Private growth scan been told to contact mw

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BabyCentre

Hi everyone, I've just had a private growth scan and it's got me worried. I paid for a growth scan at 30 weeks for reassurance and baby was measuring around the 20th centile with no concerns (my other two children were born on the 40th and 25th centile).

Now because I'm planning a home birth and my dc1's placenta was found to be calcified when she was born at 40 + 1 I paid for another growth scan today to just check that baby is still growing as he should and everything is going OK. I'm now 35 weeks 2 days, his growth has tailed off to the 10th centile and his abdominal circumference is showing on their chart as the 5.7th centile.

Amniotic fluid, cord blood flow and the placenta were all fine however, which is a good sign. The sonographer has advised me to contact my midwife and get them to arrange a growth scan at the hospital to check everything is OK. I'm absolutely past myself with worry now and don't know who to actually contact over the weekend as community midwives only work Monday to Friday.
What do you think I should do? I know I make smaller babies but it's the fact that his growth has slowed down that's got me really worried.
Thanks K

Do you have a foetal health unit at the local hospital? Ours is open Saturday's and they're always great for advice.

Hi thanks. I've had a look in my notes and community midwives run a voicemail service until 5pm everyday so I've left a voice message and am waiting on a reply from them.

Little update.
I spoke to a community midwife over the phone who asked me to go straight in for ctg monitoring and told me they'd have me in for a scan on Monday to see how baby's measuring on their machine.

All was fine on the ctg and baby looked happy from the readings. The mw on the ward who dealt with me told me my fundal measurement is measuring between the 25th and 50th and feels fine and baby is happy. I told her about the mw on the phone telling me I'd be brought in for a scan and she twisted her face saying she can't organise that over the weekend as it's shut and I would have to go in for more monitoring on Monday when the antenatal assessment unit is open and they would decide whether I was eligible for a scan or not.

I told her I have my home birth assessment on Tuesday and I want to go into it with an informed view of whether I'd be endangering my baby if I go ahead with having him at home and he is actually very small for dates.
It's got me worried that I'm going to have a fight on my hands to get them to do a scan of him on Monday. I mean 5 weeks ago the private scan had him measuring on the 25th centile and now he's just under the 10th, I'm so worried and it's just seems like they're brushing me off. Terrified something is going to slip through the net if they don't check his measurements. It's only 4 weeks 5 days until my due date, I can't bear the thought of something going wrong at this late stage.
K

I would insist on a scan. Do you have any details from the private scan to show your midwife, to back up your worries so to speak? I have just left hospital with my 7 day old dd born a week ago after a debacle of growth scans and measurements. Baby measured small on 28 wk scan, 32 wk scan still measuring small on just under the 10th centile but consultant not concerned as baby was following a growing line. 36wk scan baby measuring very small 0.4 entitle and grown very little. All Doppler readings for cord and placenta ok though. No one very concerned including my community midwife as both my previous babies were 5 1/2 lbs and under. My fundal measurements were spot on for dates too. After having a moan I was then diagnosed with Gestational diabetes based on a gtt test from 10 weeks earlier being .1 over the limit. They referred me to clinic were the midwife there measured my fundal height at 32weeks, I was now 38 weeks, listened to heartrate of baby which she found to be decelerating and sent me for an urgent scan within 10 minutes. The scan indicated that baby had not grown since 36 weeks and was on the 0.4th centile and weighed approx 5lbs. The Doppler reading for the cord was high and suggested it may be failing to nourish baby. I saw a consultant minutes later who booked me in for ctg monitoring which baby seemed ok. Sent home and booked in for induction the following day for tailing growth. Induced and dd arrived weighing 4lbs 13oz but healthy. We spent 3 days in neonatal as she had low blood sugar and struggled to feed, then 3 days in transitional care until her feeding improved. If I hadn't moaned and had the gd diagnosis I dread to think what the outcome may have been as she was in hurry to come out. Do insist on another scan especially in light of you having a homebirth. Good luck and I apologise if my post adds to your worries I just wanted to share the importance of kicking up a fuss if your are worried.

Thank you for replying. Glad everything turned out OK with your lo- it's such a worry isn't it? I have the measurements from the private 30 week and 35 week scans plotted against the centiles to show the drop in growth that has occurred over time. I'll be taking them along to my ctg monitoring on Monday and am going to ask dp to back me up on insisting on a scan to check baby is ok.
Baby was estimated today at being 4lb 13oz at 35 weeks 2 days, which if correct, is below the 10th centile on my personalised growth chart.

I hope they look at the growth drop and scan you if only to put your mind at ease, that's still small for gestation. I feel lucky that the clinic midwife was being very thorough and acted as she did as honestly no one was concerned and I felt neurotic and had been very laidback up to the 36 Week scan. Good luck and keep us posted.

Just a little update. I went to the assessment unit at 9am this morning and was told they'd scan me straight away to check baby's measurements. Within the hour they'd given me a growth scan and had been very understanding about the whole thing.

Water, cord blood flow and placenta are all looking great. The abdominal measurement today showed as bigger than the 5th centile one recorded at my private scan on Saturday and all other measurements were very similar to that original scan. As a result of my measurements taken today they've calculated baby is on the 25th centile of my chart and is 5lb 8oz at 35 + 4. They've no further concerns about his growth and were glad to put my mind at ease.
I'm now feeling so much calmer and am free to carry on with my home birth as originally planned. Happy days!

That's great news, good luck.