In the video for 20th week of pregnancy on meinhaushalt.at, important information and tips for pregnancy in week 20 are presented.
Congratulations! You have now completed half of your Pregnancy. You are now in the 20th week of pregnancy and have another 20 weeks to go until birth. The fetus is now about 17 weeks old and weighs not much more than a stick of butter. At just under 250g and a total length of approx. 22cm, your child is still very small and delicate. However, this delicacy is gradually disappearing: a robust layer of fat is slowly forming under the delicate baby skin, which the child will urgently need after birth to keep their body temperature stable.
Your baby is now completely covered with a light downy hair – this hair, which is technically known as lanugo, protects the child in the amniotic fluid alongside the vernix caseosa. Shortly before birth, however, this hair will fall out.
Meanwhile, your child is practicing comfortably in your womb and constantly working on their movements: for this, the arms and legs are moved, hands are waved, and if the fingers happen to touch the lips, the sucking reflex is triggered and your child sucks on their thumb.
What is the fundus?
If you palpate your abdomen, you should now be able to feel the fundus at the level of the navel. The fundus is the uppermost point of the uterus. Through this measurement, the size of the uterus and thus that of your child can be determined. By the 36th week of pregnancy, the fundus grows from the pubic bone over the navel to the rib cage. Your midwife will certainly help you to feel it, so that you can not only see the growth of the child but also feel it with your hands.
Vacation during pregnancy
How about a last vacation before the birth? Around the 20th week of pregnancy is the ideal time to aim for a relaxed vacation alone or with your partner for rest and relaxation. However, make sure that you do not seek out strenuous vacation destinations, but rather focus completely on wellness. For this, you should plan a short trip where you can stretch your legs more often so that your circulation can continue to work. This is extremely important in Pregnancy to avoid thrombosis.
Back pain during pregnancy
Are you suffering from back pain more often now? This is because the weight of the child and also your own is being redistributed. To find relief here, you should try to maintain a straight posture despite your steadily growing baby bump, relieve the pelvis every now and then while standing with circular movements, and perhaps also resort to yoga. Yoga has earned a very good reputation as light pregnancy gymnastics, as many basic positions are strikingly similar to the postures during birth. Feel free to try out some of the exercises and then decide whether they do you good or are too strenuous. However, a variety of the exercises will provide you with relief and thus take away pain, cramps, or other inconveniences.
Birthing position
Most women give birth to their children in a lying position in a hospital. However, this has not always been the case. The traditional birthing posture was introduced by many doctors in order to be able to control the delivery more easily and to intervene more quickly if this measure should be necessary. In earlier times, however, women giving birth used completely different positions to take advantage of gravity and therefore usually brought the child into the world standing or in a squatting position. Many indigenous peoples still consider this benefit to be sensible today.
In industrialized countries, the woman can decide for herself how she wants to bring her child into the world. Many positions are already introduced in childbirth preparation courses and actively practiced with the participants. During birth, you will experience for yourself which position is most comfortable for you.
Read also: Video for pregnancy week 21, week 21
