To think it's odd I'm now classed as high risk due to pregnancy weight gain?

[Pearlyclouds]

I know I've piled on weight during this pregnancy. I've not actually weighed myself but at my booking in appointment my BMI was 30... I'm now 38 weeks pregnant and at my scan they re weighed me and my BMI is 40!!!
I was planning a homebirth which I was bring completely supported with. Having scans every few weeks to check everything was OK. And so far it has been. Baby on 55th percentile. Blood pressure normal. No GD. Baby now engaged. This is my 3rd baby.
Now that they've re weighed me they are telling me I'm high risk...
To be fair it's just one midwife and doctor who have said this.
I think I will still be having a homebirth as my usual midwife is still supporting it and two other doctors I saw were supporting it.
I'm just quite surprised they've weighed me at 38 weeks pregnant to be honest. I know I've put on more weight than is ideal but there's no other indication there's any issue.. Baby is not too big or small.. blood pressure fine.. I do not have diabetes...
It basically seems like people being a bit hostile with me because I'm 'fat' now rather than any legitimate cause for concern..
Has anyone else had this experience?
Am I being unreasonable to think I'm not actually high risk and nothing has really changed.. and I should still go ahead and at least try to have the baby at home like planned?

Yeah I can see that.. I dont know. Maybe I'm in denial about it but I dont feel that big altho I must be. I knew I piled on weight because I had bad morning sickness and constantly ate to deal with it... my physical activity also massively decreased at the beginning as I used to be very active.. im very outdoorsy and climbing is my main hobby but that all went out the window. My bmi was 30 but I was a uk size 12-14 in clothing so I just didn't think anything of it. I never weigh myself.
And now im definitely bigger but I've just been buying clothing in a 16 to 18 which given im heavily pregnant, again I didnt think too much about... I dont know. It was a shock to learn my bmi was that high now..
But my normal midwife said she didn't think too much of it as its only recently in our area they have begun weighing women again after booking in.. I didnt get re weighed with any of my other pregnancies. She was very reassuring. But it is confusing hearing other medical professionals acting like it is concerning.. but there's been a mixture.. so I dont know who to listen to.. obviously I dont want to put my baby at risk.
I do think some midwives and doctors are just anti homebirth full stop... whereas some are very pro..
Ultimately I know its up to me.
I should have been more careful about my weight gain and kept an eye on it but I didnt even think of it tbh and now its done

@Mrsphilmiller because im not sure that 'the best possible care' is to be found in hospital. That certainly wasn't my experience with my other births. I was recommended a homebirth at booking in for this one and having looked into it I thought it sounded the best option for me.

I understand. If you’ve had a bad hospital experience then I suppose that changes your view on them. Sorry you’re going through this.

The fact is it does make you high risk of complications and risks your babies health as well as your own. 40 is extremely high & carries risk. They aren't refusing the home birth as a form of judgement or punishment for weight or blaming you in any way it would be the same for any significant health condition.
If you had a home birth had complications and lost the baby you would quite rightly question the doctors for allowing it.

When you're absolutely up shit creek, the hospital is exactly the place you need to be. This isn't just about you, think of your children.

Personally I think it’s ok and you’ll always get different views from the professionals. My midwife never weighed me and used to gauge my health on other factors. She is a very experienced midwife so I think sometimes they use common sense a bit more. I gained well over 4 stone and my BMI was around 37.. a shock for me too. It was mainly water retention though as I lost over 2 stone immediately after giving birth. If you trust your midwife and she supports you then ignore the rest.

Just edited to add that my midwife offered home birth if I have another baby and I will consider it if I get pregnant again.

Op, obviously its your choice, you decide where to birth

The weight thing - it increases your chance of pph (especially if this is baby 3 or more), of shoulder dystocia (regardless of size of baby), and also poses a practical moving + handling risk if you are having a birth pool, or were to faint/collapse during labour. To go up so many bmi points represents a fair weight gain, so I can see why its making them a bit squirmy.

I put on a lot of weight in one pregnancy but not much fat and wasn’t sure why. It turned out it was because I had excess amniotic fluid that was causing the extra weight and giant bump - however none of the growth scans picked up on this (or the fact that the baby was over 4kg). It was only when they broke my waters they realised there was excess amniotic fluid. It’s a good job I was in hospital because excess fluid massively increases the risk of malposition and my baby was in a brow presentation (they physically can’t fit out in this position) so needed an emergency C-section or he wouldn’t have made it. So from my experience I’d definitely recommend hospital delivery in case it’s a large baby and/or one at higher risk of coming out in the wrong presentation.

