Anyone got any experience / advice on trying to fit in a pregnancy with phd studies? I have heard final year can be a good time as generally in the lab less?

Ta!

If you are working in the lab you will not be allowed to work with some of the substances in your lab and this will make things harder for you because you must ask others to help you. Normaly most work during a PhD is done in the last year of the PhD, so you are more likely to work more and not less

why not wait for til you finish your third year? you won't have to worry about balancing books and a baby then. it can be difficult, not just because of the workload, but because of the physical & hormonal changes that take place in the body during and after pregnancy. am not a mum myself but some of my friends are & they've had to take some time off their phds.

A woman in our lab had TWO babies during her PhD and managed to finish in about 4 years total!!!

I know of people who have had babies when doing a phd. I also know of some who have waited. One thing to think about is that if you wait until you have just finished you phd you will be looking for jobs while on 'maternity leave' and this could be a disadvantage, especially if your discipline means lots of short term contracts in the early stages of a career.