Growth 'tailing off' at 36 weeks

[Feelingstressed444]

Hi. I had my 36 week appointment yesterday with the midwife at the hospital during my tour of the birth centre.
When doing my usual checks that my own midwife usually does, this midwife said she thinks the baby growth is starting to even out rather then keep going diagonally up on the growth chart. Even though the baby is measuring right for 36 weeks it is not growing as much now.
As this is my first baby and I have very little understanding about what to expect at this stage, I asked her what this meant.
All she said was that she was not concerned at this stage but she would want me to see my own midwife next week again to monitor the growth.

Unfortunately I have been very anxious throughout this pregnancy due to trying so hard to get pregnant so now naturally I feel very unsettled as this midwife gave me such little information after mentioning the growth.
I just feel like I cannot wait another week to wait and see what is going on as in the meantime I am concerned something could be going wrong.

Has anybody got any advice for me please?

Sometimes the placenta stops providing nutrition towards the end and the babies growth slows down. It happened with my dd. I started measuring small and had a growth scan. She came early in the end and the midwife said the placenta was in awful shape and when it stopped working I naturally went into labour.

I don't think it's anything to be overly concerned about. Keep monitoring the movements and if your worried or they reduce then call the midwife. X x

I think thats fairly normal. When mine was born its growth had obvs plateaued earlier as it was an 8 pounder rather than the 10 pounder they predicted. So it hadnt grown much in the last month. But that doesn't mean its not putting on fat and muscle. They bulk up, mainly, in the last month.

Their predictions have a fairly decent margin for error. Even nowadays scanning isn't at all an exact science.

Besides you've four weeks to go. Thats 4 weeks of nutrition, and fat. Its definately not worrisome at this late stage.

Try not to worry (which I know is hard) it's quite common for measurements to show changes as using just the tape is very open to other factors such as how baby is positioned, if you have eaten recently or have a full bladder.
I was measured as 31 wks at 34 which was confirmed by a scan as baby dropping from 50th to 10th line on the chart, a follow up 2 wks later had her back on on the 40th line which meant she had put on around 1.5lb in 2 wks going from 5lb to 6.5lb, so was just having a slow period and could now easily reach 8lb if she does the same in the last few wks.
And even the scans have a 10% error rate either way so just imagine what the error can be for using a tape, it's really just to give a guide as to if something could be changing that needs to be followed up.

If your next measurement shows a similar dip or no change you will more than likely be sent for a scan, which is a good thing as they can then pick up if there are any issues with the placenta as they will check the blood flow through it.

All the best for next week.

Worst case scenario, they will induce you early- they might decide the baby would grow better out than in- but given you'll be 37 weeks by then, the baby will be fully cooked anyway so it's nothing really major to worry about.

Best case scenario there's a pick up in growth again next week and it's business as usual!

Plenty of my friends have been induced early due to failing placenta (not as dramatic as it sounds at ALL) and it's all been completely fine. Dont worry. I bet though next weeek it's be back up the chart again, Let us know.

I'm 37 weeks and midwife yesterday was concerned about growth tailing off. I've been measuring slightly ahead since they started measuring bump but hadn't grown more than a cm in 4 weeks. Had scan today and all is ok - actually baby looks pretty big and right amount of fluid and blood flow from placenta is fine. The bump measuring thing is just a rule of thumb to prompt further investigations. Also different midwives measure slightly differently, and she also said as baby's started to drop into pelvis the bump measurements may change. It's not an emergency just a precaution to get checked next week but I can sympathise with your anxiety. Hope you can take your mind off it for the next week and you will get some reassurance at your next appointment.