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Pregnancy at week 5

4-minute read

Your baby

By week 5, your baby has burrowed into the wall of your uterus. It is now called an embryo and measures about 2mm from end to end. The foundations for all of the major organs are in place. The baby is inside an amniotic sac, a bag of fluid that protects it.

The cells in the baby are still dividing. In week 5, the brain and spinal column are already starting to form. The spinal cord is called the neural tube and is developing as an open groove. Your baby’s head is much larger than the rest of the body at this stage as the brain and face are developing very rapidly.

Your baby’s heart will start beating this week. The blood vessels are already starting to form and blood is circulating in the baby’s body. A string of blood vessels connects you to your baby, and this will eventually become the umbilical cord.


Your baby at 5 weeks

Length:2mm

Your body

Week 5 is when most women start to wonder whether they may be pregnant. You will have missed your period, but you may be feeling like it’s just about to start. You may notice your breasts are larger and feel sore, and you may be feeling quite tired.

Some women may feel nauseous, or notice they need to go to the toilet more often than usual.

You will also be producing more human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).

Things to remember

You can do a pregnancy test the day after you miss your period. There are many different tests available, so make sure you follow the instructions carefully.

If the pregnancy test shows you’re pregnant, it’s a good idea to see your doctor as soon as possible. They will confirm you are pregnant and advise you on how to look after yourself and your baby.

Finding out you’re pregnant can be very exciting. But for some women, pregnancy is unplanned. Whether the baby was planned or not, you may feel a range of emotions from joy to surprise to shock.

It’s important not to drink any alcohol, smoke cigarettes or take illicit drugs if you’re pregnant since these can all be very harmful for your baby.

Read next


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Last reviewed: August 2020


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5 weeks pregnant: Key points

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4 weeks pregnant: Key points

When you are 4 weeks pregnant your body and your new baby are undergoing rapid changes. The placenta forms and begins producing a hormone called human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), which is the substance a pregnancy test detects to confirm you are pregnant. The cells which are growing into your new baby establish membranes which connect them to the placenta and prepare themselves for differentiation into different types of cells, which will occur next week when you are 5 weeks pregnant. These developments may cause you to experience unusual emotions and also cause changes in your body such as darkening of the areolas of your nipples.

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Week by week pregnancy- antenatal care at 7 weeks pregnant

Your doctor can look at your foetus’s features to determine how old they are – find out how. You need to talk to your doctor if you experience very severe morning sickness as you may not be getting all the nutrients you and your baby need or early pregnancy spotting (spot bleeding) as you may be at risk of miscarriage.

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By week 15, your baby may be able to respond to sound and light, while you are gaining weight and your skin and hair are changing.

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1 week pregnant

The first week of pregnancy occurs before you actually conceive your new baby. It’s a little confusing - doctors begin counting the weeks of your pregnancy from the date your last menstrual bleeding started, not from the date you conceived. Conception, that very important moment at which your partner’s sperm fertilises your egg, does not occur until approximately two weeks after the start of your last period. However, your body is already preparing itself for pregnancy, should conception occur, so this week officially marks the beginning of the pregnancy.

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2 weeks pregnant

When you are two weeks pregnant, your body is preparing for pregnancy but your egg has not yet been fertilised. Typically your egg will be released from your ovaries at the end of the second week of pregnancy and conception will occur on the first day of the third week of pregnancy. If you want to get pregnant, make sure you have plenty of sex this week so your partner’s sperm is ready and waiting to fertilise your egg.

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