Pregnancy week by week: your baby’s development, check-ups and advice

In France, pregnancy is counted in weeks from the first day of your last period. The first-trimester scan then confirms the start date of the pregnancy.

In France, the due date is set at 41 weeks. A birth is full term between 37 weeks and 41 weeks + 6 days; from 41 weeks, closer monitoring (two to three times a week) is arranged at the maternity unit.

In France, three scans are recommended: between 11 and 13 weeks + 6 days, between 20 and 25 weeks, then between 30 and 35 weeks. Others may be prescribed depending on your situation.

First movements are usually felt between 18 and 22 weeks, sometimes earlier in a second pregnancy.

If you have bleeding, leaking fluid, regular contractions before 37 weeks, fewer baby movements, fever or a severe headache with blurred vision, go to your maternity unit’s emergency department. In a life-threatening emergency, call 15 or 112 in France, or your local emergency number.

Weeks of amenorrhoea (SA) are counted from the first day of your last period; weeks of pregnancy in the French sense are counted from conception, which happens about two weeks later. The number of weeks of pregnancy therefore equals the number of weeks of amenorrhoea minus two. Medical follow-up in France uses weeks of amenorrhoea.