The 21st week of pregnancy

Your baby at 21 weeks

Your baby is the size of a banana in week 21 and measures about 26 cm in length and weighs about 350 grams*. Compared to the 20th week, your baby has already gained a lot of weight.

Did you know a foetus can hear tones and sounds like the voice of their parents even in the womb and recognise them after birth. By the way, your baby hears your voice twice: on the one hand through the abdominal wall, but also from the inside through the vibrations that take place in your body when you speak.

In week 21, your baby has already developed a fairly regular sleep and wake cycle. In the coming weeks, you will be able to sense when your baby is awake and when he or she is sleeping peacefully. In the 21st week, the liver and spleen of your baby will start producing white blood cells. These leukocytes are important for supporting immune defenses later on.

Hello, mummy can you feel me move?

From the 20th week, the time has come: when you could feel your baby's movements for the first time. These may initially feel strange, a fleeting flutter sensation as your baby stretches or turns in the womb. Over the next weeks these will feel stronger and over these coming weeks you and your midwife will be able to tell if it’s an elbow or a leg, head or bottom. So for the time being, this wonderful moment is reserved for you.

Did you know? Mothers who are having a baby for the second time can feel their baby's first movements earlier, perhaps from the 18th week. After all, a second time mother already knows what to look out for.

*Note: The information on length and weight are average values that cannot be applied to individual cases. Every baby develops individually.