Is this meditation safe during pregnancy?

Yes. This is gentle guided practice with no breath-holding or physical exertion. Listen in any comfortable position. If a practice increases distress rather than easing it, stop and speak with your midwife, GP, or a mental health professional.

Do I need the app to listen?

No. Press play on this page for the full guided audio and transcript. The My Maternal Mind app adds offline caching, ambient sound mixing, and a daily meditation written for your current week.

The Long Wait Returns

Week 38

0:00−5:54

Background sound

Duration:: 6 min
Stage:: Pregnancy · Week 38
Best for:: The final waiting weeks, when the wait feels endless

How to practise

In the third trimester, patience, again; drawing on the waiting you have already practiced can show up quietly or all at once. This guided meditation makes room for the feeling without turning it into a lesson you are meant to pass.

By now you may feel as though you have done enough waiting to last a lifetime, and yet here is more of it. This practice meets that familiar frustration with kindness, and reminds you that you are not new to waiting. You have stood in this place before, and you carry everything those earlier waits taught you.

Find a position that supports you (seated or lying down). Press play and let the guidance move at its own pace. There is no correct way to feel, and nothing to visualize on demand.

This episode is written for week 38. It fits best the final waiting weeks, when the wait feels endless, though you can return whenever the week feels heavy or unfamiliar.

Each week in the series stands alone. Listeners often join at their current week and circle back later; the arc rewards continuity, but nothing here assumes you have been listening since week one.

Full transcript

Welcome to Week Thirty-Eight.

You may have thought you were nearly at the end, and now the waiting has settled back in, and it can feel endless. There is a particular tiredness in waiting for something you cannot hurry, and you have every right to be tired of it.

But here is the thing. You are not new to this. You have waited before in this pregnancy, more than once. So today we draw on what you already know. Let's begin.

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Let's begin by letting your body settle.

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Find a position that supports you. Let the surface beneath you take your weight.

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Let your eyes close, or rest them softly open.

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Take one slow breath in.

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And let it go.

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Let's steady the breath together. In… one… … two… … three… … four…

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And out, longer. Out… one… … two… … three… … four… … five… … six…

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Again, in your own time.

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Let the counting go.

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Think back, for a moment, over this whole pregnancy. The waits you have already lived through. The early weeks before you knew. The stretch before the first scan. All the times you stood in not-knowing and came out the other side.

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You did not enjoy those waits. But you got through every one of them. You already know how to do this. The patience is not something you have to find from scratch. It is something you have practiced, again and again, all the way here.

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So this wait, frustrating as it is, is a familiar path, not a new one. You can walk it the way you walked the others. One day at a time. One breath at a time. Coming back to today whenever the mind runs ahead.

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And this wait will end, even though it does not feel like it right now. Every wait in this pregnancy has ended. This one will too.

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Now, three quiet truths. Let each one land in the body, not only the mind.

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The first. I have waited before, and I know how to do this.

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Notice where you feel that, if anywhere.

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The second. The wait will end, even when it feels endless.

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Let it settle.

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And the last. I can be patient with myself in the waiting.

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You do not have to be certain. Just let these be true.

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Stay a little longer, breathing, on this familiar path.

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And when you are ready, begin to come back. Feel your weight. Feel your hands.

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Let your breath rejoin your day.

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Open your eyes slowly, if they were closed.

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And carry this patience gently with you.

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That is the end of this week's practice.

These last waiting weeks can wear on you. If it all feels like too much, you do not have to carry it alone. Your midwife is there for the impatience and the worry as much as anything else. Reaching out is a strong thing to do.

We will meet again next week.

FAQ

When should I listen to Week 38?: This practice is designed for the final waiting weeks, when the wait feels endless, though you can return any time during pregnancy.
Is this meditation safe during pregnancy?: Yes. This is gentle guided practice with no breath-holding or physical exertion. Listen in any comfortable position. If a practice increases distress rather than easing it, stop and speak with your midwife, GP, or a mental health professional.
Do I need the app to listen?: No. Press play on this page for the full guided audio and transcript. The My Maternal Mind app adds offline caching, ambient sound mixing, and a daily meditation written for your current week.

Related practice

Practise with the full toolkit in the app

This episode is one of fifty-one in the Pregnancy Weeks series, with ambient sound mixing, streak tracking, and a daily meditation written for your current week.

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My Maternal Mind supports your wellbeing during pregnancy and birth preparation. It does not replace medical advice, midwifery care, or mental health treatment. Discuss your birth plan and any concerns with your care team.

Last reviewed: 2026-06-30