1. 12th week of pregnancy - what happens in week 12 of pregnancy
2. How your baby develops in the 12th week of pregnancy
3. How you feel in the 12th week of pregnancy
4. 12th week of pregnancy - symptoms and complaints
5. What can be seen on the ultrasound in week 12 of pregnancy?
6. What you should look out for in week 12 of pregnancy

12th week of pregnancy - what happens in week 12 of pregnancy

At last! You have reached the last week of the first trimester. This marks the end of the critical phase of pregnancy and the risk of miscarriage is now minimal. If you've been keeping a low profile so far, you can now tell the whole world that you're going to be a mum. In this twelfth part of our pregnancy calendar, you will find out how your baby is developing in week 12, which check-ups are now due and which symptoms may occur.

How your baby develops in the 12th week of pregnancy

Around 10 weeks ago, the egg and sperm fused. During this time, a real little person has developed in your belly. Your baby is now 43 to 51 millimetres long and weighs around 14 grams.

Eyelashes, eyelids and snub nose

The tiny face already has typical human features. The eyes are no longer at the edge, but further in the centre. The ears have also reached their position. If you have an ultrasound in week 12, you can admire your baby's cute snub nose and arched forehead in profile. Its head has a diameter of approx. 20 millimetres. The eyelashes are now starting to grow. Your baby's eyes are covered by the eyelids and remain closed until the end of the 2nd trimester. The tooth buds mature in the jaw, from which the milk teeth will later form.

Your baby learns something new every day

Your little miracle feels very comfortable in its amniotic fluid-filled bladder and is now becoming more and more mobile. It is already able to turn its head, clench its hands into fists, bend its elbows, move its lips and yawn. The foetus also begins to swallow amniotic fluid. This may cause it to hiccup. Later in the pregnancy, you will certainly notice this from time to time by a slight twitching in your stomach. However, you will not yet be able to feel any movements from your little one. The sucking reflex will also begin to develop and you may catch your little one sucking its thumb during the ultrasound.

The organs continue to mature

Tok-Tok, Tok-Tok - your baby's heartbeat is now constant at around 120 to 160 beats per minute. The external sexual organs are visible in both boys and girls. The vocal cords begin to develop and the bones become harder. Your baby is fully nourished by the placenta in week 12 of pregnancy. The yolk sac now disappears completely.

Practical help for you:
Emergency service midwife Katharina explains the most important things about the maternity pass online.

How you feel in the 12th week of pregnancy

An important milestone has been reached at the end of this week of pregnancy. You can certainly breathe a sigh of relief now, as the risk of miscarriage in week 12 is now extremely low. At the same time, many symptoms such as nausea and breast tenderness subside. Your days become less strenuous - the good part of pregnancy begins. You can get an overview of everything that awaits you in the second trimester in our workshop "2nd trimester".

Your uterus is now about the size of a man's fist. You can now feel it by palpating it through the abdominal wall. To do this, use your fingers to carefully feel the area directly above the pubic bone. The uterus is firmer than the surrounding tissue and can therefore be easily recognised.

12th week of pregnancy - symptoms and complaints

Irritability

While the nausea subsides for most women, some other symptoms may occur in week 12. Do you feel a certain irritability during these days? This may be due to the increased activity of your thyroid gland. It floods your body with hormones that ensure that your baby develops optimally and that your breast can prepare for breastfeeding. Your baby's thyroid gland is also starting to work. This greatly increases your iodine requirements. An iodine deficiency during pregnancy can result in irritability, sluggishness and depressive moods.

To support your thyroid gland, you should therefore make sure that you have sufficient Iodine supply pay attention. You can do this by consuming iodised table salt and regularly eating sea fish such as cod, saithe and plaice. Seaweed is also a good source of iodine, but you should avoid sushi because of its iodine content. Risk of infection from raw fish during pregnancy. You can also take iodine as a dietary supplement, but you should consult your doctor beforehand. Even if it is not part of regular prenatal care, a blood test to check thyroid activity can help to recognise and treat an underactive or overactive thyroid at an early stage.

Tiredness

Your baby is growing steadily and your body is working hard. So it's no wonder that you often feel tired. Continue to give yourself plenty of breaks. Severe tiredness can also be caused by Iron deficiency stuck. As this is not uncommon due to the increased blood volume during pregnancy, your Hb level will be checked regularly. If there is a deficiency, your midwife or doctor will recommend an iron supplement.

