parents. It is common for the mother to spend a lot of time with the newborn while the partner takes more care of older children, but remember that bonding happens early on! It is therefore important that partners also get time with the newborn at an early stage, just as the mother needs to get time with older siblings.