32-37 Weeks
The third and final trimester began a few weeks ago. Your baby is now growing rapidly and can gain one to two kilos in the final weeks. You’ll quickly notice this in your belly, which is now growing significantly. You feel your baby move every day, which may make things physically more challenging. You might experience pelvic girdle pain or more frequent Braxton Hicks contractions. Additionally, your baby will start to engage, which can cause sharp pain.
During this period, you’ll visit us every two weeks. We’ll discuss your wishes and expectations for the delivery, where you want to give birth, and how you’d like to deliver.
Birth Plan
Around 32 weeks of pregnancy, we’ll provide explanation and ask you to write a birth plan. By writing a birth plan, you can clearly indicate your wishes regarding the delivery and what you do and don’t prefer. You’ll also indicate where you’d like to give birth.
In The Hague, we have a wide range of options, but you can also choose to give birth at home. If you indicate the latter to the maternity care service, they will go through all the necessary requirements with you.
Additionally, you can choose between HMC Westeinde or Haga Hospital. In both hospitals, you’ll deliver with us and a maternity care assistant. Only occasionally might we need to divert to one of the surrounding hospitals, but even then, we’ll accompany you.
Make your birth plan as simple and clear as possible. This way, it will also be clear for all other healthcare providers who will be present during your delivery. We will discuss the birth plan together around 34 weeks.
Review the links below to prepare for your birth plan:
Growth Ultrasound or Position Ultrasound
In the third trimester, there may be reasons to perform a growth ultrasound. Sometimes this is because we developed a specific care path for you at the beginning of pregnancy. Other times, it might be because we have doubts about the baby’s growth. For example, during external examination, we might suspect that the baby is slightly too large or too small, which we want to confirm with a growth ultrasound. An ultrasound never provides 100% certainty but is more accurate than external examination.
It might also be that we’re not completely certain whether the baby’s head is positioned downward. Some babies (only three to four percent) are still positioned with their head at the top of the uterus. This is called breech position and can cause problems during delivery. When we see on the ultrasound that the head is at the top of the uterus, we’ll discuss with you whether you’d like to have the baby turned. This is called an external version. These versions are performed in the hospital. Depending on the amount of amniotic fluid, the location of your placenta, and whether it’s your first or second baby, the success rate is approximately 40 to 50%.
