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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

innaccurate late scans to determine weght of baby,anyone had similar experiance?

33 replies

redbeki · 25/11/2006 21:19

i'd planned on a home-birth.midwife sent me for a scan at 36, weeks.radiographer told me baby was at least 9lb 8oz,ouch,I thought,they warned me off home birth,which i was looking forward to.went into labour at 39 weeks,very quick and intense 4 hour labour(in hospital),imaging a huge baby,and dd was 7ib 13oz at term!how can they get it so wrong.It affected my labour coz i thought she was a lot bigger which disempowered me in transition stage. if anyone else has experience like this,i'd love to hear from you.

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NotQuiteCockney · 25/11/2006 21:30

Scans are really innaccurate at guessing weights.

Apparently the most accurate estimates of baby weight come from mums, then from midwife guesses (from poking and prodding) then scans.

My first baby was 9lb6, at 39+5. I told everyone my second was smaller, and nobody believed me. Even in theatre, they were sure he was big, and he was only 8lb6 or something, at 40+5.

frogs · 25/11/2006 21:31

Agree, useless. They told me dd2 would be smaller than average, no more than 7lb. She was 9lb 12oz. Go figure.

lulumama · 25/11/2006 21:34

sounds like you are confident in the birthing process and the ability of your body to give birth...so i would go for the home birth and stay empowered....you more likely to have a positive experience at home..if that is where you want to be. and sounds like you might not get to the hopsital in time anyway!

.agree that an expereinced midwife can give a good indication by palpating you....

Loganberry · 25/11/2006 21:42

I had the same - day before ds2 was born, I had a scan to decide whether to induce me or not the following day because i was overdue - "ah, its only going to be around 8lb" - he was 10lb 2!! I'd planned on a hospital birth anyway so was in the right place for such a massive baby, but I can imagine how ticked off you were about having to change your home birth plans. Currently I'm being told that db3 average....... yeah right....... will find out in another 12 weeks or so! Just remember - "to err is human - to really cock things up takes a computer!"

puccaupunderthemistletoe · 25/11/2006 21:44

Mine was very accurate, scan @ 32 weeks estimated baby weighing 6lb 7oz then, said baby would be about 10 lb born, ds came out @ 38 weeks (so 2 week early) weighing 9lb 6oz.

MrsJohnCusack · 25/11/2006 21:46

honestly, I have been on here many times on this subject - the scans are useless IME, and in many others as well it would seem. They estimated DD at around 7.5 - 8lb, she was 9lb14 (at 4 days over). For this baby, I am refusing to bother with any of that and expecting him to be big, so if he isn't it will be a nice suprise. And trusting myself - I told them I was sure she was bigger and they ignored me in a patronizing, you're only a first timer what do you know kind of way.

PrettyCandles · 25/11/2006 21:47

When I was scanned at 35 and 37w, the consultant said that she couldn't (or was it wouldn't? don't remember) estimate the birth weight, but that the abodminal circumference was a very good indication of the size of the baby. Both scans gave the AC at about 97th centile, and ds2 was born on 99th centile at 40w6d. So the scans in this case were accurate - though, given that so many people have inaccurate estimations, it's interesting that she refused to estimate the actual weight.

mrsratty · 25/11/2006 21:56

The head circumference of DD1 at 34 weeks was that of a 42 week feotus! I was petrified of giving birth to my mega head baby. When she was born at 38 weeks her head was on the 25th centile, had it shrunk no the sonographer had left a huge gap around her head when he measured her!!!
My very petite friend was certain her baby was huge but the dr said she wouldn't be more than 6lbs, she weighed 10lbs 1oz. Trust your motherly instinct.

MrsJohnCusack · 25/11/2006 22:03

what would have been useful to know in my case was that DD was a freakish 57cm long with a v.chubby abdomen, and presumably length would be easier to measure than estimating weight. She didn't have a particularly big head, but her shoulders did get stuck and it was all v.scary. Seeing as I had 3 scans in the last 4 weeks, I'm not sure why they bothered! Much more sensible to say if you can't/won't do the weight.

however, in my case I'm very glad that I was in hospital for the shoulder dystocia - just a shame that they were so shocked at the size of her and not at all prepared for how the birth went due to that. This time I've been persuaded to go to a hospital rather than a birthing centre (am in a different country now though) in case of another big baby and dystocia, and I'm happy with that (although I will be slighly gutted if this baby turns out smaller, better safe than sorry)

hunkermunker · 25/11/2006 22:08

DS2 was said to be a 6lber, if that. They were worried about his growth (he didn't appear to be) and there was talk of inducing me.

He was 8lb 1oz at 40+4, so not enormous, but by no means the weenster they predicted!

