Can you explain my growth scan results?

[floppops]

Just had my growth scan. I am 32 weeks + 4. The results say DS to be is 2.3kg/5 lbs and 78 centile.
So is that big? The sonographer wasn't very talkative..
What weight is the baby likely to be in 7 weeks?
I'm having a c section at 39 weeks and I'm just curious really.
My first DD was 3.3kg/7.2lbs at 41 weeks.
I'm seeing the doc on Friday so will go over the results I'm sure but Im just really curious as he does feel like a big baby!

78 centile means that for all the babies of the same gestational age, yours is bigger than 77 percent of them. If a hundred babies were lined up, you'd be at number 78. So on the larger side of average but not enormous.

They say on average the baby gains half a pound a week but that's an estimate. If you look at the chart in your notes though you should be able to estimate a birth weight.

Hope this makes sense. Don't worry, if it's any consolation, my monster is over the 99th centile

Take growth scan results w a massive pinch of salt. Mine at 36 wks showed DD to be 6.5lb and likely 8lb plus at birth. She was born bang on 40 wks at 6.2lb.

Growth scan also showed she had a large head and short legs, neither of which were true.

It's a bit of an unknown quantity. At 40 weeks, I was told my son was around the 5 pound mark. He came out a few days later at 8 1/2 pounds. My daughter was the same. She had better results that my son, but came out at 8 1/2 as well when we were expecting her to be smaller. I think 5 pounds at 32 weeks is excellent. I am no medic. But babies tend to put on a pile of weight between 36-40 weeks. So my (un)educated guess is that you'll have a fine, healthy LO. Let your doc put your mind at ease. I am sure he/she will.

My consultant was very clear with me that the growth scans were a very crude tool and what interested him more was the trend (was the baby's growth stable/getting faster etc). 78th centile is on the higher side of average but still very normal.

I'd take 7th!
DS was around 65-70 th for everything but his head when he was born, which was 9th! OUCH!

Fecking phone! 78 th!

I am interested to see growth scan results don't seem that accurate.

I have one booked in at 34w (not until may), as consultant said my measurements may not be accurate, so he'll use it to check babies growth. Now I'm wondering why - given it might be as inaccurate as belly measurements!

Yes I wonder why the scans are so inaccurate?
Has anyone had an accurate one-maybe that will shed some light on why the others get it so wrong..is it the equipment/sonographers? Or is it not possible to be accurate so why do the NHS spend so much doing them?

The baby is a moving target after all so it is not uncommon the measurements are a mm off here and there, which in the analysis can sway the estimate half a kilo or more each way. If the baby's legs are long for example, the whole baby will be estimated bigger (or like my friend's, smaller because we are a family of short stumpy-legged people) and after all that fear of big baby you may find yourself giving birth to an average baby with long legs....

In the scan report there are often some charts in the bottom, if you check the one for EFW=estimated fetal weight and trail your finger on the line you arrive at the estimated weight at term, just bear in mind it could easily be up to half a kilo off the mark.

i have type 1 diabetes so had lots of growth scans in my time!!!

some babies are bigger than others, and the main point of growth scans is two fold: making sure the baby is following their "line" - by this i mean a uniform growth pattern. if they start of the 80th percentile and stay there it would be of less concern than if they were suddenly on the 5th which would indicate a slowing in growth rate compared to normal. the other thing is making sure the baby is within the normal distribution....ie within the normal centiles. if you are in the "tails" ie below 3rd centile or above 97th, then they willmonitor more closely.

that said its an inprecise science. something i learnt this time that can cause large variations is "baby breathing" where the baby does just that. think of how much the diameter of your own abdomen varies when you are breathing in and out as your diaphragm raises and falls.

i was told my last baby would be 8 & a half pounds with fat belly big head and short legs. he was a long thin 7lb 8oz baby and i got 3rd degree tears........