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How your baby is growing
It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is over 21 inches long. After months of anticipation, your due date arrives but you may still be pregnant. You may not be as late as you think, especially if you're relying solely on a due date calculated from the day of your last period because sometimes women ovulate later than expected.

Even with reliable dating, some women have prolonged pregnancies for no apparent reason. At this point, most of your baby’s vernix is gone, 15% of her body is fat and your baby is fully formed and beautiful.

How your life's changing
You probably wake up every morning wondering whether today will be ‘the day,’ and are likely to get impatient with people ringing up to see if you’ve gone into labour yet. You may have trouble sleeping, or anxious dreams – or worry that your waters will break in public.

One of the most obvious 40 weeks pregnant signs of labour is the contractions. The 40 weeks pregnant contractions increase in intensity as it progresses. If they are coming every 5 minutes and last for one minute, it’s probably time to go to hospital.

Have you noticed an increase in vaginal discharge? If you have a mucus discharge with a little blood, this is the jelly-like plug that seals the cervix called ‘the show’.

What to consider
If there are no signs of labour – try a gentle walk or pop to the shops for some last minute bits for your baby. Keeping active is a great way to stimulate labour.

At 41 weeks, if you’re baby still hasn’t arrived, you may be offered a membrane sweep. Speak to your midwife about methods of induction.  

If you still haven’t met your baby – why not try some homeopathic remedies, raspberry leaf tea (don’t worry if you don’t get that readily available) or having sex with your partner. These techniques are all rumoured to help kick start your labour