Your baby now recognises your voice and may be calmed by the sound of it (observed by their heart rate slowing). They may also recognise your partner's voice and different types of music. When observing unborn babies with ultrasound they can respond to relaxing music by turning towards it, and curl up and away from very loud rock, rap and pop type music. Studies have also shown that newborns may be soothed by particular sounds after birth (as long as the baby is not hungry). One soothing sound is 'white noise', a mixture of low, middle and high tones from the full spectrum of the human ear. White noise can be created by the sound of a vacuum cleaner or the inside of a car travelling.
Your newborn baby may quieten when listening to songs played regularly to them during the last three months of pregnancy. One study showed how a group of babies were calmed when they heard the theme song of the TV soap show Neighbours, presumably because their mother watched it daily during pregnancy!
Your baby might be partial to the Neighbours theme song too! Image: iStock.
Backache and sciatica
Many women find their posture noticeably changes to compensate for their increasing belly size. This can affect your centre of gravity and balance as well as possibly leading to back pain. Around 50 to 75 percent of pregnant women complain of backache at some stage during their pregnancy with 33 percent finding it a problem, inhibiting their lifestyle. Pain may be felt in the upper or lower back (or both) and it's sometimes complicated by sciatica (a shooting nerve pain down the buttock and back of one leg). You can find out more about backache, sciatica and things you can do to help prevent or relieve it here.
Tiredness and insomnia
The later months of pregnancy can bring tiredness and insomnia, perhaps with difficulty getting to sleep or waking frequently because of pregnancy discomforts or needing to urinate. Lack of sleep can be quite distressing for some women, although it is generally Mother Nature's way of preparing you for caring for your new baby!
If you are waking in the middle of the night and unable to get back to sleep you may wish to try a relaxation visualisation.
Try some relaxation techniques if you're having trouble sleeping. Image: iStock.
Many women experience mood swings and sometimes cry for no apparent reason during pregnancy. Having a baby is an amazing transitional life change, along with birth, puberty and menopause. Life changing times often involve immense emotional release. Think back to puberty and all the emotional and physical changes you may have experienced along the way. Pregnancy is very similar, even though women often feel they must be rational and predictable. It helps if you can ride the roller coaster and surround yourself with understanding people.
For partners, it can be hard at times to understand why she starts crying uncontrollably while watching the news or a video, or why she is more sensitive about your relationship or insistent of having things 'just right' for the new baby. This is her natural maternal instinct (hence, the nesting process begins).
Pregnancy is an ideal time for a couple to bond and to strengthen their relationship, but it's not always easy. How about getting away from it all and taking a BabyMoon before baby makes three.
You may start thinking where your newborn baby will sleep. Perhaps while shopping and comparing nursery equipment or dusting off a family heirloom, such as cot or bassinet, or simply considering having your baby sleep in bed with you.
The Alexander Technique was created by an Australian actor called Frederick Alexander. The therapy focuses on improving the physical and psychological well-being by correcting the way the body is held and used. Alexander believed that incorrect posture and movement caused the spinal curves to sag and distort, making the muscles short and stiff, resulting in headaches, strain, back pain, stiffness, fatigue, poor coordination and the impairment of the body's natural reflexes.