Like any mother who has given birth can attest, the last few weeks of pregnancy can be some of the most challenging. You can’t walk without crushing your bones. Sleepless nights are a norm. You’re tired, cranky and uncomfortable.
My first pregnancy felt like a breeze… until that last month. Where I had once dreaded labor, I now looked forward to it just to ‘get this over with.’ My second pregnancy with the twins was even worse, with complications galore and an even bigger belly to contend with.
Yet my daily mantra, no matter how irritable I felt, remained: Every day inside my womb is one more day for the babies to grow. Even though those last few weeks and months had been uncomfortable, I also didn’t want to rush labor earlier than it needed to come.
When is a baby full term?
Back when I was pregnant, term meant passing the 37-week mark. So long as your baby had been born at least 37 weeks, then your baby was term.
Now, however, the NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) considers a pregnancy full term at 39 to 40 weeks. Those born at 37 to 38 are early term, while those born at 41 weeks are late term.
Watch this video below to learn why: http://bit.ly/1LXISBc
Babies born before 39 weeks are at higher risks for problems and complications. Some spend time in the neonatal intensive care unit because of problems with eating, breathing and controlling their body temperature. Others can even have more serious complications like blood infections and learning disabilities.
Know Your Terms
And so the NICHD has launched the initiative Know Your Terms (love the campaign name!) to bring more awareness about the importance of the last few weeks of pregnancy. Understanding these terms will help parents and health care providers discuss the best options for you and your baby.
This is understandable. More time in the womb means more time for the baby to grow and develop in its natural environment. One week—one day can make a difference. Your baby’s lungs, liver and brain go through a crucial growth period during weeks 37 to 39. Waiting until at least 39 weeks gives your baby the time to grow as much as possible.
My story
My eldest was born at 39 weeks, with labor coming by itself. The birth of my twins, however, posed more complications. From the start, I was already scheduled to deliver no later than 38 weeks. But then I came down with a few complications, including cholestasis, at 31 weeks. This itch-related complication meant inducing at 37 weeks and stringent monitoring until then. Any longer than that, and the babies would be susceptible to serious problems.
It turns out my twins had different plans. Labor came at 35 weeks 6 days, less than the scheduled 37 weeks, and much less than the hoped-for 38.
Twins being a high-risk pregnancy as it is, doctors were on high-alert when delivering them. In my delivery room were a slew of doctors, including three to four NICU doctors for each baby. Once the babies were born, they were immediately checked for any problems to make sure they were okay.
My twins were fine, but they were still required to go through a series of tests during our stay at the hospital. This meant hourly blood tests to check sugar. Round-the-clock monitoring to check their ability to eat, pee, poop, breath and control their temperature. Thankfully, they passed all the tests, and we took them home with us with no need for NICU time.
Conclusion
Remember, babies are now considered full term at 39 to 40 weeks. Any earlier than that can cause problems. If you can, avoid early inductions or trying to rush your pregnancy. Those few weeks of sacrifice and discomfort may be all your baby needs to be born healthy and complication-free.
Your turn: When did you deliver your baby? Let me know in the comments!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the National Institutes of Health.
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Interesting. Having given birth in two vastly different states (East Coast & Deep South), I noticed the general practices surrounding birth were vastly different. One state was very hesitant on inductions: only if absolutely medically necessary. In the other, inductions were allowed for almost any reason after 37 weeks.
That said, in the hard-to-get-an-induction state, I was inducted due to rapidly rising blood pressure at 38 weeks, 4 days (and there was still debate among the doctors over whether this was the best course of action).
My water broke with my second at 37 weeks, 6 days in the easy-to-induce state (which thankfully though it was offered up as an option, induction was never pushed on me). While my son had absolutely no problems breathing and had the same APGAR scores as my daughter, he did struggle to hold his temperature.
Wow Steph that’s crazy how different the policies are. With mine, we didn’t even talk about early induction other than being medically necessary (like in the case with my twins). That’s great they didn’t push it on you. My twins were much smaller than my eldest, and I still remember how one of them was struggling to gain weight. Thankfully he did during our stay in the hospital, the little fighter that he is, and we got to go home with him.
This is really interesting. One one of my four babies was born early term, all the rest were after the 39 week mark.
I had no idea either Kelly that they changed the term but it makes total sense. The longer the baby stays, the healthier he or she is.
My son loved the womb and wanted to stay there permanently! I finally went into labor two days past my due date and didn’t deliver until the next day, via c-section. We waited as long as we could and it still wasn’t the delivery I had imagined. But I had planned on having a roly poly baby boy and that worked out perfectly! 😉
Wow Allison, you must’ve been more than ready to deliver! I didn’t really have much expectations with my deliveries other than I hoped for the best but understood the potential complications. I’m sure your little guy was born nice and big!
Scarlet was ON her due date, if you can believe that.
Des was early – 38 weeks and two days. And you know what? He did have to go to the NICU. I wasn’t sure it was related.
I do remember with both pregnancies, at least feeling relief to be at 37 weeks. Even though I wanted to last longer, it was just nice to get there.
I felt the same Tamara. I wanted to just hit that mark to make sure it was all okay. Now its 39!
I guess this means I’ve never carried a baby to full-term. You recently read my story about T being born at 35 weeks. L was born at exactly 38 weeks, and both my midwife/nurse and my OB both are just hoping to get to that 38 week mark again. That said, the hospital won’t schedule my c-section until I reach 39 weeks. It’s almost a strange situation. The doctor doesn’t want me to risk going into labor (since I’ve already had 2 c-sections), but the likelihood is that I will go into some kind of labor before my scheduled section. I’m just touting the mantra all moms say…as long as the baby is healthy, I’m happy!
I guess so Leslie! Though I can see why your OB was happy to get to 38. I was scheduled to go at 37 with the twins and no later, and we were all hoping it could get to that point. Honestly though, even 38 is better than 37, and 37 better than 36 and so forth. The good news is that most kids born early (like my twins or your eldest) turn out all right!
My doctor was asking me some routine questions a couple months ago and asked if I had any preterm babies. I told him my daughter was born at 37 1/2 weeks, and he said that 37 weeks is considered full term. So I wonder how recently this change took place. They are always changing things up on us! But it makes complete sense to change full term to at least 39 weeks. My daughter had to go to the NICU for breathing complications, probably because her lungs weren’t quite developed.
Charlee this is pretty recent stuff (hence why the org is promoting its message). With its newness, not sure either if all doctors would be aware of it, too! It does make sense though. The longer your baby is in there, the better. Especially when the lungs develop fully in the last stages.