V small baby at 23 weeks - big discrepancy in measurements between nhs and private scans - now NHS doppler scan showed slight notching???

[Beastycat]

Hi all,
Would love to hear any advice and perhaps reassurance. My 20 week scan showed the baby was on the 5th centile. I therefore went for a private scan which measured her as around the 14th centile, so stopped worrying.

Then, when i went back for the growth scan on Monday, they referred me to the consultant as the femur and abdominal had really slowed down and were now 3rd percentile. I went into a blind panic ( not helped by obsessive googling), and went for another private scan at the same harley st clinic, which again found the measurements to be much bigger and well within normal range. They also did a doppler scan at the private clinic and found that although one artery was giving more blood than the other, both were 'within normal range'.

Now the plot thickens even more - went to NHS consultant appt this morning and he measured the baby as 5th centile, AGAIN. He wasnt too worried as everything was in proportion. However, he also then did a Doppler scan and found that one artery had slight notching, which he decided is the reason she is so small. Bottom line - this is why she is so small, need growth scans every month.

BUT how can there be such discrepancies?! I dont know who to believe and how serious the blood flow issue may be? Consultant didnt seem to think it was too serious at this stage... but private didnt identify it as a problem at all? If anyone has any advice i would be so grateful. Thanks for reading to the end of this LONG post!
Best wishes to all,
E

hi there - I didn't have exactly same situation as you with DS1 but he was always really really low on the percentile thing and when he was born he was normal size as in length etc but was only 5lbs. He's now a very sturdy three year old and never any problems. Am now 32 weeks with second baby and because of DS1's low birth weight and some other things I was checked at the beginning of my pregnancy and found I had a cocktail of various blood conditions so through this pregnancy I have a growth scan every 4 weeks, see a fetal cardiologist every 4 weeks too as well as tons of other checks.
So although it's a different situation it might be worth really being on the case of the consultant and seeing if there are more specialists you can see? Re your dopplers - do you mean the baby's arteries or yours? I also have the same thing (they do dopplers with every growth scan) but they all seem happy enough about it even though they keep mentioning the notches.
I don't know how one sonographer can come up with totally different sizes - but then I don't really know much about sonography! I think if they are reassuring you that it's ok then it probably is. Do you feel confident with your hospital and the fetal unit there?

I would err on the side of caution. If your NHS consultant is concerned and prepared to monitor and treat you as he thinks fit, I'd go for it. It can't do any harm. My DS was smaller than expected 50th percentile for length but 2nd for weight at term and had low fluid levels. There had been concerns about him from about 30 weeks but with monitoring he stayed put till 38+5. In my current pregnancy I am having extra scans and aspirin. I'm enjoying the reassurance tbh!

Hi - I don't have any experience to add, but I would be comforted that the private scan didn't identify anything unusual, yet you have the extra reassurance that you will be closely monitored by the NHS. Hang in there and best of luck x

I have had a problem with measurement scans from a private clinic. I knew it was the private clinic that was wrong because a friend used the same clinic because we both measured small at the clinic, yet our NHS scans at totally different hospitals measured us exactly right.

I'm not saying that means the private clinic is wrong for you, but when it comes to NHS they do air on the side of caution and it is excellent that you will be monitored closely. Best of luck to you and your baby.

Thank you all very much for taking the time to respond to me. Am trying all I can in the form of resting on left side, protein shakes and positive thought...willing t give anything a go!
Best wishes
E