22 weeks pregnant

What happens at 22 weeks pregnant?
At 22 weeks a baby is around 27.8 cm long, from head to heel, about the size of a birthday cake, eleven inches. That is roughly 5 months, in the second trimester, with about 18 weeks to go until 40.
Published length
27.8 cm long, from head to heel
In months
Roughly 5 months
Trimester
second · 18 weeks to go
What is developing at 22 weeks
Touch, taste and hearing are all sharpening. The baby has a working grip and will take hold of the umbilical cord. The lips and eyebrows are more distinct, and the skin is still wrinkled and translucent with blood vessels visible beneath it.
The size comparison above is a birthday cake, eleven inches, which measures 28 cm across. Every comparison on this site is a real object with a real measurement, checked against the published length. The same week is drawn in seven other sets below, from Australian animals to fast food, if this one means nothing to you.
22 weeks, in eight rulers
Every other pregnancy tool measures a baby in fruit. This one offers eight sets to choose from, and each object below carries its real measurement, checked against the 27.8 cm the NHS publishes for week 22. Pick whichever ruler you actually have a feel for. Why not fruit.

Sweet treats
a birthday cake, eleven inches
28 cm across

Australian animals
a bandicoot
29 cm head and body

The 90s
a Sega Mega Drive
28 cm side to side

Sport
a rugby ball
29 cm point to point

Things you already own
a frying pan
28 cm across

Gaming
a Steam Deck
29.8 cm side to side

Fast food
a family chicken bucket
28 cm across the lid

Toys
an Action Man
30 cm head to boots
Your dates, from 22 weeks
Set to someone who is exactly 22 weeks today, so the due date below is the one that implies. Change the date to your own and everything follows from it — nothing is saved unless you do.
How far along am I?
Do not know your due date yet? The due date calculator estimates one from your last period. A dating ultrasound is more accurate than any calendar method — if your pregnancy care team has given you a date, use theirs.
Questions about 22 weeks
- How many months is 22 weeks pregnant?
- 22 weeks is roughly 5 months. Months are an awkward unit in pregnancy because they do not divide evenly into weeks — a calendar month averages about 4.3 weeks, which is why 40 weeks works out a little over nine months rather than ten. Appointments and scans are always booked in weeks, so weeks are the figure worth carrying.
- How big is a baby at 22 weeks?
- The NHS publishes around 27.8 cm long, from head to heel for week 22. Rather than one fruit, that length is offered here against eight rulers, each object carrying its own measurement: a birthday cake, eleven inches (28 cm across), a bandicoot (29 cm head and body), a Sega Mega Drive (28 cm side to side), a rugby ball (29 cm point to point), and four more. Published lengths are averages across many babies, not a measurement of any particular one, and a scan estimate that differs is a normal thing rather than a finding.
- What trimester is 22 weeks?
- Week 22 is in the second trimester, on the commonly published split of weeks 1–12, 13–26 and 27 onward. The boundaries are conventions for talking about pregnancy rather than biological switches — nothing changes overnight at week 13 or week 27.
Where these numbers come from
- NHS — Week-by-week guide to pregnancy — The published length of a baby at each week of pregnancy — measured head to bottom until week 20 and head to heel from week 20 — and what is developing at that stage.
- Pregnancy, Birth and Baby — Pregnancy week by week — The Australian Government health service’s week-by-week account of how a pregnancy is counted and what develops at each stage.
Stop doing this maths in your head
Once the counting turns into feeds, sleeps and nappies, BubSync keeps that record shared across everyone caring for your baby.
