To know the different stages of pregnancy is helpful as accordingly you can prepare yourself to face the special day of delivering your baby. When you know about the intricacies it will help you find out how there a re changes that you can sense in your body and you will learn how to understand the growth of your baby. These tips and suggestions always come handy at times of emergency. Planning your pregnancy is the best move to make to ensure you have a healthy baby.

When you start thinking about and understanding the different changes that you are about to start experiencing post your pregnancy, you are actually conditioning your mind to welcome the baby warmly. We will help you through the hows and whys of pregnancy. But before that let us take a close look at the different stages of pregnancy that you will experience before you actually can hold your baby in your hands.

There are broadly two periods the perinatal and the postnatal periods the first which refers to the baby while it is inside the mother’s womb and the second which refers to the baby post delivery. However in the postnatal stage since the baby can be seen and held, it is relatively less complicated to deal with unlike the state of perinatal when the baby is still inside the uterus and the medical experts are in aw ay handicapped to deal with it directly. Thus the perinatal stage is divided clearly into three trimesters – the first, second and third.

First trimester
This refers to the first few weeks following the conception of the baby in the mother’s womb. Usually there are no symptoms of conceiving a baby but in some rare cases women might experience a little bleeding following the implantation. Some women tend to experience slight cramps during the first trimester. The cramps should not worry the mother unless of course there is spotting or bleeding accompanying it. First trimester might cause morning sickness like it does in most cases and also the hormone levels begin to suddenly surge, thus the nipples and areolas may seem to grow darker than before. This is also the time you need to be most careful of the three trimesters as the chances of miscarriage are highest during this phase.

Second trimester
The fourth month to the sixth month of pregnancy falls in the second trimester. Morning sickness is not a problem anymore and the woman begins to gain weight during this period. Also she feels more energized than the first trimester. During the end of this phase, the uterus might increase up to 20 times its normal size to accommodate the baby comfortably. The fetus will begin moving now even though it will have obtained a more or less human shape in the first trimester itself. However some women might not feel the movements still and that should not worry the mother. The placenta by now is functioning absolutely as the baby has begun insulating as well as urinating. During this phase, the sex of the child can be determined.

Third trimester
In this phase, the maximum amount of weight is gained by the mother plus the baby begins to grow very rapidly adding almost 28 gm each day to the weight of the mother. Changes in the shape of the belly are noticed as the fetus takes an upside down position to get delivered. In the second the belly would have been tighter and upright but now it will feel saggy and droop a lot. The mother can move her belly up and down now. The fetus’ movements become very evident and can be sensed by the mother for sure; in many cases it may also hurt the woman. The naval might become convex and pop out because of the huge swell. It is sometimes an uncomfortable phase of pregnancy causing body aches.

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