The fourth trimester is the 12 weeks following the birth of your baby. Not everyone has heard of it, but every parent and their newborn baby will experience it. It is a time of great physical and emotional change as your baby adjusts to being outside the womb, and you adjust to your new life as a parent.
Human babies are born much earlier on in development because of the size of our brains. This means that our babies need to do a lot of their development on the outside compared to other mammals would do it in their mum’s tummies.
There are lots of differences between being in the womb and life on the outside.
When you hold your baby, they are as close to being back inside your tummy as they can be. They can smell you, hear your heartbeat, feel the warmth of your skin and they are close to their food too. Your baby’s brain still has a lot of developing to do and your responsive care will help them with this.
Did you get a baby box? If you did, it is good to familiarise yourself with the baby wrap before baby arrives. This is ideal for helping your baby feel safe and secure, whilst giving you two hands. It is also fantastic for partners or another adult supporting you to use to give you a break to catch up on some rest. It comes with instructions but it can be helpful to see it in action – YouTube is fantastic for this!