Your Nutrition Tips of This Week

You can still eat healthy while eating out! Going out can be convenient, especially when you are pregnant and extremely busy. Restaurant choices often hold many “hidden” calories, unhealthy fats, and sugars. Consider these tips when you go out to eat.

Don't arrive famished
It is the best way to ensure you do not overeat. Try to eat a piece of fruit, vegetables, crackers, or a handful of nuts before you go.

Your Wellness Tips This Week¹

At your next doctor’s visit, you probably will take the glucose screening test. This test usually occurs between the 24th week of pregnancy and the 28th week, or earlier if you have risk factors. Find out more information on the screening, diagnosis and follow-up process of gestational diabetes mellitus here.

Your Baby's Development at Week 24¹

During your 24th week of pregnancy, your baby’s face is almost completely formed, down to the tiny eyelashes.

• When you are 24 weeks pregnant, your baby is about 20.5 cm long, close to the length of a banana, and weighs about 0.7 kg.
• Which way is up? Your baby can probably figure it out — now that his inner ear, which controls balance, has finished developing. He might realise whether he is upside down or right side up inside your amniotic sac. His skin is now translucent, and may take on a pinkish hue, due to the visible blood in the capillaries.
• Your baby will probably continue to become more active:
  • Your baby’s movements show your doctor that your baby is in good health.
  • His movements right now are important for stimulating muscle growth, keeping joints flexible and strengthening bones.
  • Right now, your baby probably is gaining about 0.2kg each week.

Your Changing Body at Week 24 ^{2, 3}

During this 24th week of pregnancy, hopefully you are continuing to feel fairly good. You might be learning to adjust to your growing abdomen and shifting center of balance.

• Your rib cage is continuing to expand to house your expanding lungs. After your baby is born, your rib cage will return to its normal size.
• Blood vessels in your breasts continue to become more visible.
• You may experience a shift in hormones at 24 weeks pregnant: As you progress through your pregnancy, various hormones are produced at different rates to meet the changing needs of your baby:
  • In the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, your body produced more progesterone.
  • At 21 to 22 weeks pregnant, your body produced equal amounts of progesterone and oestrogen.
  • Starting the 24th week of pregnancy, your body’s amount of oestrogen is higher.
• Because your urine flow probably remains slow at your 24th week of pregnancy with your growing uterus and hormone-relaxed muscles, you may want to continue to watch for a possible urinary infection. Call your doctor if you:
  • Urinate more than usual.
  • Feel burning when you urinate.
  • Have a fever, abdominal pain, or severe backache.

References:

¹ Verywellfamily. Week 24 of your pregnancy. Available [Online] at: https://www.verywellfamily.com/24-weeks-pregnant-4159040. Accesed on 25 August 2023.
² Inne. Hormonal changes during pregnancy. Available [Online] at: https://www.inne.io/en/blog/article/hormonal-changes-during-pregnancy. Accessed on 26 August 2023.
³ Habak PJ et al. Urinary Tract Infection in Pregnancy. StatPearls Publishing. Jan 2023. Available [Online] at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537047/
* Comparison among all maternal milk in Singapore as of January 2022, as declared on the label.

SG.2022.23688.SMM.1 (v1.2)