Every wondered how you should change your teaching to suit the different trimesters and how you do this with women in your class across different trimesters?
The third trimester is the final stage of pregnancy, culminating in labor and the birth of the child. By this point, the mother has probably gained between 20 and 30 pounds. (Although only a quarter of this weight is the actual baby—the rest is mostly the support equipment that keeps the baby alive.)
Extra weight can cause great discomfort. The pressure of the crowded uterus on the internal organs results in heartburn, frequent urination, lower back pain, cramping in the front and side abdominals, and shortness of breath. The large, unyielding mass of her belly causes interrupted sleep, difficulty moving, and clumsiness. The mother has unstable joints due to the hormone relaxin, which allows her pelvis to widen so that she can deliver, and may she experience dizziness as well as swelling in the hands and feet because of slowed circulation caused by the hormone progesterone.
In the last couple of months, the body prepares for the delivery. The mother will experience Braxton-Hicks contractions, or sporadic tightening of the uterine muscles, in practice for the muscle contractions during labor that push the baby out. The baby will drop down in the uterus toward the end of the ninth month, which can make walking and sitting difficult. In the last few weeks of the pregnancy, her cervix will begin to slowly open (dilate) and her pelvic floor will soften until she goes into labor—usually indicated by membranes rupturing (water breaking) and/or contractions becoming intense and more frequent.
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