Week 6

Carola Felchner is a freelance writer in the medical department and a certified training and nutrition advisor. She worked for various specialist magazines and online portals before becoming a freelance journalist in 2015. Before starting her internship, she studied translation and interpreting in Kempten and Munich.

More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.

Do you feel it? Most likely not yet - but your gynecologist does! The doctor can feel the pregnancy for the first time in the 6th week of pregnancy. The embryo in your belly is developing rapidly. Your hormones are working at full speed and will often turn your everyday life into a roller coaster ride of emotions and sensitivities. Read here what happens in the 6th week of pregnancy: Signs of the hormonal change, why you are probably "completely normal emotional" and what you can do if nausea is your constant companion.

6th week of pregnancy: development of your baby

In the 6th week of pregnancy, your child's heart beats for the first time. If it is still a little sluggish at the beginning, it will soon accelerate to a brisk 100 to 120 beats per minute. That's about twice as fast as yours knocks.

In general, the embryo develops rapidly in your stomach in the 6th week of pregnancy. It changes from a “flat UFO”, which it still resembles as an oval germinal disc in 5 weeks of pregnancy, to a “curved worm”. The tiny figure already has a thickening at the top, which later becomes the head. The mouth opens, the lower jaw and vocal cords take shape. The curved back ends in a kind of tail in the 6th week of pregnancy, but this disappears in the course of further development. Nerve tracts, the inner ear, intestines, lungs, liver, thyroid gland begin to develop. The stomach and kidneys are already working. They produce gastric juice and urine.

The umbilical cord leads from the belly of the embryo to the chorionic tissue, from which the placenta has been developing since about the 4th week of pregnancy. It is therefore "connected" to the supply.

6th week of pregnancy ultrasound: That can be seen

The 6th week pregnancy is an exciting time for you as your baby is now clearly visible. In the 6th week of gestation, the embryo is a curved worm about two to four millimeters long, in which the arm and leg systems can already be guessed at. The pulse rate in the blood vessels of the umbilical cord can also be seen.

6th week of pregnancy: That will change for you

Party time for the pregnancy hormones! And they know how to celebrate. However, you have the "hangover": In the 6th week of pregnancy, it is likely that you feel sick, tired and exhausted. If you have the impression that your tongue and oral mucosa are swollen, this is not necessarily a sign of illness at this stage, but a "party symptom" - as well as a bitter, metallic taste in the mouth.

The hormones HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), estrogen, relaxin and progesterone are particularly active in the 6th week of pregnancy. HCG prevents further ovulation and menstruation in the 6th week of pregnancy. Estrogen makes the breast more sensitive and the areolas darken. Relaxin works in the 6th week of pregnancy to make the connective tissue more elastic. This should make the birth easier later. Progesterone relaxes the uterine muscles so that your baby is nice and soft and can grow comfortably.

In contrast, the cervix becomes significantly more rigid and immobile in the 6th week of pregnancy. In technical jargon, this phenomenon is called the "Pschyrembelsches stick-cloth-sign" - the first sign of pregnancy palpable by the doctor!

6th week of pregnancy: relieve symptoms

You thought you were dancing and singing with your mother's happiness, but mainly lying on the sofa or kneeling in front of the toilet bowl? It's not pleasant, but nothing to worry about. Symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and tiredness are quite normal if you are 6 weeks pregnant. To alleviate these undesirable side effects, you can do the following at home:

Eat the first meal of the day lying in bed (e.g. rusks and mint tea or a smoothie). You can either prepare them the night before and place them next to your bed (thermos) or appoint your partner for room service.
It is better to eat five small meals throughout the day than three large ones.
Only spice up your food a little.
Avoid carbonated drinks, acidic juices, and raw onions.
Eat ginger or drink it as a tea.
Deliberately treat yourself to rest breaks throughout the day.

6th week of pregnancy: That is important now

Sad, but a topic that you should not ignore: Even if the fertilization of the egg cell worked, there can be problems on the way to the uterus that still prevent pregnancy. In the case of an ectopic pregnancy, for example, the fertilized egg will implant itself in the fallopian tube. This happens when the path through the fallopian tube to the uterine cavity is blocked or the egg cell is "held up".

At around 95 percent, ectopic pregnancy is by far the most common form of extrauterine pregnancy (EUG), i.e. implantation of the fertilized egg outside the uterus. The remaining five percent are due to ovarian or ectopic pregnancy, for example. Overall, a malnutrition (ectopic implantation) of the fertilized egg occurs in only about one to two percent of all pregnancies.

The pregnancy test is positive for an ectopic pregnancy, but the ultrasound does not show a fruit cavity. In this case, the embryo cannot be carried to term. Because if it grows further, it can tear the fallopian tube, which leads to heavy internal bleeding. You have to undergo emergency surgery.

So if you feel severe abdominal pain, you should see a doctor immediately. If you want to be absolutely sure: Have the gynecologist check whether everything is in order as soon as the days are gone.

additional Information

Read more about ectopic pregnancy in the ectopic pregnancy article.

Midwife tip

If you suffer from nausea and vomiting in the 6th week of pregnancy and generally in the first trimester, this is not uncommon. Often even gentle methods such as homeopathy and acupuncture or acupressure help. Sometimes the watchword is simply: persevere! The complaints usually get better from the 12th week of pregnancy, at the latest from the 25th week of pregnancy - even if this still seems far away in the 6th week of pregnancy. Then the hormonal change is complete.