The second trimester runs from week 14 to the end of week 27. For many people it's the easiest stretch: the sickness and tiredness often lift, your bump starts to show, and somewhere in these weeks you feel your baby move for the first time.
Your baby, week by week
Your baby can squint, frown and grimace, as the facial muscles get to work.
The ears have moved into place, and your baby may start to hear sounds.
Your baby is swallowing more fluid, which is good practice for the gut.
Your baby can grasp, and may hold the umbilical cord.
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.
The eyelids, closed since early pregnancy, start to open.
What you might notice
- More energy, as the sickness and tiredness of the first weeks often ease.
- A bump that starts to show, often somewhere between weeks 12 and 16, and earlier in a second pregnancy.
- First flutters. Usually felt between weeks 16 and 24, often later in a first pregnancy. More at week 18.
- Backache and round ligament pain, sharp twinges low in your belly as it stretches.
- A stuffy nose, nosebleeds or bleeding gums, from the extra blood flow.
- Heartburn and leg cramps, which tend to build towards the end of this trimester.
- Braxton Hicks, painless practice tightenings that can start from around week 21. How to tell them apart.
Pregnancy symptoms, week by week →
Appointments and tests
- Every 4 weeks
- Routine visits usually continue about once a month: blood pressure, a urine check, and measuring your bump.
- Around week 20
- The anatomy scan, a detailed look at your baby's growth. It's usually when you can learn the sex, if you want to.
- Weeks 24–28
- A glucose screening test for gestational diabetes, and recommended vaccines are often discussed.
- Week 28
- An anti-D (RhoGAM) injection, if your blood type is Rh-negative.
What happens at each prenatal visit →
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
- Once you know your baby's pattern, their movements slow down or change
- You have a fever, or it burns or stings when you pee
Any time of day or night. You will never be a nuisance for calling.
