35 Weeks Pregnant - birth is unpredictable

Weekly pregnancy updates from a childbirth educator, doula and mum to 2 little girls. Come and join me on my journey as I share how I’m feeling, how baby is developing, what I’m doing to prepare, and some favourite resources!

As we close off the month of January, I am reflecting on the two births I supported this month. I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to support families through such an amazing life transition! My reflections on this month’s births can be summed up in two phrases: mums are incredibly strong; birth can be very unpredictable.

And it’s the unpredictability of birth that I wanted to reflect on briefly in this post. Because we can do all the “right” things to prepare for birth, have the most aligned care provider and the best support team. But at the end of the day this won’t guarantee us a “plan A birth”. So is it useless to plan for your dream birth? Definitely not! However...

I’m increasingly convinced of the importance of birth mapping over birth planning. Birth planning is where you say, “this is the goal, and if things don’t go to plan I have this plan B and this plan C”. Birth mapping, on the other hand, acknowledges the unpredictability of birth and gives you the tools to plan your journey. This is where as you prepare for birth, you gain knowledge and understanding of the various twists and turns that birth can take, and decide what you would do in each circumstance.

This is a powerful mental shift, since instead of perhaps not getting your plan A and feeling like you had a second-rate birth because you had to fall back to plan B, you have a map to follow. Yes, you know what your ideal route is to your destination. But you also know what to do if you encounter a road block and have to take a different path. And you are prepared to recognise it as part of the journey, rather than as a blockage which prevents you from having the birth you wanted. “There is no one way: the Birth Map helps you find your way.” Does this mean you never get to take your ideal route? Of course not! But it does give you the readiness and flexibility to follow YOUR birth journey if it’s different to what you might have expected.

To develop this concept more, I highly recommend exploring The Birth Map website, reading the book and playing the game (free access if you register on the site). See the link below in the resource section!

What symptoms am I feeling?

My belly is feeling pretty heavy, especially when trying to move in bed 😂 I have had a bit of mid-back pain again this week but not too bad.

How has baby been developing this week?

Baby is now taking up most of the space in the amniotic sac, but still has plenty of room to wriggle, roll and somersault around! My baby at this point is probably around 43-45 cm long and weighing 2.3-2.8kg. So much room for variation with these numbers, since babies come in all sizes! He’s been head down for a while and will likely stay like that from now on. He is still doing a lot of moving and rolling around - there is plenty of amniotic fluid to move around in!

What am I doing to prepare?

I had a visit from my midwife this week and as always my girls loved helping her with the Doppler so we could listen to baby brother’s heartbeat 🥰 Everything is looking good!

At this point in pregnancy I have officially opted out of Group B Strep testing and have started taking a probiotic to promote healthy vaginal flora in the lead-up to birth. For resources on Group B Strep see the resource section below.

Some favourite resources:

The Birth Map website, book and game to help you prepare to follow the journey birth takes you on.

Dr Sara Wickham, GBS Screening: the Evidence

Evidence Based Birth, Group B Strep

And that’s it for this week! 🌿💛

[Image credit: Photo by GeoJango Maps on Unsplash]