crap midwife

[Monkeybrain10]

Last week the midwife felt for my uterus height and put it at c.2 inches below my belly button. I'm 25 weeks and feel baby kicking above that height. When i looked on the net people say it is between the belly button and ribs. Should i be concerned that my baby isn'tgrowing or believe my own feelings that it is actually higher than this and she was talking crap?! This isn't the first time she's given me seemingly duff information. Previously she told me the size of the baby at x weeks and when i looked it up afterwards the rest of the world was saying it should b about 10 cm bigger than she said!
The 20 week scan showed everything was fine but should i be concerned?(she didn't seem concerned!) . And also what does the top of the uterus feel like? She told me it was hard to find it on yourself!

Didn't want to read and run..

I don't have a midwife because where is live there is limited midwife's.
but just from reading your post she sounds like a really bad midwife. She also sounds like she has no clue what she is talking about.

My opinion try to find a different midwife..

You can feel your own uterus- use the side of your hand (little finger edge) and work your way up from your belly button- you can feel a ledge where it ends.

If she thinks you are measuring that much less than you would expect for dates do you have a scan booked??

How many cm was the bump? Where does that put you on your personalised growth chart?

Hi Monkey, I am an ex midwife so anything I say is based on 11 years ago

Up until around 26-28 weeks the belly button measurement can be fairly inaccurate. Having said that, all midwives used to be taught that 24 weeks is roughly equal to being level with the belly button.
From my experience this could vary at times based upon things like the position of the baby.

Clearly you don't feel confident in this midwife and it's important that you see someone else. You can write a letter to the Supervisor of Midwives at the address of the maternity unit. Just ask for another midwife. ...you can give reasons why or not (up to you). They will then arrange for you to see someone else. You might have to attend a different surgery or clinic to do this but they can take you on as a temporary patient.

Hope that helps a bit. You need to see someone you feel confident in.

Just a quick post... she sounds rubbish.

But it can be hard to feel your own uterus. 2 weeks ago all this 'its easy' talk online gave me a big scare!! Thankfully just before a scan which showed all was well. Depends on muscle/fat etc - can be easier or harder for the person to find it themselves.

If you are worried, I would get it checked out by another midwife. I had my 25 week check up yesterday and as my bump measured quite a lot smaller than the average guidelines, she sent me for growth scan straight away. Baby absolutely fine and growing as it should, I just have a small bump and my uterus is still very low. Always better to be safe than sorry and this is why I like my midwife!

She didn't take any actual measurements at my 25week visit..she just said she could feel my uterus about 2in below my belly button. Do they normally actually measure it with a tape measure or something? As for the personalised growth chart - i don't know what that is?! I'm a first timer as u can probably tell! Thanks for the support and advice ladies :-)

Yes. They measure the bump with a tape measure from 25 weeks in a first pregnancy and 28 in a subsequent. At least that's what happened to me.

In your notes there should be a graph which has a personalised range for what would be considered normal growth taking into account (I think) your height and weight. Every time the bump is measured the measurement should be plotted on this chart.

I think you either need to contact someone about your concerns or address them with her when you next see her.