In the last period before childbirth, the size of the child's body is already quite large. An actively developing baby quickly gains weight and grows in length. Determining the baseline parameters of the fetal body size at 34 weeks gestation is very important. This helps doctors track various disorders in a timely manner.
Features of the development of the baby
The end of pregnancy is very important. This time is a kind of preparation for childbirth. This leads to the fact that changes in the work of many organ systems occur in both the mother and her baby.
By 34-35 weeks of gestation, the fetus's body already sufficiently formed. His nervous, cardiovascular and digestive systems are already beginning to show their work. Of course, they will begin to fully function only after the birth of the child.
By this time of the fetal development of the baby, qualitative changes begin to occur in his body. So, the ratio between muscle and adipose tissue changes. The amount of the latter is about 7-8% of the total body weight of the child.
Adipose tissue is necessary for the thermoregulatory system to function well after birth. It is thanks to this that the baby is not overcooled in the first minutes after his birth.
Changes at this stage of intrauterine development of the fetus also occur in its musculoskeletal system. Thus, tubular bones become more elongated and denser. Every day the structure of the bones of the limbs changes.
In order for the child's bones to form well and be dense, expectant mothers should eat a lot of calcium-fortified foods.
By this time of pregnancy, babies often change their position in the uterus. That is why doctors tell expectant mothers that the child's position may change. The more active the baby is, the more likely it is that it will change its location in the uterus.
Every mother can evaluate how the child moves. Experts believe that at this stage of pregnancy, the baby should move and push at least 10 times within 12 hours. Usually, the child's activity increases during bright sounds or too strong external stimuli.
By this time of his intrauterine development, the baby also changes externally. This can be seen during the ultrasound examination. His skin color changes - they become already pale pink and smoothed. The entire body of the child is covered with original lubricant.
The number of vellus hairs on the baby's body at this stage of its intrauterine development becomes less. Their color also changes. They are becoming more invisible.
These signs can be detected by a specialist who conducts an ultrasound scan. It is better that this study is carried out by a sufficiently qualified and experienced doctor. In this case, the reliability of the results obtained will be much higher. At this stage of intrauterine development it is also very important to assess lung maturity.
During this period, the lung tissue is already finally formed. Its active functioning is possible only after the baby is born.
Fetal lung maturity is a very important clinical indicator. If the lungs are mature, then after birth, the baby will easily take its first breath on its own. In the case of immaturity of the lung tissue, intensive pulmonary resuscitation will be required. It is performed by a neonatologist in the first minutes after the baby is born.
If the baby is quite large, then this leads to the fact that the uterus rises strongly. This contributes to slight compression of the diaphragm. This condition leads to the fact that the expectant mother's breathing changes.
In addition to the active functioning of the child's nervous system, various emotions also appear at this stage of his intrauterine development. Very often they can be noticed during an ultrasound examination. The kid can smile or, conversely, turn away from the sensor.
Scientists also believe that at 33-34 weeks of gestation, the baby can also "see" dreams. If the expectant mother is too worried or worried at this time, then the baby can also experience these experiences.
During the ultrasound examination, the doctor determines not only the basic parameters of the fetus, such as its weight and body length. It is very important to assess the condition of the membranes. Pathology of the placenta can lead to the fact that during childbirth a woman will develop certain pathologies.
The amount of amniotic fluid is also a very important parameter to be assessed. Polyhydramnios or low water are pathologies that necessarily require medical intervention.
If they are severe enough, it may even require hospitalization of a pregnant woman in a hospital for complex treatment. In some cases, if the situation is extremely unfavorable for the expectant mother and her baby, then she may be in the hospital before giving birth.
Weight and other norms of fetal parameters
You can determine the size of the baby during an ultrasound examination. In his work, an ultrasound specialist often uses a special table.
It contains the average values of the norm of the basic parameters of the fetus, corresponding to a specific period of intrauterine development. Such a table, applied to 34 weeks of gestation, is presented below:
When using this table, it is very important to remember that the values shown are average. If the baby is smaller in size, this is not at all a sign of any pathology. In some cases, this is simply a feature of the individual structure.
With multiple pregnancies, the sizes of babies may vary. One child is often small and the other is large. Doctors note that in practice, it is extremely rare for both babies to have approximately the same weight.
As a rule, one baby develops a little faster and more intensively than the other. This feature determines that the body weight of each of the children will be different.
During the study at this stage of pregnancy, the doctor also necessarily assesses other basic indicators of the structure of the fetal body. One of them is biparietal size. Its norms at this stage are 7.9-9.3 cm.
Another definable indicator is the frontal-occipital size. The norm of this criterion is 10.1-11.9 cm. The child's head circumference at this time of his intrauterine development is 29.5-33.9 cm.
How to determine the weight of the fetus by ultrasound, see the next video.
