Development of a 30 Week Fetus

Each week, your baby is growing and developing more and more, and you are closer to holding your precious baby in your arms. There are a lot of exciting things happening at 30 weeks of development. As always, make sure you are taking care of yourself to ensure your baby gets off to the best start possible.

Baby Basics

• At 30 weeks, your baby measures around 16 inches and weighs about 3 lbs.
  Baby's head is around 3.5 inches or 8 cm in diameter. Your uterus is getting a little cramped, and soon baby will begin getting ready for delivery by moving into the head-down position. The wrinkly skin is becoming smoother now. If you're having a boy, the testicles have moved down to the groin at this point. Your baby can control his own body temperature now.

Exciting Things Happening

• Another exciting thing happening at 30 weeks is your baby's bone marrow is now in control of producing red blood cells. This is important because now she is better able to thrive on her own once born. The red blood cells transport oxygen and remove waste. Baby has also begun storing iron, calcium and phosphorus for a healthy start. As mentioned earlier, baby can control her own body temperature, so most of the lanugo (the soft hair covering your baby's body) is starting to disappear. This is due to the brain and fat that are regulating the body's temperature. Babies are usually born with a little of this "peach fuzz" on their back and shoulders, and it's perfectly normal.

  Queen's Faculty of Health Science has conducted research that proves that at 30 weeks, the fetus can hear. Dr. Barbara Kisilevsky and her colleagues in Queen's School of Nursing have proven for the first time that the human fetus can hear by the eighth month of fetal development. "Although we know that the auditory system develops in the eighth month, there has never been proof that the fetus could actually hear inside the womb," says Dr. Kisilevsky. "Our study confirms that fact." The team hopes to determine whether what the fetus hears influences its development.

Brain Development

• Baby's brain is continuing to grow and make connections between nerve cells. The surface of your baby's brain was smooth until recent weeks. Now baby's brain is taking on those familiar grooves and indentations. The wrinkles allow for an increase in the amount of brain tissue. This is a necessary change as your baby continues to develop and prepare for life in the outside world.

What Mom May Be Experiencing

• If you aren't tired of people coming up to you and touching your belly, consider yourself lucky. People have a fascination with pregnant bellies. At the 30-week point, you might start to notice some swelling in your ankles and legs, especially in the afternoon. Approximately 40 to 75 percent of pregnant women experience mild swelling at the late stages of pregnancy.

  You might feel as if your baby is taking over and your running out of room to breath as your uterus grows up and under your ribs. Don't worry, there is still growing room, as you have about 10 weeks left. Remember, the average weight gain during pregnancy is 25 to 35 lbs. You should now be gaining around a pound a week.

  Remember, it's best to sleep on your left side at this point in the pregnancy. Not only will it be more comfortable, but it might help relieve some of the pressure on the nerves and blood vessels in your back.

Changes to Come

• The fetus now weighs around 3 lbs. He will start to gain about half a pound a week until week 38. The baby is continuing to store fat, so more weight gain will occur in the coming weeks. The eyelashes and eyebrows are developed, and hair on the head is continuing to get thicker. The baby's lungs are continuing to develop as well in order to prepare for life outside the womb.