11 weeks pregnant

What to expect this week

What's happening in week 11

At 11 weeks, your baby is starting to look like a real little person and you might even have the tiniest hint of a bump!

Your baby at week 11

It won't be long before your baby is fully formed even at only 4cm long, and will then spend the rest of the pregnancy growing (as will you!). They already have little fingernails in place and their hands will soon start to open and close. Though it’s still too soon to tell the gender by ultrasound, your tiny baby will be starting to form testes or ovaries.

At 11 weeks your baby’s head is already quite well developed and all the bones in their face are now present. Around this time the ears will have migrated closer to their final location, the tongue and palate will be present in the mouth and there will be open nasal passages at the tip of their nose. Meanwhile the hair follicles are beginning to form on their crown of their head.

Their body is starting to straighten out and become more proportionate, although their head still makes up one third of their overall length. Although you can't feel it yet, your baby is doing a whole lot of wriggling and is now able to stretch and somersault inside your womb! Your baby may also have a case of the hiccups right now, as their diaphragm forms.

You at 11 weeks pregnant

By week 11 you probably have an appointment lined up for your dating scan – the most exciting part of the first trimester – seeing your baby on the screen for the first time (and getting your due date). You might also have had your first batch of antenatal tests by now, too and gone through your medical history and some form filling with your midwife. Check out our pregnancy testing and screening page for more info on what your blood and wee will be screened for.
You might be thinking about breaking the news to work colleagues and your wider family and friends around now. Make sure you know all the rules and regs for pregnant women in the workplace by reading up on our maternity rights page, and ensure your employer carries out a risk assessment once you have informed them of your pregnancy, so you and your baby are not put at risk while you carry out your work.  

What to think about in week 11

Now that your body is undergoing so many changes, you might find you have to adapt your existing beauty and skincare routine a bit. Your skin could go either way – mega dry or mega oily! One skin problem that worries many women in pregnancy is the blight of the dreaded stretch mark! Unfortunately, you are either going to be pre-disposed to getting stretch marks or not, but you can help keep your skin soft and flexible by using one of the many anti-stretch mark products in the chemists – or some women swear by cheap and cheerful cocoa butter or coconut oil! Applying regularly during pregnancy and after you've given birth could help the marks fade faster.