Perhaps there is no time during pregnancy more filled with worry than the third trimester. Women having their first baby are afraid of the pain. Women having subsequent deliveries may also be afraid of the pain. Then there are all the other worries: fear that something will be wrong with the baby, fear of preeclampsia or high blood pressure, and concern over pregnancy symptoms such as shortness of breath and hip pain.

Aniqua Raines from Kaiser, Ore., was worried throughout the third trimester. "With my first, I was worried about giving birth for the first time and worried that I would not be able to give birth naturally due to having diabetes during the pregnancy," she says. "I ended up having a C-section."

Sharon Wren, mother of two from East Moline, Ill., worried more during her second pregnancy than she did her first. "I was a nervous wreck in the third trimester when I was pregnant with my second child," Wren says. "My first one was born after only six hours of labor, and they always say that second labors go faster than first ones. When my oldest was born, we lived only five minutes from the hospital, but by the time I was pregnant with No. 2, we were living about 20 to 30 minutes away. I was petrified I was going to deliver in the parking lot at the mall. While normal expectant parents plan the fastest way to the hospital, I was planning a route that would go past police and or fire stations, just in case! My doctor ended up inducing me before my due date and once labor got going, it went fast!"

The following are common concerns during the third trimester:

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