Midwife has made me worry.......

[Nicky1306]

Hi just had my 38 week check and the mw said i am measuring big s and having a big baby, 9lb+ and if I go over due baby will get bigger! She told me I need to cut down on sugar and carbs or I will very likely have an even bigger baby! Has anyone else. Been told this?? X x

[NAR4]

I honestly wouldn't worry overly about how big the midwife says the baby will be. For my first three they were way off on the sizes they predicted. My last baby, the midwife never commented and I didn't ask.

Can't see how changing your diet at such a late stage of your pregnancy will make any difference either. Surely it would just make you gain less wait anyway, not the baby.

[pinkbananabread]

How did she measure the baby? With a tape measure presumably??? Even ultrasounds for weight measurement are guesses at best - and often quite inaccurate....

I'd take what she said with a large pinch of salt to be honest.. Obviously you need a good healthy diet, but the number of women I've heard of who are told they will be having big/small babies and the baby emerges the exact opposite makes me fairly certain it's a very inexact science.

[DoItToJulia]

I wouldn't worry. I was told my second baby was too small by ultrasound (below the 10 th percentile, quite considerably.) a mad rush to induce and Get. Him. Out. He was bang on the 50th!

Even if he is big, your body can do it! (And if it can't, the medical staff around you during delivery, can!)

[holidaysdistantmemory]

I had 2 10lbs'ers, was never told to watch what I ate (and didn't!).there is no way changing your eating habits now is likely to change anything.

Midwife told me bigger babies are born quicker, as their sheer weight makes them drop like stones!!! I did have a 6hr labour with dc1 and 20mins with dc2, both v straightforward so maybe there is some truth here!

[Creamtea1]

Yes I was told that and he was 8lb exactly at 10 days overdue.

[Flisspaps]

9lb? That's a tiddler! DS was 11lb 7oz, forceps birth but that was down to poor positioning.

Don't be worried. Worry is not going to make the baby smaller. Nor is changing what you eat at this stage.

[LadyKinbote]

MW told me DD would be big. She was 5lb 8. I think I was just fat

[bonzo77]

Absolute bullshit. Scans have 20% margin of error. Margin with a tape measure must be way more. I've never laboured as have had CS for medical reasons, but my understanding is that pain relates to position of the baby and perhaps to your psychological coping mechanisms rather than the size.

[bigbadbarry]

I was offered a c-section "today if you like" at 38 weeks because my baby was apparently going to be huge - that was from a scan not just a feel. She was 7lb 1oz at 18 days overdue.

[DialMforMummy]

Was told DS1 would be big. He was 50th percentile. That can't know for sure. Measurement are very random. Don't worry.

[TinkyPeet]

I was told dd would be at LEAST 11lb......also from a scan, she was 9lb3. Admittedly, after a 6lb scrawny ds, she did feel huge lol x

[marriedinwhite]

When a midwife tells you something that worries you - ask straight away for your next appointment to be with the Obstetric consultant because the midwife has raised things that concern you. You will likely be referred to the senior registrar but remember he or she is likely to be more objective and more intellectual in their interpretation than the midwife. Further it will mark you as someone who is assertive and they will ensure you are cared for with caution. Ask for the evidence based research on the basis of your midwife's comments. All midwives swore my ds1 would be at least 9.5lb - he came early at 36.5 and was 7lb 5oz. The obstetrician I saw when pg with dd forecast her as a big baby (she was breach at one point). He thought she would be close to 9lb and at 41.5 weeks she was.

[SchroSawMargeryDaw]

DS was meant to be over 9lbs, I started a thread identical to this one.

He was 6lb 1oz...

[rugbychick]

I was told that dd was weighing around 7lb 3 at a 32 week scan, and around the same at 34 weeks. She arrived at 37+1 weighing 6lb 13 hmmmmm

[SchroSawMargeryDaw]

And that was by ultrasound!

[WhereMyMilk]

Waters went at 35 wks-had a scan that day. Was told baby was fine and at least 6.5lbs. DD born 3 days later-was 4.2lbs!

Apparently all scans are + or - 20% so not that reliable. Am sure a tape measure is even less so...

[Maebe]

They never get it right - not that I mean that to slag off midwives, just it must be impossible. The midwife who did my 41w sweep saw DD when she was 1 week and just stared at me and went, "well where was she hiding?!" My predicted 'little' 6-7lb baby was 8lb 1. Not big, but everyone was certain I was having a titchy baby, not a normal weight baby.

[CheapTarnishedGlitter]

Although I agree that the measurements are really just guesses, please don't be so quick to assume that changing diet won't do anything. I've recently been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes - pgs hormones are blocking my capacity to produce enough insulin. This means LO has to overproduce to compensate if my blood sugar levels get too high which in turn means he could get too big. I'm keeping blood sugar in check through diet at the moment - in particular watching carbs and sugars. Could it be that mw suspects gestational diabetes, or at least a risk of it?

[Tortoiseonthehalfshell]

CheapTarnished, sure, but even with GD, the last couple of weeks don't make much difference. Most of the GD sufferers I've talked to (I had it both times) found, as I did, that our sugars started regulating better at around 37/38 weeks.

[Nicky1306]

Id much rather she hadnt said anything at all! I feel bad as well as having a good varied diet I do have a very sweet tooth.....that Combined with the luck of a fast metabolism I tend to eat what I like and stay a size 10-12......looks like it may have caught up with me x