You are now 37 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 38. Your baby could weigh around 3.1kg (approximately 6 lbs 13 ozs) or more and measure around 48.5 cm from head to toe (about 19 inches). Babies born after 37 weeks are regarded as being 'on time' or 'term'. Babies born before 37 weeks are regarded as premature.

The proportion of fat on your baby's body has increased from being only 30 grams at 30 weeks, to around 430 grams by the time they are born (approximately 16% of their total body weight). Signs that caregivers look for to indicate that a baby is born 'on time' include the presence of a small pad of 'breast tissue' under their nipples (in both boys and girls) and their fingernails reaching the tips of the fingers, often looking manicured!

The fine covering of hair on your baby's body (called 'lanugo') all but disappears by this stage, but they still tend to be covered by the thick, greasy, white cream called 'vernix'. The testes of most baby boys have now descended from their groin area into their scrotum.

Your baby's placenta now covers about 1/3 of the inner surface of the uterus and processes around 12 litres of blood per hour (or 600 pints in 24 hours).