35 weeks pregnant

Your baby is nearly ready to be born and is growing fast. Your body is under increasing demands and, at 35 weeks pregnant, you may find you have a tendency to become constipated. Enriching your balanced diet with more fibre should help maintain a normal bowel function.

By week 35 of your pregnancy, your baby weighs approximately 5.5lbs¹, although this is just an estimate. Babies vary widely in size and weight at this stage and even an ultrasound can only give a range, rather than an exact figure².

One certainty is that your growing baby now has less space to move around. From their curled up foetal position with their legs drawn into their chest, they can still squirm and shift around, and you may be able to see their movements on the surface of your bump³.

Your placenta has also grown and at week 35 weighs around 1.2lbs. This is over a quarter of the weight of your baby and roughly a sixth of your baby’s eventual birth weight⁴.

Internally, your baby’s lungs are fully formed and ready for breathing, and their central nervous system is becoming more mature¹. Now able to suckle for feeds⁵, their digestive system is also almost ready for life outside the womb¹.

Your body is also getting prepared, with milk production already under way. You may notice an occasional leak of colostrum – the nutritious first milk – from your breasts as you get closer to your due date⁵.

Your baby is getting much bigger now that you're 35 weeks pregnant, as is your bump, and you may find that you have a tendency to become constipated in this late stage of pregnancy⁶.

Including fibre-rich foods in your diet can help to maintain healthy bowel function, with different types of fibres having different functions in your digestive system. As a general rule soluble fibres can be fermented in the gut, while insoluble fibre is passed through whole. Gradually increasing your intake of both types of fibre should help maintain healthy bowel function for the rest of your pregnancy.

Remember to drink plenty of water, and try doing some light exercise such as walking or yoga. Certain iron supplements may cause constipation so if you’re taking one, ask your healthcare professional if there’s another one you can try^6,7.