Week 5: To tell or not to tell?
Image: @mrs.pattymullen
Welcome to week five of the Happy Parents Happy Baby guide to pregnancy, birth and beyond.
This week we'll be covering:
We hope you enjoy it!
To tell or not to tell…
If you’ve just found out you’re pregnant, perhaps you’re wondering when might be the best time to share your news with family and friends?
Traditionally people would wait until the end of the first trimester when statistically the chance of miscarriage drops. But is this an outdated view? Let’s look at some of the benefits of sharing now or waiting until later:
Benefits of sharing now:
You want to share your excitement: having a baby is BIG news - it’s natural to want to share it with your nearest and dearest.
Support: the early weeks of pregnancy can be some of the trickiest, with symptoms such as sickness and tiredness difficult to hide. It can make life easier if people around you understand the reason you might call in sick or cancel plans.
No pretending: social occasions can be a challenge if people are offering food and drinks you’re trying to avoid.
Work safety: perhaps you work in a job which needs some safety adjustments during your pregnancy and it would be better to do this earlier rather than later.
Miscarriage: Britney Spears was recently praised for ‘breaking the 12-week stigma’ after announcing she had an early miscarriage. Supporters said many families have historically felt this is something they had to go through alone.
Benefits of sharing later:
An exciting secret: in a world where we are prone to ‘overshare’, it can be refreshing to keep some things to yourself and enjoy them in private.
Time to adjust: finding out you are pregnant can take some time to get your head around, especially if unplanned - there’s no need to rush an announcement if you don’t feel ready.
Older children: nine months can feel a long time to older siblings who are excited to meet the new baby. Telling them later gives them less of a wait.
Miscarriage: you might feel that should you have a miscarriage you would rather not share this with other people. The chance of a miscarriage after the first trimester is lower.
As you can see, there’s no one fits all approach when it comes to announcing your pregnancy news! It’s an entirely personal choice and it might feel right to tell different people at different times.
Your baby’s development in week five
Size of a sesame seed
Around 2mm long
Your baby’s nervous system has started developing and its major organs are beginning to form, including the heart.
Blood has started to circulate through tiny blood vessels and these blood vessels are what forms your baby’s umbilical cord.
Last week we told you that your baby is currently an embryo with three layers of cells. This week the outer layer is starting to form a hollow tube called the neural tube. This will become your baby’s brain and spinal cord.
No wonder you might be feeling tired!
Week 5 Checklist
You might like to:
Cut down caffeine, cut out alcohol and stop smoking. Seek support if you need helping with this.
Start a pregnancy diary. It’s a great way to keep track of how you felt and looked during the nine months before your baby arrives.
Speak to your employer. You might need to carry out a risk assessment if you’re worried about the impact on your job on your pregnancy.
Spotlight on: Early pregnancy bleeding
Each week we'll be delving into the common symptoms of early pregnancy and bringing you top tips for managing them from our team of specialists and parent community.
Bleeding during early pregnancy is common but can feel worrying…
Why? Light bleeding or spotting without pain is relatively common before 12 weeks of pregnancy. This usually isn’t serious but you should always speak to your GP, midwife or local early pregnancy unit to be checked just in case.
You may experience some light bleeding or ‘spotting’ and this is called implantation bleeding. This happens when the embryo embeds itself in the wall of your womb. It may happen at the time when your period would have been due.
Bleeding can also occur due to changes in your cervix caused by pregnancy. You may find that you bleed after sex, for example.
Vaginal bleeding can also be a sign of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy. In the first 3 months of pregnancy, 1 in 4 women will have a miscarriage.
Top Tips for early pregnancy bleeding
'If you experience early pregnancy bleeding try to keep calm. Call your GP, midwife or local early pregnancy unit and they will advise you further. If you are bleeding heavily, experiencing pain or feeling unwell, it would be more appropriate to go straight to A&E ‘ HPHB Obstetric Doctor - Dr Will Dooley.
Birth story of the week
This week we catch up with Nick and Lucie who joined our Clapham antenatal course who share the positive birth of their baby Arlo.
“I got admitted to hospital at 41 weeks due to low foetal heart rate, luckily our bags were packed and ready to go, everything ticked off our list from HPHB - all Nick had to do was go home and pick them up. The next day I was given a sweep and a pessary to get things going. I had the pessary put in at 12.45/1pm and after a few laps of the hospital things got going very quickly. After an examination we discovered I was already 4cm and able to move into our room. As we were taught on the HPHB hypnobirthing masterclass, we had packed everything to make the room a peaceful and calm space however I actually needed to push almost as soon as we had settled in!!!
“The first moment I saw Arlo I felt so lucky - when the baby was handed to me, I can’t explain the rush of love I felt. It was literally the most immense, amazing experience of my life. I didn’t have any expectation of how this moment would feel and I was just blown away by it - it was absolutely amazing.
“I feel like HPHB really covers every aspect of pregnancy, childbirth and the 4th trimester. All the experts in each area were super knowledgeable and practicing in that field, which I think really helped.”
What a great birth story - welcome to the world Arlo!
Treat of the week
This week we are loving this Bump to Birthday journal by From You to Me.
With space for photos and scans, as well as prompts for parents to record their experiences, it’s a great way to keep a memento of pregnancy, birth and baby’s first year.
Products are based on suggestions from our specialists and community of parents. We may earn commission from shopping links.
Join our community
Happy Parents Happy Baby is here to support you through every step of your pregnancy, birth and parenting journey.
Connect with other parents-to-be and learn everything you need to know, by joining our award-winning antenatal classes.
That's all for now...
Thank you so much for joining us - see you next week!
Information you
can trust
Our articles are based on the latest-evidence based guidelines and scientific research and are written by our team of medical experts.
Coming up
next week
Six weeks : feeling a little peaky?
Spotlight on: pregnancy discharge
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