Jimjams2 · 25/11/2006 22:17

Yep - ds1 and ds2 (although in ds2's case the consultant felt him and said he didn't believe the scan). Both were 9lbish but were measuring over 10!

TrixieVix · 25/11/2006 22:29

This makes me feel better - I've been told to expect 13lbs if I go to term (on Sunday) and have been panicking about it.

My SIL was told to expect a big baby and Finn got 'stuck' in her birth canal and had to be delivered by emergency cs, weighing in at 12lbs, so I thought the estimation must be right (my DH is her brother).

Your experiences have reassured me somewhat

Daisymoo · 25/11/2006 22:54

I was told my last baby would be about 7 1/2lbs. He was 10lb 13oz

Original poster

redbeki · 25/11/2006 23:15

finally got dd asleep,.its so nice to hear more experiences ,all so far though seem to be told smaller than actual weight ,this is interesting.my radiographer seemed so certain my baby was going to be a whopper,this really scared me as my other two were 6lb ders! I kinda knew she was wrong,but it put me off having my home-birth i desperately wanted.I feel a bit cheated really.

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Original poster

redbeki · 25/11/2006 23:23

good luck tixievix.

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Original poster

redbeki · 25/11/2006 23:23

good luck tixievix.

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Original poster

redbeki · 25/11/2006 23:26

2 tired 2 spell and work this keybored! sorry trixievix.goodnite

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cece · 25/11/2006 23:40

I was scanned at 37 weeks I think, told baby was about 8 lbs. Told by obs that I would be a bit early as baby was big, and it would be about 10 lbs. DS born at 41.4 weeks and over 11 lbs.

tutu100 · 25/11/2006 23:46

I was told at 34 weeks that ds weighed 6lb 1oz they were very precise so they estimated his birth weight full term at over 9lb. I was very worried although loads of you out there seem to have had real whoppers making 9lbs sound like a dinky thing. My ds was born at 40+3 weighing 8lb 2ozs apparently his much larger than average abdomenal circ. scewed all the other figures making him appear heavier than he was. I don't think they can ever acurately guess a babies weight they only have averages to go by.

Olihan · 25/11/2006 23:50

My friend was in the same position as you, redbeki. She had to have a emg c/s for her 2nd as she was undiagnosed breech. At 36 weeks into her 3rd pg she was told the baby was already 9lbs and the risks of having a VBAC at term were high. She agreed to an elective c/s at 39 weeks and her dd3 was only 8lbs 1oz. She was actually quite gutted about the c/s because it wouldn't have been a problem to have gone for a VBAC considering her dd1 was 9lbs 5oz and her dd2 was 9lbs. There must be a huge error margin on these scans.

With dd I had to have a 36 weeks scan to check the position of the placenta and the sonographer said she wasn't very big and wouldn't be more than 7.5 lbs. The delivery suite midwife when I went in palpated me and asked if I'd been warned I was having a big baby. Dd was 8lbs 4oz, not massive but bigger than average. I think the others are right that midwives are far more acurate at guesstimating weights.

MKG · 26/11/2006 02:25

I was told ds was going to be 7.5 lbs and he was only 6 lbs 1 oz.

ghosty · 26/11/2006 02:33

With DD they were remarkably accurate ... at 37 weeks she was predicted then to be over 9lbs already and when she was born she was 10lbs 10oz
Having said that, it was no brainer as DS was 10lbs 1/2 oz ...

I was told, however, that scans can be inaccurate and it can be 10% either way ....

Original poster

redbeki · 26/11/2006 12:21

Ok, so i now know how wrong these scans can be.Why do they make out they are right? We should be told they could be very innaccurate.My midwife thought so too! I was scanned at supposedly one of the best maternity hospitals in the country. the sonographer(corrected),said she was correct,and definate was the word she used when i questioned her.mmm think i'll raise this with the hospital,as i think she ruined my homebirth plan.i didnt have the confidence after that to go ahead with it!

OP posts:

KLouise · 26/11/2006 13:44

HI,

I was told at my first scan at 16weeks that my dates were wrong cos the baby was too big so they brought my dates forward by 2 weeks (no way dates were wrong as baby was Clomid baby and so dates were monitored exactly, but they didn't listen to this!) Baby went breech so at 38 weeks (by docs dates) he was turned and we were told baby was very small and be lucky to weigh over 5-5lb7oz. This confirmed our thoughts that our orginal dates were correct!! Baby turned up 2 weeks late (2 days after our priginal due date!) weighing a very healthy 8lb 9oz!! I wonder who knows best!! Scans are a waste of time when it comes down to predicting the weight!!!

Karren xx

NotAnOtter · 26/11/2006 13:50

i was told dd was small for dates and would be 'around 6 pounds' at delivery.
I had late scans the lot
she was 8 lbs 8 oz!
i was quite annoyed!

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