Low baby weight - experiences?

[Velo]

Had a scan this morning and apparently my little one is only 2.150 kg (or 4.73 pounds) at 35 weeks. At this rate I would have a birth weight of 2.8 kg/6.17 pounds - which is on the low side.

Dr. didn't give me any advice apart from 'rest more' and he also put me on magnesium - although I'm not 100% sure why, apart from it either helps prevent contractions or reduces risk of cerebral palsy which is linked to low birth weight.

I've put on 2 stone which the Dr. is unhappy about - blood pressure, diabetes tests etc all normal.

I'm not in the UK and even allowing for language difficulties the Dr. wasn't very helpful -

So - does anyone have any experience of this? Advice?

Much thanks - have spend most of the working day on Google already!!

Not an expert, but this doesn't sound particularly low to me - I don't think a baby weight of 6lb-odd at term would raise concerns in the UK, on its own ....

Like the poster above, I'm not an expert, but I believe in the UK the threshold for a low birth weight baby is 2.5kg (about 5lb 8oz). So 6lb-odd wouldn't be a low birth weight?

Also, there are many, many threads on here that show how unreliable sizing scans can be at your gestation! So your baby could end up being a completely different size when it is actually born.

Sorry I have no real advice, but hopefully in addition to your bp/urine/sugar being normal, and assuming your scan was normal, this will reassure you a bit?

DD was 6lb 4oz, born 2 days early. She was very small and still is but there wasn't anything wrong with her. Hth

after all the fuss and extra scans I had with dd, I have little faith in the scan reliability!

my predicted 5.5 lb baby was in fact 8lb 2oz

Good job I still had receipt for prem sized baby clothes.. Midwives first words (worryingly!) were "where the hell did she come from"

Thanks for the responses - was feeling a bit wobbly about it all. The little one has been wriggling about all day so that cheered me up!

Normal range is usually 6lb-8lb.

I had a 6lb er abroad and my obstetrician didn't blink an eye. I gained less than 2stone in all my pregnancies and nobody said anything.

Baby weight based on scans is notoriously unreliable.

6lb is fine, I don't know why your Dr is worrying especially as you have no other issues.

I don't carry big babies, have constant growth scans etc they told me at 36 weeks DD2 was only 4lb in the end DD1 was 5lb 12oz was very small and still is and DD2 was 6lb 3oz

I had a low birth weight baby but she was 4lb. That sounds like a whopper to me. Also 2 stone weight gain doesn't sound too much to me either unless you were very overweight to start with - sounds about average. Is that Dr not good with numbers? I thought magnesium supplements are just to help growth as you need magnesium and calcium so also don't think this sounds like much to worry about. Hope it all works out well for you.

I'm currently being monitored for small baby, was measuring approx 4lb 8 at 34 week scan however...the same thing happened with DD who was delivered early at 37 weeks at 36 week scan they predicted she'd have a birthweight of @4lb 10, she actually weighed 5lb 14oz at birth a week later, she now on the 91st percentile for height.

There is such a margin for error in scans, the truth is until baby arrives, there's really no telling how big they'll be.

This time, although baby is at the lower end of the growth chart according to scans, the doctors say as long as baby continues to grow on a steady line, they're not concerned, I may just be a woman who has small babies.

Good luck.