Find out about keeping healthy and well from week 30 of your pregnancy until your baby is born. You’ll also find information about what you need to do to prepare for baby’s arrival.
Title: Your Pregnancy: From 30 Weeks. Episode 04 of 15.
Title: Jane & Pat’s Whānau
[Interview with Jane and Pat.]
Jane: Your relationship with your body is quite interesting, I think, when you're pregnant – like, the more and more pregnant you get, the more aware you are that your body is doing this amazing job, and it's preparing for an amazing job, and the more I love it. Hi, I'm Jane and and I'm thirty-six weeks pregnant.
Pat: My name is Pat and I've been with Jane for two years. I came home from work and Jane was in the loo. She said, "I'm just peeing on a stick." While I was waiting for the result, I was hoping it would be positive. That's when I found that I was happy to be a dad.
Jane: I had a friend who had a beautiful home birth. That's what I'd love to have. Three weeks ago I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, which complicates things a little bit. Our first port of call is to go natural. With our midwife and antenatal group, we've investigated acupressure, homeopathic remedies, things that we can do to help the labour go really well. But then we're aware that there might be a need for more kind of medical assistance. We've got plans in place in case that needs to happen.
[Jane and Pat sort through baby clothes and pack a bag with supplies.]
Jane (voice-over): In terms of getting ready for the arrival of the chubby hobbit child, you want all your ducks in a row. Things like a hospital bag.
[Interview with Jane and Pat.]
Pat: We've ordered the carseat.
Jane: Yes. The carseat gets installed on Saturday.
Pat: We know roughly how long it takes to get to the hospital. We've got a standby bag with all the bits and pieces. The first scan we had was pretty cool.
Jane: It's the twelve week scan, which is one that you opt into, and it's the screening one for chromosomal things. We weren't sure if we wanted to do that because we weren't sure how we'd sit with whatever information we got. Ultimately we just wanted to see the baby.
Pat: We got to meet her for the first time. To see a picture was just incredible – one of the most profound experiences of my life. It was after that scan that we told all our friends.
Jane: It was the best way to start a day.
Pat: I haven't had much exposure to babies at all. Antenatal classes were good to give us the basics. The whole class was other people who were going to be first time parents. It's comforting to know there are other people in the same boat.
Jane: I'm really looking forward to breastfeeding. I even went to classes. Primarily, I want to do it because I think it's a lovely connection with the baby. Secondly, there are heaps of health benefits that I've been told about. Thirdly, I just don't have to faff around with sterilising bottles and that kind of business.
[Jane’s parents arrive at the house.]
Jane (voice-over): Mum and dad live just around the corner and my aunt's across the road from them. My cousin is three houses down, and my sister is three minutes’ walk down the road. So there is a lot of family around, which is amazing. That's why we moved here. When Pat goes back to work, it's nice to know that they'll be around.
[Jane prepares vegetables.]
Jane (voice-over): In terms of keeping healthy and being really conscious of that, we try and have lots of fruit and veg and things. As I've felt better, that's been much easier.
[Jane and Pat walk the dog.]
Pat (voice-over): We've going for walks after dinner with the dog. About half-hour walks. It's been a really great way to wind down, to spend some quality time together. It's been an all-round win.
[Interview with Jane and Pat.]
Pat: It's important to filter out – people go, “Oh, it’s going to be really hard,” and, you know, that’s a given. Nothing worth doing is easy, but of course it's going to be rewarding and good at the same time, otherwise no one would do it.
Title: Our thanks to the families and health workers who appeared in this video for the Ministry of Health. Find out more about pregnancy and child health on www.health.govt.nz/yourhealth.
Jane and Pat are 36 weeks pregnant. Find out how about how they are preparing for labour and birth and some of the choices in their birth plan. Hear how antenatal classes helped Pat and Jane prepare for baby's arrival. Jane explains why she plans to breastfeed her baby and talks about preparing during pregnancy.
Stay healthy for you and your baby by eating safely and well and being active. Avoid alcohol, smoking and drugs.
Most women feel some aches and pains during their pregnancy but sometimes there are problems during pregnancy that need urgent medical attention.
If you haven't had them already, your baby will still benefit from you being immunised for flu and whooping cough – the vaccines are free for pregnant women.
Now is a good time to start thinking about which general practice (doctor and practice nurse) you would like to enrol your baby with. It’s important to enrol your baby at birth or as soon as possible after that so they can get their first immunisations on time and be able to get health services if they are needed.
Research shows that sleeping on your side from 28 weeks of pregnancy halves your risk of stillbirth compared with sleeping on your back. Cure Kids, in conjunction with the University of Auckland, have developed safe sleeping resources for women from 28 weeks of pregnancy. See the Sleep On Side website for more information and resources.