Weight gain

Looking at your weight development is part of every prenatal care programme. What is normal, what is too little or even too much must always be weighed up individually. The BMI before pregnancy is a good guideline. If you started your pregnancy with a higher BMI, you can safely gain a little less weight. If your BMI was rather low, it is a good idea to build up a small weight reserve for the breastfeeding period. So look forward to the extra kilos in the coming weeks. It is important that you should also feel comfortable gaining weight during pregnancy. In the first trimester, weight gain is often still low. On average, it is one to two kilograms by the end of the 12th week of pregnancy. Pregnant women who suffer from severe nausea often experience no weight gain or even a slight weight loss in the first few weeks. Don't worry - your appetite will definitely return in the 2nd trimester.

What can be seen on the ultrasound in week 12 of pregnancy?

If you have an ultrasound in the 12th week of pregnancy, you will notice that your baby already looks like a small person, although the head is still oversized. Unless it is sleeping, the 4 to 5 centimetre foetus moves a lot. The gynaecologist may already be able to guess the sex in week 12 of pregnancy. However, they are not yet allowed to tell you whether it is a boy or a girl. The reason for this is to prevent a termination of pregnancy due to the sex of the baby.

However, something else is possible from week 12 onwards: with a Dopton, a small portable ultrasound device, your doctor or midwife can make the heartbeat of your little miracle audible. This is an unforgettable moment for many parents-to-be. You are sure to be gripped by a wave of happiness when you experience the rapid beating of your little heart for the first time. Hearing your child makes the pregnancy even more real for you. This also applies to the father-to-be, who can establish initial contact with his unborn baby. An alternative to Dopton, also known as a foetal Doppler, is the ear trumpet. Your midwife can use this to check your baby's heartbeat from around the 25th week of pregnancy.

What you should look out for in week 12 of pregnancy

First trimester screening - yes or no?

In addition to the regular preventive and Ultrasound examinations During pregnancy, there are other voluntary health services that you can take advantage of as a pregnant woman. These include first trimester screening. This is a non-invasive method of prenatal diagnostics. First trimester screening usually takes place between the 10th and 14th week of pregnancy. The aim is to calculate how likely it is that your baby has a chromosomal disorder such as trisomy 13, 18 or 21.

What is examined during first trimester screening

Firstly, a nuchal translucency test is carried out using ultrasound. Nuchal translucency is a fluid-filled gap in the neck of the unborn child. This gap can be seen on ultrasound in almost all babies, but it can be widened in some diseases. The gynaecologist also measures the length of the nasal bone during this ultrasound examination.

In addition, blood is taken from the pregnant woman to analyse certain protein and hormone levels. The concentration of the protein PAPP-A produced by the placenta is analysed. If this is very low, this may indicate a chromosomal disorder. The hCG value is also measured. An increased level of this pregnancy hormone can also be due to a chromosomal abnormality.

These two components, the results of the ultrasound examination and the blood test, are then used to calculate the probability of chromosomal changes or malformations in the unborn child. The age of the pregnant woman is also taken into account, as the risk increases with age.

Is first trimester screening useful?

First of all, this test is completely voluntary and you alone can and must decide whether you want to have it carried out or not. You should also bear in mind that the test only provides a risk assessment and not a reliable diagnosis. Are you worried that something is wrong with your baby? Then you're like many women during pregnancy.

If you decide in favour of first trimester screening and find out that the probability of trisomy is extremely low, you can probably enjoy your pregnancy with more peace of mind. If, on the other hand, the test confirms a high risk of a genetic disorder, this will cause you a lot of anxiety, worry and fear. And this is often completely unfounded: 96 out of 100 women with a worrying result give birth to a perfectly healthy baby in the end.

In any case, if the results are abnormal, i.e. if there is an increased probability that your baby could have a chromosomal disorder, you will be faced with the decision of which further tests you would like to have. This often involves invasive methods such as a chorionic villus sampling or an amniocentesis, which in turn pose a risk to your baby. In any case, a chromosomal disorder cannot be cured. You will have to deal with the result in some way. However, a termination of pregnancy is only carried out once the result has been confirmed by a genetic analysis. The mere statistical probability alone is not sufficient for such a far-reaching decision.

Some mums-to-be, for whom a termination of pregnancy is out of the question, still want to know whether the baby has a chromosomal disorder. They want to know so that they can prepare well for this major challenge.

Ultimately, you have to decide for yourself whether first trimester screening is a good option for you. You have the right to know. But you also have the right not to know. You can take your time to find your own personal approach to this issue. It's best to talk to your partner about it and think together about what you hope to gain from the tests and what consequences a possible negative result would have for you. Even if it seems a long way off, think about which invasive tests are an option for you. Can you imagine giving birth to a baby that is not completely healthy? Would you like to know this in advance or would you rather trust that everything is fine with your little one? We can't give you an answer to these personal questions. However, if you would like to find out more about pregnancy check-ups, why not take a look at our workshop "Online prenatal care" over.