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Day 203 of 280 · 29 weeks

The birth plan, page two

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 4 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-nine weeks. Your baby is fully formed. Today the birth plan gets its second page: what your birth partner does, and what you'd rather avoid.

Size this week
about the size of a butternut squash
Length this week
around 38.6 cm from head to heel
A couple at a wooden dining table, her full bump under a rust-coloured sweater, a handwritten page between them, him reading it closely with a pen, warm late-afternoon light.

Twenty-nine weeks. A few weeks ago you started a birth plan with the big headings. This week the NHS puts it back on the list, with two things to think about: your preferences for pain relief and the role of your birth partner (NHS). Today's page is about the people in the room.

Your baby

A single butternut squash on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around now your baby is around 38.6cm long from head to heel, about the size of a butternut squash (NHS). The NHS says your baby is now fully formed, and over the next few weeks will mature their organs and gain fat (NHS). Nothing new is being built now. What's left is growing and getting ready.

Your body

You may feel more breathless as your baby presses up against your lungs, and the extra weight adds strain (NHS). Slow down on stairs and sit when you can; it's normal for this stage.

A birth plan is a list of preferences, not a contract. Labor follows its own course, and the Office on Women's Health describes stages that vary widely in length: the first usually lasts about 12 to 19 hours, the second 20 minutes to two hours (OWH). Over that many hours, the person beside you matters, and so does knowing what you'd want if you can't say it yourself.

Try today

  1. The birth plan, page two

    Time: 20 minutes

    1. Write "My birth partner" at the top, then their name, and a backup if they can't be there.

    2. List three things you want them to do: speak for you, keep track of the time, fetch water, keep visitors out, take the first photo.

    3. Write two things you'd rather avoid, and add "if possible" to each, so the page leaves room for what actually happens (NHS).

    4. Clip it behind page one and bring both to your next visit to talk through.

    Make it work:

    If you're not sure what's possible where you're giving birth, write the question instead of the answer. That's what the visit is for.

Watch for

  • Normal

    a damp feeling now and then, from extra discharge or a little leaked urine.

    Call your provider

    right away for leaking fluid from the vagina, which could be your waters (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    a bump that tightens briefly and relaxes.

    Call your provider

    if contractions get stronger at regular and shorter intervals, even if it's weeks before your due date, since it might be preterm labor (OWH).

  • Normal

    more discharge than before.

    Call your provider

    if it smells foul, looks greenish, itches, or hurts; vaginal infections matter in pregnancy because they may cause preterm labor (MedlinePlus).

For you

If you're the partner: this page is about you. Read it tonight, slowly. For each line, ask her what it means in practice. "Speak for me" about what? "Keep visitors out" including your mother? The answers you get now are the ones you'll need when she's busy in labor and can't explain. If there's an antenatal class, go with her; the NHS suggests taking your partner along (NHS).

If you're giving birth without a partner, the page still works. A friend, a sister, or a doula can hold it, and so can the midwife on shift.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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Add your due date to a free Chorevia household, and every morning until the birth the day's note arrives in the app and by email: what's forming, what your body is doing, one thing to try, what to watch for, and a word for you.

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