Week 24 is often when pregnancy starts to feel real from the outside too. The flutters have become kicks, sometimes strong enough for someone else to feel with a hand on your bump, and your baby is spending more of each day practising for life outside.
Your baby this week
- Lungs
- They've started making surfactant, which helps the tiny air sacs open once your baby breathes air. There's still a lot of maturing ahead.
- Hearing
- Many babies now react to sound: your voice, your heartbeat, a door closing, music you play often.
- Skin
- Still thin and a little wrinkled. Fat builds up over the coming weeks and fills out the face and body.
- Busy and quiet times
- Babies settle into active and resting periods. You may start to notice when yours tends to be busiest.
What you might notice
- Stronger, more regular movement. Kicks, rolls and the odd hiccup. Getting to know your baby's usual pattern now makes a change easier to spot later.
- Practice tightenings. Braxton Hicks are irregular, usually painless and ease when you move or rest. How to tell them from contractions.
- Back ache and twinges low in your belly as the ligaments supporting your uterus stretch.
- Leg cramps, often at night.
- Itchy skin over your bump as it stretches. Mild itching is common; strong itching is in the list below.
Call your midwife, doctor or maternity unit today if
- Your face, hands or feet swell suddenly, or you have a bad headache or blurred vision
- You have bleeding, fluid leaking, or regular tightenings or period-like cramps
- Your baby's movements have slowed down or changed
- You have strong itching, especially on your hands and feet
Any time of day or night. You will never be a nuisance for calling.
Coming up
In many places a glucose test for gestational diabetes is offered around now. Your provider will tell you whether you need one and how to prepare.
Checkups are often every four weeks, then closer together. What happens at each visit.
Your third trimester begins, and providers talk more about paying attention to movement. How to count kicks.
Questions to bring to your next appointment
- If I have a glucose test, do I need to fast first, and how will I hear the result?
- Which signs mean I should call you, rather than wait for my next visit?
- When should I start paying attention to movement, and how would you like me to do it?
For your partner
Rest a hand on the bump when the baby's busy. At 24 weeks the kicks are often strong enough to feel from outside. Then ask what would actually help this week. A back rub counts.
NUGA follows you week by week
Enter your due date once and NUGA knows you're at week 24. The day before each appointment, it gathers what you've noted and the questions to bring.
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This page draws on public guidance from:
General information, not medical advice. Every pregnancy is different, and your midwife or doctor knows yours. Last updated October 2026.