My bmi was 30 but I was a uk size 12-14 in clothing

I kinda call bullshit here unless you are a serious weightlifter or very exceptionally short in stature. I wear a 14 and irs snug, and my bmi is 24.5, no way could you fit a 14 with a bmi of 30

I would ask for a second opinion and spend some time going through the pros and cons of home vs hospital birth.

In the nicest possible way, please don’t take uninformed albeit well intentioned advice online. This is possibly your and your baby’s health and life on the line. Speak to someone who knows you and your medical history. It sounds like they’ve not ruled out a home birth, so go in open minded and see what they say.

My BMI right now is 30.1. I wear size 12-14 tops depending on how snug it is and size 14 bottoms. I don’t own a single item in size 16 or over or in a large.

That’s the problem with BMIs, it doesn’t highlight how and where you carry the weight.

Rubbish. My BMI went up to 37 during pregnancy and I never went above size 14 in normal clothes.

Christ, what an asshole

It's not necessarily bullshit - clothing size and BMI is all very personal and very much depends on your height, build etc.

Thar can't all be pregnancy weight though. If you had a healthy BMI to start with. You haven't gone from a BMI under 25 to I e of 40 just carrying 7lb of baby. They need to monitor you.

I wear a 14 and irs snug, and my bmi is 24.5, no way could you fit a 14 with a bmi of 30

At a BMI of 24 ish (approx 10st8) I'm a comfortable size 10. A 14 would hang off me.

I had a post partum haemorrhage and it was terrifying. If I hadn't been in hospital it would've gone really badly. You do need to listen to them about the risks and if they are higher for you before you make your choice. I hope everything goes well for you and your delivery whatever you choose

Dr Sara Wickham is not a medical dr, she has a PhD. While she is entitled to call herself Dr in an academic sense, calling herself Dr in a healthcare setting feels somewhat misleading.

I do think there's a fair bit of fat phobia out in this thread tbh... no one has 'refused' me a homebirth. Literally just two medical professionals out of the ten I've seen, now mentioned I was high risk. And of those two only one gave the impression she would personally not consider a homebirth. The other was the doctor who said he would advise an induction if I went overdue now due to the increase in risk.

The actual consultant said he was completely happy for me to continue with the homebirth as all the tests they had done and the growth scans were fine.

I'm not flying in the face of medical advice here..

I was just a bit shocked at being re weighed when that never happened in my other pregnancies..

And as for the poster who said I couldn't be a size 12-14 with a bmi of 30 you are totally wrong. People have different body shapes and muscle mass etc. I'm not a weightlifter no but I'd consider myself to be quite physically fit before I fell pregnant this time. That has gone out of the window over the past 9 months and I'm certainly not happy about my weight gain but some of the responses here are very odd... like it would be hard for the ambulance crew to get me out of my home if I passed out... what do you think this is? What's Eating Gilbert Grape? I'm a size 16 now.. didn't buy maternity clothes just size 16 leggings and big tshirts..I still fit out of my front door lmao! And I walk an hour every time I go to work.. I don't drive, I pick up my kids from their two different schools on foot... I'm not like Brendan Fraser in the Whale!!

Honestly..

Having searched through mumsnet threads about people with higher bmi having homebirths I do feel a bit more reassured now.

I'm going to need to loose this weight after I give birth obviously.. it's not healthy long term and I do wish it hadn't got to this.. but I think some of these comments are quite ridiculous.

If I was categorically told at any point that anyone involved in my care was not happy to support my homebirth then I wouldn't do it. But that has not happened.

It isn't fat shaming. It's science.

We know that weight gain increases the risk of complications. If your risk is increased, it seems far more sensible to give birth in hospital.

That's all it is. Posters just want you to have a safe delivery.

I think you'd be reckless to have a home birth in your pisiform. Regardless of the reasons your current bmi means that you are more likely to complications than when you were lighter. Having a bmi of 40 means that your midwife will find it harder to move you in the event that you need to have interventions.

I wouldn't worry too much about the reasons you can deal with the weight afterwards but I'd err on the side of caution for now.

I do think there's a fair bit of fat phobia out in this thread tbh...

Nobody has been fatphobic, they're just stating the facts.

Really?

Telling me to 'put down the pies' that i couldnt possibly be a size 12-14 with a bmi of 30, or that the ambulance crew won't be able to get me out of my house, is not fat phobic?!
Has anyone commenting actually had a homebirth or been a high bmi for labour..
To be fair I probably shouldn't have posted this on aibu I should have posted it in a more specific topic and asked for actual experiences...

No, I wouldn't say they were fatphobic. Unpleasant and ignorant, yes, but not fatphobic.