Pregnancy library

Pregnancy week by week

Weeks 1 to 42, each one a full guide written for antenatal care in India. Find your week, or scroll the index below.

Written from established medical guidance — independent clinical review in progress.

Find your week

Enter the first day of your last period. Pregnancy weeks are counted from that day, not from the day you conceived.

First day of your last period

This is a lookup, not a dating tool. A first-trimester scan is the most accurate way to confirm or correct your dates — how gestational age is counted

All 42 weeks

Each week opens its own guide in SHELY Varsity. Badges mark the weeks when a scan, test or vaccine is normally scheduled.

First trimester — weeks 1 to 13

Schemes differ on where this trimester ends: most count the first trimester through week 13, a few through week 12. Source

Second trimester — weeks 14 to 27

The second trimester runs from week 13 to the end of week 27, so week 13 sits on the boundary and is listed above. Source

Third trimester — weeks 28 to 42

Week 28 is the formal start of the third trimester, which runs until your baby arrives. Source

What antenatal care looks like in India

Two things worth knowing early: how many visits to expect, and what you can get free.

The ANC visit schedule

India's standard ANC schedule, aligned with WHO and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, usually means visits at booking, around 14 to 20 weeks, then weeks 24, 28, 32 and 34 to 36, and weekly after that — roughly 8 to 12 visits in all.

Women with high-risk features such as gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, anaemia, a previous preterm birth, twins or a previous caesarean are seen more often.

Source: the week 22 guide

Free supplements at your PHC

Folate, iron, calcium and vitamin D are free at your government Primary Health Centre. The IFA tablet under Anemia Mukt Bharat carries 60 mg elemental iron plus 500 mcg folic acid, one a day. Calcium tablets are usually 500 mg twice daily, started around 14 to 16 weeks.

Register at your PHC at the first antenatal visit, ideally 6 to 8 weeks, collect your monthly supply from the ANM or ASHA worker, and track it on your Mother and Child Protection (MCP) card.

Source: prenatal vitamins in India, compared

Tests and vaccines that are scheduled by week

Signs that need care the same day

Most of pregnancy is uneventful, but some symptoms always need urgent review. Contact your doctor, go to the nearest hospital with maternity services, or call 102 or 108.

Any vaginal bleeding in the second or third trimester, especially with pain or contractions.
A gush or steady trickle of fluid from the vagina.
Regular, painful contractions before 37 weeks — more than 4 to 6 an hour with cramping or back pain.
Severe headache with vision changes, severe pain in the upper abdomen, or sudden swelling of the face and hands — warning signs of preeclampsia from week 20 onward.
A clear, lasting drop in your baby's movements compared with their usual pattern.
Fever above 38°C, burning urine, or one-sided lower back pain.
Severe, persistent itching of the palms and soles.
Calf pain or swelling on one side, chest pain, or sudden breathlessness — this is an emergency.

This is the red-flag list from the week 22 guide. Each week's guide carries the list for that stage, because some of these warnings only apply from a certain week. Read it in full

Read by trimester

If you would rather read a whole stage than a single week.

First trimester Weeks 4 to 12, symptom by symptom, with what Indian antenatal practice does at each step.Second trimester Week 13 to the end of week 27 — energy returns, the anomaly scan, and first kicks.Third trimester Week 28 until your baby arrives — symptoms, monitoring and the run-up to labour.

This is general information, not a diagnosis, and not a substitute for antenatal care. Anything that worries you is worth taking to your doctor, ANM or ASHA worker.

Written from established medical guidance — independent clinical review in progress.