33 weeks pregnant

What happens at 33 weeks pregnant?

At 33 weeks a baby is around 43.7 cm long, from head to heel, about the size of a five-litre lolly jar. That is roughly 7½ months, in the third trimester, with about 7 weeks to go until 40.

Published length

43.7 cm long, from head to heel

In months

Roughly 7½ months

Trimester

third · 7 weeks to go

What is developing at 33 weeks

The bones are hardening — all except the skull, which stays soft with gaps between the plates so it can move through the birth canal. The immune system is developing as antibodies cross the placenta. The pupils can now widen and narrow in response to light.

The size comparison above is a five-litre lolly jar, which measures 44 cm base to lid. 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.

33 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 43.7 cm the NHS publishes for week 33. Pick whichever ruler you actually have a feel for. Why not fruit.

  • Sweet treats

    a five-litre lolly jar

    44 cm base to lid

  • Australian animals

    a platypus

    45 cm bill to tail

  • The 90s

    a CD tower, twenty-four discs of it

    45 cm top to bottom

  • Sport

    a batting pad

    45 cm top to bottom

  • Things you already own

    a bike pump

    44 cm end to end

  • Gaming

    an arcade cabinet's control panel

    45 cm side to side

  • Fast food

    an eighteen-inch party pizza

    45.7 cm across

  • Toys

    a Lego Technic box

    48 cm side to side

Your dates, from 33 weeks

Set to someone who is exactly 33 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?

Measure your baby in

The lolly aisle, scaled up week by week.

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 33 weeks

How many months is 33 weeks pregnant?
33 weeks is roughly 7½ 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 33 weeks?
The NHS publishes around 43.7 cm long, from head to heel for week 33. Rather than one fruit, that length is offered here against eight rulers, each object carrying its own measurement: a five-litre lolly jar (44 cm base to lid), a platypus (45 cm bill to tail), a CD tower, twenty-four discs of it (45 cm top to bottom), a batting pad (45 cm top to bottom), 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 33 weeks?
Week 33 is in the third 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

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.

Cream and peach BubSync graphic reading “Weeks pregnant calculator,” with text about counting weeks and days from a due date, a progress bar illustration and a note that sizes are compared to everyday objects.

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