38 weeks pregnant: symptoms and baby development
Maturing right to the end.
Third trimesterMonth 95 min read
By Solesia, from public clinical guidanceUpdated
There is not much left to do, and that turns out to be the hard part. The bag is packed, the small clothes are folded, and the days have gone quiet and slow. Impatience, boredom and a mind that will not settle are all part of this week. Your baby is ready in every way that counts, and still using the time: the brain and lungs keep maturing right up to birth, the fine body hair is nearly gone, and their gut is storing the first stool for after they arrive. Practice contractions may be more noticeable. Two weeks from your due date, the waiting is the work.
How big is your baby at 38 weeks
About the size of a leek
19.6 in long·6.9 lb
Baby development at 38 weeks
At 38 weeks your baby measures about 19.6 inches from head to heel and weighs around 6.9 pounds, roughly a leek. Nothing about them is unfinished, but the brain is still adding connections at a fast rate and the lungs are still building the substance that keeps their air sacs open. Every day inside adds a little.
The soft, downy hair that covered their body has mostly shed into the fluid around them, though some babies are born with patches on the shoulders and back that rub off in weeks. They have swallowed that hair with the fluid, and it sits in their gut with skin cells and bile as meconium, a sticky dark green first stool that usually comes in the first day or two after birth.
Their grip is strong and their eyes, blue-gray or dark for now, may change color over the first year. They have settled into a firm rhythm of sleep and activity, and their movements are pushes and rolls rather than kicks. The strength and frequency should be what you are used to; only the style is different.
Your body at 38 weeks
Feeling bored, impatient and fed up is expected at 38 weeks. The bag is packed, the seat is in, and there is nothing left but to wait for a start you cannot schedule. Fill the days lightly: a walk, a film, lunch with a friend, a nap. Rest now is not wasted; it is banked.
Practice contractions can be stronger and more frequent now, and that is expected. They may make you stop and breathe, but they stay irregular, they fade with rest or a change of position, and they do not build. Real contractions do the opposite: they get longer, stronger and closer together over an hour or more, whatever you do.
Your bump may feel lower and heavier, your walk slower, and your back sore by evening. Swollen feet and ankles are common in the last weeks; keep them up when you sit, and keep walking so the fluid moves. Sleep is fragmented, and an afternoon rest counts.
Common pregnancy symptoms at 38 weeks
- Impatience. Everything is ready and nothing is happening. Light days, small plans, and rest.
- Braxton Hicks. Stronger but still irregular. Rest and water; real ones build and keep coming.
- Swollen ankles. Fluid pooling in the last weeks. Feet up, water, and a daily walk.
- Lower backache. The baby’s weight low in the pelvis. Warmth, side lying, and a hand on your back to stand.
- Broken sleep. Bladder, aches and an unsettled mind. Naps are not cheating.
- Hemorrhoids. Pressure on the veins below. Fiber, water, and a cool compress.
- Dizziness. Blood pooling when you stand fast. Get up in stages, and eat regularly.
When to call your provider at 38 weeks
A gush or a steady trickle of fluid is your water breaking, and it is a call to your provider even without contractions.
Two things are worth a same-day call at any point in pregnancy: bleeding that is more than spotting, and pain that is severe or does not ease. From the second trimester, add fluid leaking and any change in your baby’s usual pattern of movement. You do not need to be sure something is wrong to call; that is what the number is for.
What to do at 38 weeks
- Weekly visit. Blood pressure, urine, the size of your bump and the baby’s heartbeat and position. Short, and worth keeping: blood pressure can change in the last weeks without you feeling it.
- Ask about going past your date. Find out now what your provider does if the baby has not come by 41 weeks: extra monitoring, a membrane sweep, or an induction date. It is easier to think about now than in two weeks.
- Rest on purpose. Bank sleep while you can. Labor can start at any hour, and the first days after are short on it. Full term, at 39 weeks, is a week away; your due date at 40 weeks is two.
- When to call. Check you have the after-hours number, and the rule your provider gave you: usually contractions a minute long every five minutes for an hour, or your water breaking.
Common questions at 38 weeks
How can I tell Braxton Hicks from real contractions at 38 weeks?
Time them for an hour. Practice contractions stay irregular, vary in strength and fade if you walk, rest or take a bath. Real contractions come at steadily shorter intervals, last longer, feel stronger each time and keep going whatever you do. Pain that starts in the back and wraps around the front is typical of the real thing.
What happens at the 38-week appointment?
The same short checks as every week: blood pressure, a urine test, a measure of your bump, and the baby’s heartbeat and position. Some providers offer to check the cervix; it is optional and it does not say when labor will start. It is a good visit to ask what happens if you go past your date.
Is it safe to have the baby at 38 weeks?
Yes. Babies born at 38 weeks are early term and usually do well, and many labors start on their own this week. Providers avoid inducing labor before 39 weeks without a medical reason because the brain and lungs still benefit from the extra days, but if labor starts, there is no reason to slow it.
What is meconium?
Your baby’s first stool: a sticky, dark green paste made of swallowed amniotic fluid, skin cells, fine hair and bile that has collected in their gut over the last weeks. They usually pass it in the first day or two after birth. If it is passed before birth, the fluid looks green when your water breaks, and that is worth mentioning when you call.
Written from public clinical guidance, including NHS: Week 38, ACOG: How your baby grows, ACOG: Changes in your body, NHS: Signs of labour, NHS: Swelling in pregnancy and NHS: Your baby’s movements. This page is general information, not medical advice, and does not replace your provider.