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Info Centre - Your pregnancy: 17-20 weeks
Your pregnancy: 17-20 weeks
Your baby
At 20 weeks, your baby is about 25cm long, and weighs about 340g. Her teeth will start to form in her jawbone.
The baby’s body is growing bigger now, and the head doesn’t look quite so out of proportion now. The baby’s hair may start to grow.
She will also be very active now – babies at this stage like to kick, punch and turn around in the uterus. She can hear and respond to noises outside the uterus, so you might want to try talking to her or play soothing music.
You
Many women like the middle stage of pregnancy best. The chances are you will be feeling better and more energetic than you were during the first trimester. You may, however, experience some abdominal pain caused by ligaments stretching. These will usually go away.
You may find your gums start bleeding (called ‘gingivitis’). This is because your heart is working harder than before you were pregnant, and it is putting pressure on your blood vessels. See “Pregnancy niggles and discomforts” for more information.
At about 20 weeks, you will probably feel the baby move for the first time, though this may happen sooner or later. At first, it may feel like a mild fluttering or even indigestion. As the baby gets bigger, it is hard to mistake her movements for anything else!
If you had an amniocentesis, you can expect the results about now. See “Screening and testing” for more information.
Your breasts may start producing colostrum, a fatty substance full of nutrients. This is what your breasts will produce for the first two or three days after birth before your milk comes in. See “Breastfeeding – a good start” for more information.
Anomaly scan
Between 18 weeks and 20 weeks and six days of pregnancy, you will usually be offered an anomaly scan to detect physical problems or abnormalities in the baby. You do not have to have it if you don’t want to. See “Screening and testing” for more information.
If you decide to have the scan, you will be asked to drink some water so you have a full bladder. This pushes your uterus up and creates a clearer image on the screen. The scan enables the sonographer to:
- Check for brain problems
- Check for cleft lip
- Make sure the different chambers of the heart are the right size and working properly
- Make sure the vertebrae in the spine are in alignment
- Check whether the baby has two kidneys, and that the urine flows into the bladder without problems
- Check whether the placenta is low-lying. If there is a low-lying placenta, you will be offered another scan in the third trimester, to check whether it has moved (and which it would normally do). A low-lying placenta may necessitate your having a caesarean. See “Low-lying placenta” for more information.
Some hospitals offer photographs or even videos of the scan that you can take away, though there is usually a small charge for this.
At this stage it is normal for your baby to be feet-down.
