Week 33

Your baby’s space is getting narrower and narrower. For this reason, their tiny but powerful blows and stretching movements can hurt you more and more. You can have a lot of fun feeling their hiccups.

At week 33 of pregnancy, babies continue to move their arms, legs, body, and head.

They continue to suck their thumb or other fingers to develop their sucking muscles. Thus, the facial muscles become able to absorb the mother’s breast after birth.

How many months is 33 weeks? You are in the second week of the 8th month of your pregnancy.

You may feel false contractions at the 33rd week of pregnancy. If your false contractions start to bother you, put your feet up in the air and rest or change positions and drink some water.

Don’t let the Braxton Hicks contractions worry you. On the contrary, we can say that these natural tiny contractions prepare the body for real birth contractions. Although it will take weeks, it may actually be a sign that your birth will start spontaneously. The fact that labor begins spontaneously is a huge advantage. The most important of these advantages is that birth hormones begin to be secreted. Of these hormones, oxytocin is the hormone that initiates labor. Since this hormone is also a love hormone, it is easier for the mother to accept and bond with her baby. The endorphin hormone will make you feel less pain at birth. Prolactin hormone will allow you to breastfeed your baby immediately after birth. Thus, breast milk delivery difficulties, which are frequently encountered after cesarean sections, are not experienced.

For this reason, experts in favor of natural birth argue that if there is no health disability, even planned cesareans should be performed after the actual labor contractions begin.

Your baby’s development is largely complete at 33 weeks of pregnancy. It’s 3 weeks before she breathes unaided, but you should still be prepared for the possibility of a premature birth. Symptoms of premature birth include:

– Pain similar to menstrual pain,

– Nausea and diarrhea,

– Pain and pressure in the lower part of the back,

– Pain in the pelvis and groin,

– A brownish, sometimes gelatinous discharge,

– Arrival of amniotic fluid,

– Bleeding.

If you experience one or more of these symptoms, you should inform your doctor immediately. Because maybe your doctor can stop the onset of labor with early intervention. Because every day the baby grows in the womb is so precious, the later your delivery starts after these symptoms, the better. Of course, if the baby’s health is at risk, your doctor will not postpone the birth.

In postponed births, the doctor may give you bed rest or ask you to stay in the hospital. Since it is inconvenient, sexual intercourse is strictly prohibited in this process. Medications that stop contractions may not be reliable, if your doctor recommends such an intervention, you need to learn the pros and cons and follow a path with your doctor accordingly.

If you haven’t made your birth choices before, it’s time to do so. First of all, you should decide whether you will give birth in a public hospital or a private hospital. Conditions in public hospitals have changed from hospital to hospital in recent years. Now, Mother-Friendly birth practices have started to be performed in some of the maternity hospitals. The number of Mother-Friendly hospitals is more than 30in our country and this number is planned to increase. Mother-Friendly birth application offers mothers the opportunity to give birth in accordance with their nature. Ambient conditions (heat, light, unoccupied delivery room, etc.) are set close to ideal so that they can give birth instinctively. In these hospitals, it is ensured that the mother does not meet the contractions in the same environment as other mothers in order to focus on the birth. Fathers are allowed to join the birth. Private delivery rooms have also been prepared in some hospitals. Currently, some of the state hospitals even have water birth opportunities. Childbirth preparation courses in such public hospitals are also quite comprehensive. Increasing this and similar opportunities will be very effective in reducing cesarean delivery rates in our country. While you are choosing a state hospital, you can question whether there are Mother-Friendly birth practices. You can talk to expectant mothers who gave birth in these hospitals and get their opinions.

Unfortunately, no private hospital in our country has yet received the title of mother-friendly. However, the number of private doctors who have mother-friendly births is increasing day by day. These doctors set up a team to support their pregnant women during childbirth. There is definitely a midwife, doula or midwife/doula in the team. These people also apply non-drug pain relief techniques to the expectant mother at birth. Some private doctors who practice Mother-Friendly practices definitely work with the maternity supporter as well as with the pregnant and maternity psychologist. The pregnant and obstetric psychologist ensures that prospective parents and their families (grandparents, aunt, etc.) mentally prepare for the birth from the beginning of the birth. In the teams consisting of doctor-midwife-doula and pregnant-birth psychologist, the goal is to ensure that the baby is born spontaneously, so that the birth is terminated without ruptures in the vagina and the birth is trauma-free for both the baby and the mother (a birth without negative memories, a birth they remember fondly).

Be sure to read our 34 weeks article for your other preferences in labor.