Third Trimester Checklist: What to Do and When

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The third trimester brings more appointments and practical decisions, but everything does not need to happen at once. Use this timeline as a conversation guide with your own maternity team.

Table of Contents

Weeks 28 to 31

Confirm your appointment schedule and recommended tests
Ask about vaccines recommended for you
Review medicines and new symptoms
Begin discussing birth preferences and pain relief options
Learn how your clinician wants you to monitor fetal movement

Weeks 32 to 35

Choose a pediatric care provider if required locally
Plan transport and support for labor
Arrange care for older children or pets
Check leave, insurance, and hospital paperwork
Ask about feeding support and newborn care

Around weeks 36 to 37

Pack the hospital bag
Install the infant car seat and follow manufacturer instructions
Discuss any recommended group B streptococcus testing
Confirm where to go and whom to call when labor may begin
Prepare a few simple meals and essential household supplies

The final weeks

Keep appointments and ask how your care team handles pregnancies that continue past the estimated due date. Review the signs of labor and when your clinician wants you to make contact.

Know urgent warning signs

Contact your maternity team promptly for reduced fetal movement, bleeding, leaking fluid, regular painful contractions before term, severe headache, vision changes, sudden swelling, chest pain, breathing difficulty, or any symptom your clinician has told you to report. Use emergency services for severe symptoms.

Plan for the first days at home

Identify who can bring food, handle errands, and protect rest. Keep postpartum and newborn contact numbers visible. Support is most useful when it covers practical tasks rather than expecting the recovering parent to host visitors.

This article is educational and cannot account for an individual pregnancy. Follow your obstetrician or midwife and seek urgent care when advised.