Pregnancy week by week: Weeks 21 - 27

Video Overview & Insights

more, and practicing skills they’ll need after birth.

In this video, we break down fetal development from weeks 21–27, when your baby’s sense of touch, lungs, and nervous system are making major progress. This is also the stage when movement gets stronger and more interactive — you might even feel kicks in response to your touch.

Here’s what’s unfolding during this stretch:

🖐️ How your baby’s sense of touch develops, along with their unique fingerprints

🤍 Why rubbing or gently pressing on your belly may lead to squirming or kicks

👶 How your baby explores their own face and anything within reach, including the umbilical cord

🥤 When swallowing begins around 23 weeks pregnant, and why fetal hiccups are totally normal

🫁 How the lungs form millions of tiny branches called bronchioles

💨 How your baby practices breathing by moving small amounts of amniotic fluid in and out of the lungs

🏥 What it means that around 24 weeks pregnant, a baby may be able to survive outside the uterus with significant medical support

👀 What changes by 27 weeks pregnant, when eyelids may open reflexively, taste buds form, and your baby weighs close to 2 pounds and measures about 14 1/2 inches long

By 27 weeks, you’re nearing the end of the second trimester. There’s just one more to go — and a lot of growth still ahead.

This video covers:

✨ Fetal development weeks 21–27

✨ Touch, taste, and sensory development

✨ Lung development and breathing practice

✨ Fetal hiccups and movement

✨ What changes as the third trimester approaches

If you’re feeling strong kicks, rhythmic hiccups, or moments that make you pause and smile — you’re not imagining it. Your baby is very busy in there. 🫶

At BabyCenter, we’re here to support you every step of the way. You’ve got this, and we’re cheering you on!

✨ Track your baby’s development with the world’s #1 pregnancy and parenting resource:

https://babycenter.onelink.me/nZLz/kow9doet ✨

Find courses to help you through your biggest parenting challenges.

https://courses.babycenter.com/

Connect with BabyCenter:

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@babycenter

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babycenter/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BabyCenter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BabyCenter

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/babycenter/