Pregnancy Week 36: Your 36-Week Check and Baby Getting Into Position

8 min read

Quick answer: At 36 weeks your baby measures about 47.4cm and weighs around 2.6kg, and your midwife appointment this week focuses on checking their position by feeling your bump. Head-down is ideal for a vaginal birth; breech or transverse means a referral for further assessment, and an ECV may be offered. Your midwife will also discuss Group B Strep, and your hospital bag should now be packed.

What parents need to know

At 36 weeks, you're considered late preterm, and if your baby were born now, they'd need very little medical support in most cases. You have an important midwife appointment this week that focuses on checking your baby's position ahead of birth. With just four weeks to go, it's time to make sure everything is in place.

Length	About 47.4cm crown to heel
Weight	Around 2.6kg, like a large papaya
Weekly weight gain	Around 200–250g each week
This week's appointment	36-week midwife check of baby's position
Group B Strep carriage	About 2 to 4 in 10 women (20 to 40%)

How big is your baby at 36 weeks?

Your baby now measures approximately 47.4cm from crown to heel and weighs around 2.6 kilograms, roughly the weight of a large papaya. They're continuing to put on weight, gaining around 200–250g each week in preparation for birth.

What's happening with your baby?

Your baby is almost fully developed. Most of the lanugo (fine body hair) has now been shed, and the vernix caseosa (white waxy coating) is beginning to diminish too. Your baby's gums are firm — even though teeth won't appear until around 6 months of age, the tooth buds are fully formed beneath the gums. The digestive system is ready for life outside the womb, though it won't be fully mature until your baby has had several months of feeding. Meconium — your baby's first bowel movement — is accumulating in the intestines. It's dark green or black and is made up of materials swallowed during pregnancy.

Your 36-week appointment

At your 36-week appointment, your midwife will check your baby's position by feeling your bump. If your baby is head-down (cephalic presentation), this is ideal for a vaginal birth. If your baby is in a breech position (bottom or feet first) or in a transverse lie (lying across the womb), your midwife will refer you for further assessment. An External Cephalic Version (ECV) may be offered to attempt to turn a breech baby. If this is not possible or not desired, your care team will discuss the options for a planned caesarean section.

Your midwife will also discuss Group B Streptococcus (GBS) with you. GBS is a bacterium carried by about 2 to 4 in 10 women (20 to 40%) in the UK and is usually harmless to the mother. However, it can occasionally be passed to the baby during birth and cause serious infection. Call 999 or go to A&E if your baby shows signs of a group B strep infection, such as being floppy or not responding normally, grunting or working hard to breathe, very fast or slow breathing, an unusually high or low temperature, changes in skin colour or blotchy skin, or not feeding well or vomiting milk up. These signs can develop up to 3 months after birth. The UK does not routinely screen for GBS, but if GBS has been detected incidentally during this pregnancy, you'll be offered intravenous antibiotics during labour to protect your baby. If so, contact your midwife or maternity unit as soon as you go into labour or your waters break, so you can have the antibiotics as soon as possible.

Preparing for the final weeks

By 36 weeks, your hospital bag should be fully packed. Ensure your birth partner knows the route to the hospital, where to park, and how to contact the maternity unit out of hours. Know the signs of labour: regular, painful contractions that become stronger, longer, and closer together; your waters breaking (a gush or trickle of clear or pinkish fluid); or a 'show' (mucus plug, often slightly bloodstained).

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 36 checklist

This week:

Attend your 36-week midwife appointment.
Confirm your baby's position.
Discuss GBS with your midwife.
Make sure your hospital bag is packed.
Brief your birth partner on the plan.
Rest as much as possible.

Sources & further reading

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