Week 30 of Your Pregnancy

Feeling fat lasts nine months but the joy of becoming a mom lasts forever! At week 30, you must be feeling overwhelmed, yet comforted by your baby’s quickening growth. This week, tiny toenails will be appearing and your baby’s nerve fibres will be growing rapidly!

In week 30 of your pregnancy, your baby is looking more proportionate! It measures around 27cm and weighs somewhere in the region of 1.3kg. As its brain and lungs continue to mature, tiny toenails will begin to grow¹. 

Do you remember the fine layer of hair around your baby? Well, this layer of lanugo will now start to disappear². This is a sign that your baby has enough fat under its skin to keep it warm! In the coming weeks, many babies will start settling into a head-down position¹ to prepare for their journey into the outside world. Don’t worry if your baby hasn’t turned yet – there’s still plenty of time.

Plan a Babymoon

Before your baby enters your world, how about a last hurrah? Whether it’s a weekend of pampering or a romantic getaway, plan a relaxing babymoon for you and partner to enjoy the final weeks of coupledom! In case you are wondering, experts generally agree that you shouldn’t travel beyond 34 or 36 weeks. (Parents) Before you pack your bags though, we bring you some helpful tips: (SmartParents) 

• Ask your doctor if you are medically fit to travel
• Some airlines require that you produce a medical certificate indicating that you’re fit to travel
• Some cruise lines do not accept passengers past their second trimesters
• Ensure you are covered by travel insurance
• Pick short-haul flights (less than 6 hours)
• Some vaccines are not safe during pregnancy, so check on the medical risks of your dream destination

Keep Thinking About Iron

Since iron is a key nutrient throughout pregnancy, here are some meal-planning tips. Good sources of iron include meat, oily fish and eggs, but you can also get iron from plant-based sources such as 

• bread
• iron-fortified breakfast cereals
• dark green, leafy vegetables like watercress, curly kale and broccoli
• dried fruit such as figs and apricots
• pulses³

It is also worth remembering that some foods (such as calcium) inhibit iron uptake while others (such as Vitamin C) improve it. Hence, instead of coffee and tea, drink a glass of citrus fruit juice or eat a piece of fruit at mealtimes⁴ to support iron uptake! 

Most of us will be able to get enough iron from our diet alone. If your iron levels become too low, talk to your doctor about taking a supplement⁵.

What’s Next?

Be sure to include plenty of different iron-rich foods in your diet!³ 

• Lean meat and oily fish such as sardines
• Dark green vegetables like broccoli, watercress and ale
• Nuts, especially cashew nuts
• Pulses, chickpeas, beans and lentils
• Wholegrains, including wholemeal bread, and iron-fortified breakfast cereals
• Dried fruit like apricots, prunes and raisins
• Eggs