Your baby’s skin is thickening. It begins to form into more layers. One of these layers is responsible for surface patterns on fingertips, palms and soles. The patterns, our fingerprints, are genetically determined. The brain is under intense development. Your baby needs hundreds of millions of nerve cells for its muscular activity. This development of its nerve pathways means that it can already move consciously and coordinate movements such as sucking its thumb and drinking the amniotic fluid. The diameter of the head is around 43 mm. Until week 20 all babies follow the same pattern of development. From this week onwards they start to draw their own growth graphs, based on their parents' weight and height. Illustration by Karoline Lenhult 

Congratulations! You have reached the midpoint! Your uterus is probably close to your belly button. Are you tired again? After a couple of week’s wellbeing, many women feel that tiredness again. It could be lack of iron. Most pregnant women need some iron supplement during the second half of their pregnancy. Talk to your midwife.