Pregnancy Week 32: Your 31–34 Week Appointment and Baby's Practice Breathing

8 min read

Quick answer: At 32 weeks your baby is around 42.4cm and 1.7kg, with lungs maturing and practice breathing movements for several hours a day. You'll have a midwife appointment between 31 and 34 weeks to check blood pressure, urine, fundal height and baby's position. The whooping cough vaccine is best had before 32 weeks: if you missed it, ask your midwife or GP. From 28 weeks, go to sleep on your side.

What parents need to know

Week 32 is an important week in the final stretch of your pregnancy. You're likely to have a midwife appointment around this time, and your baby is now well-developed enough that if born now, they'd have very good chances with medical support. Let's look at what your baby is doing this week and what to expect from your antenatal care.

Baby's length	About 42.4cm crown to heel
Baby's weight	Around 1.7kg, like a large pineapple
Antenatal appointment	Midwife appointment between 31 and 34 weeks
Whooping cough vaccine	Usually at 20 weeks, best before 32 weeks, can still be had later
Sleep position	Go to sleep on your side from 28 weeks

How big is your baby at 32 weeks?

Your baby now measures approximately 42.4cm from crown to heel and weighs around 1.7 kilograms, roughly the weight of a large pineapple. They're filling out with fat and looking increasingly like the newborn you'll hold in just a few weeks.

What's happening with your baby?

Your baby's fingernails and toenails have now grown to the ends of their fingers and toes — some babies are even born needing a nail trim! Their lungs are maturing rapidly, and they're practising breathing movements for several hours each day. Babies born at 32 weeks have an excellent chance of survival with specialist neonatal care, and most go on to develop without significant long-term complications. The lanugo (fine downy hair) is mostly gone by now, replaced by the vernix caseosa — the white, creamy substance that protects the skin in the amniotic fluid.

Your 31–34 week antenatal appointments

Around this time, you'll have a midwife appointment at which your midwife will check your blood pressure and urine, measure your fundal height, and feel your baby's position. If you haven't had the whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine yet, speak to your midwife or GP now. It's usually given at around 20 weeks, and having it before 32 weeks gives your baby the best protection, but you can still have it later. This is important because whooping cough can be very serious, even life-threatening, for very young babies who are too young to be vaccinated themselves. The vaccine you receive passes antibodies to your baby through the placenta, protecting them in the first weeks of life until they can receive their own vaccinations at 8 weeks.

Sleep position in the third trimester

Research from the Tommy's charity and others has shown that sleeping on your back in the third trimester (from 28 weeks) is associated with a small but significant increased risk of stillbirth. NHS and Tommy's guidance recommends that pregnant women try to go to sleep on their side (either left or right) from 28 weeks. This applies specifically to going to sleep — don't worry if you wake up on your back; simply roll back onto your side. Using a pillow behind your back can help you stay on your side during the night. If you wake in the night on your back, try not to be alarmed — simply roll onto your side and go back to sleep.

What's happening in your body?

Braxton Hicks contractions may be becoming more frequent and noticeable. These practice contractions help tone the uterus but should not be painful or regular. If they become painful or regular, or you have period-type pains, a gush or trickle of fluid from your vagina, or backache that's not usual for you, call your midwife or maternity unit, as these can be signs of early labour. Stretch marks may be appearing on your bump, hips, and breasts as your skin stretches. While moisturising regularly can help keep skin comfortable, unfortunately no cream has been proven to prevent stretch marks — they are largely determined by genetics.

When to get help

Some symptoms in pregnancy can be a sign of something serious and need checking quickly. This is who to contact, and how soon.

Call 999 if:

you're bleeding from your vagina and the bleeding is heavy (soaking a period pad soon after putting it on), or you also have severe pain in your tummy, pain in your shoulder, or feel sick, faint, dizzy or lose consciousness
you think your baby is coming now and you have a strong urge to push (ask for an ambulance)
you have severe difficulty breathing (you're gasping, choking or not able to get words out) or your chest feels tight or heavy
you have pain and swelling in one leg and you also feel short of breath or have chest pain. A blood clot in the leg can travel to your lungs, which can be life-threatening
you have possible signs of sepsis, such as breathing very fast, being confused or having slurred speech, blue, pale or blotchy skin, a rash that does not fade when you press it, or a very high or very low temperature. Being pregnant makes sepsis more likely
you do not feel you can keep yourself safe (a mental health emergency is as serious as a physical one)

Always call 999 if you think it's a life-threatening emergency, no matter what stage of pregnancy you are.

Call your midwife or maternity unit now if:

your baby is moving less than usual, you cannot feel your baby moving anymore, or there is a change to your baby's usual pattern of movements
you have light bleeding or spotting, even if you have no pain or only mild tummy pain
you have stomach pain that is severe or does not go away after you've rested for 30 to 60 minutes, or stomach pain with regular cramping or tightenings, lower back pain, or pain when you pee
you're less than 37 weeks pregnant and you have a gush or trickle of fluid from your vagina (this could be your waters breaking), regular contractions or tightenings, period-type pains, or backache that's not usual for you
your waters break, even if labour has not started
you have signs of pre-eclampsia: a severe headache that does not go away with simple painkillers, vision problems (such as blurred vision or seeing flashing lights), pain below the ribs, sudden swelling of the face, hands or feet, feeling very unwell, heartburn that does not go away with heartburn medicines, or being sick (vomiting)
your skin is very itchy (for example, it keeps you awake at night), the palms of your hands or soles of your feet are itchy, or the itching is worse at night. This can be a sign of a liver condition called intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP) that needs urgent treatment
your breathlessness comes on suddenly, you're out of breath when you're lying down, or you're breathless and also have chest pain or feel dizzy
you have pain or swelling in one leg, usually in the calf or thigh. This could be a blood clot (deep vein thrombosis, or DVT), which is more likely when you're pregnant
you have a high temperature (38C or above), or you feel hotter than usual or shivery. A high temperature can be a sign of an infection, so it's important to get it checked
any of your contractions last longer than 2 minutes, or you're having 6 or more contractions every 10 minutes

If your baby's movements change, do not wait until the next day: call immediately, even if it's the middle of the night. Do not use a home doppler to check the heartbeat yourself. Even if you hear a heartbeat, this does not mean your baby is well.

If your waters break, use a period pad (not a tampon) so your midwife can check the colour of the waters, and tell them immediately if the waters are smelly or coloured.

You can also call your midwife or maternity unit if you're unsure or worried about anything.

If you cannot reach them, or you're not sure what to do, call NHS 111.

Speak to your midwife or GP if:

you're worried about your mental health, or stress, anxiety or low mood are affecting your day-to-day life. If you need urgent help for your mental health, call 111 and select the mental health option, or ask for an urgent GP appointment

Go to sleep on your side. From 28 weeks, the safest position to go to sleep is on your side, either left or right. Research suggests that, after 28 weeks, falling asleep on your back can double the risk of stillbirth. This includes daytime naps. If you wake up on your back, just turn onto your side and go back to sleep.

Your week 32 checklist

This week:

Ensure you are sleeping on your side.
Ask about the whooping cough vaccination if you haven't had it.
Continue assembling your hospital bag.
Attend your antenatal appointment.
Celebrate how far you've come.

Sources & further reading

General information, not individual medical advice. Speak to your GP, midwife or health visitor about your baby’s needs.