Lots of people say 24 weeks, I know others who feel the relief at 28 weeks when the chance of breathing air without medical intervention shoots significantly higher, but my midwife says they don't play anything by ear until full term at 37 weeks...hehe. It's all stats and averages.
I find it comforting to reach every Thursday when my weeks roll-over, but I know 2 little lovelies who arrived early at 32 & 33 weeks who were immediately fine and sent home from hospital straight away so I'm also secretly thinking 32 weeks will be a big personal relief for me.
Here's the Emma's diary update for 28 weeks which mentions the great "odds" of independent breathing from that point ...
"Having doubled in size in the past month your baby is now the size of a bag of flour weighing in at two and a half pounds (1000g) with a length of fifteen inches/37.5cm.
At 28 weeks pregnant your baby's eyes are blinking and lashes have formed. Developing eyesight means that your baby can sense light filtering in from the womb. Crucially, the lungs are now capable of breathing air because if birth occurs now survival is more or less a certainty with very little medical intervention. The brain is continuing to develop billions of neurons in preparation for the outside world.
Inside the uterus the formation of tiny capillaries is ensuring that your baby has a healthy pink glow. Antibodies are being soaked up from your blood to strengthen your baby’s immune system and prepare for fighting disease after birth. The major organ systems such as the brain, lungs and liver are having the finishing touches applied to them and body fat is up to 3%."
