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Day 211 of 280 · 30 weeks + 1 day

Twenty centimetres

Last reviewed · 2 min read · 4 sources · Plain-text version

Thirty weeks and one day. Your baby's eyes can focus now, and after birth they'll see a face about 20 to 25cm away. Today you measure that distance.

Size this week
about the size of a cabbage
Length this week
around 39.9 cm from head to heel
A woman with a full bump in a mustard jumper on a sofa in soft afternoon light, holding her hand a short way in front of her face and smiling at it, her older daughter copying her.

Thirty weeks and one day. There's a particular distance that will matter a great deal after the birth: the space between your face and your baby's when you hold them. Today you find out how far that is.

Your baby

A single green cabbage on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around 39.9cm from head to heel, about the size of a cabbage, and their eyes can now focus (NHS). Their vision keeps developing inside and outside the womb. After birth, your baby will be able to focus on a face about 20 to 25cm away, and won't be able to follow moving objects with their eyes until about 3 months old (NHS).

So the face your baby can make out best will be a close one, held still. Yours, your partner's, whoever is holding them.

Your body

Walking up stairs may leave you breathless now, because the baby is pressing on your lungs (NHS). Take stairs slowly and stop on the landing if you need to. MedlinePlus's third-trimester advice is to rest as needed and to exercise or walk most days (MedlinePlus); both are true at once.

You're also still growing. Most women gain about 1 lb (0.5 kg) a week after the first trimester (MedlinePlus), and you can feel it on the stairs.

Try today

  1. The face-distance measure

    Time: 2 minutes

    1. Hold your hand up in front of your face, palm towards you, and move it until it's about 20 to 25cm away (NHS).

    2. That's where your baby will see you in the first weeks.

    3. Notice how close it is. Closer than you'd stand to talk to anyone but family.

    4. Show your partner, or an older child, and let them try it.

    Make it work:

    If you have a ruler or tape measure handy, use it once, then remember the feel of the distance.

Watch for

  • Normal

    getting out of breath on the stairs (NHS).

    Call your provider today

    for trouble breathing that isn't just the stairs, which the CDC lists as an urgent warning sign (CDC).

  • Normal

    your heart working harder after a climb.

    Call 911

    or get emergency care for chest pain or a fast-beating heart; the CDC says to seek medical care immediately (CDC).

  • Normal

    tired eyes at the end of a long day.

    Call your provider

    for vision changes or blind spots (MedlinePlus).

For you

Some of the preparation for a baby is buying things. Some of it is just this: knowing that your face, close and still, is the first thing they'll be able to make out, and that they can't follow a moving one yet (NHS). You don't need to buy anything for that.

If you're the partner: your face counts too. Practise the distance now. In the first weeks, slow down, come close, and hold still.

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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