Small Fundal height measurement - should I be worried?

[dixia]

I am 27 weeks pregnant and my fundal height measurement is 23cm. At my last appointment at 20 weeks I measured 22cm. This doesn't seem like the bump is growing properly to me. I live in Spain where I speak the language to a certain level but struggle with the understanding medical vocab etc. I asked the doctor about the measurement and she just shrugged and said that it might be growing 'differently'. I'm a bit confused and worried. I have nobody else to ask, so I wondered if the MNers could help?

I should have said that the scan I had at 20 weeks was fine and if anything the baby was a little bigger than the dates. The baby is moving fine and the heartbeat was clear at the checkup today.

I am a bit paniky at the moment as my DS's godfather's wife lost a baby at 8 months last week (which she had to deliver). It has shaken me up a bit.

Hi, from what I can gather, fundal height measurements are notoriously unreliable at gauging a baby's size. However, given what's happened ( your poor friend) maybe you could ask for a growth scan (I don't know how the health services work in Spain)?

it might just be that your baby is not growing as quickly as the average baby and will catch up soon.....or you are going to have a petite baby.....

if the scan showed a normal amount of amniotic fluid, the placenta is normal and the baby's measurements were all within normal parameters, then it is unlikely that you need to be concerned....fundal height is a guide, but judging from lots of threads on here, many women measure bigger / smaller than their gestation......

babies come in different sizes...if the medical team are not concerned, i imagine all is well.

have you had any blood tests etc...were they all ok?

very for your friend too..that is definitely going to make you more sensitive to what is happening in your pregnancy

This happened to me when I was 33 weeks I was measuring as only 29. I had a scan and it showed that my amniotic fluids were low as my waters had prematurely ruptured without me knowing. I continued losing water until ds was born at 37 weeks. I am sure that it is nothing to worry about but it is important to have a scan to show that this is the case. I was given a weekly scan and blood tests from this point onwards. Do you have private health care? Or could you pay for a private scan if this is not offered routinely?

Mine was 3 cms out (smaller) the other day but the baby was lying transverse (across me rather than vertical) so it made sense.

I think all the sizes are a bit hit and miss. MW told me DS would be a 7 pounder as I had a small bump, he was 9'11! SIL was told she would be induced to deliver her twins as one was not thriving and was only around 4 something - estmiated by a scan. She turned out to be a good 5/6 pounder (can't remember exactly but it wasn't as low as they'd feared).

I have a problem with the fundal measurement - at 24 weeks I measured 19cm and had to go for an extra checkup, but at 27 weeks it was 21cm so baby is growing, I just have a small bump. My midwife said as long as there were increases, it doesn't matter that you don't fit the 'normal' fundal height measurement as it were. I can understand you are worried, particularly in view of what happened to your friend. Can you ask for an additional scan to check the growth properly? Good luck.

Hi Dixia. This happened to me too. I was sent for a growth scan at 34 weeks because my fundal height was consistently measuring small for dates. It turned out that DS had got himself into a really strange diagonal position. I myself was suspicious that this was the case when my fundal height actually decreased between appointments! He was born a healthy 8 lb 1 oz. The trouble with these growth curves both before and after birth is that we can't all be average!

Thanks for your messages of support. I can't get an extra scan - everyone is treated completely the same here. I am considering going private. I guess it was just unexpected, thats all. Lots of movement and I suppose thats a good guide? Maybe it will just be small, but my DS was 9.9 so I'd be surprised.

Yes, I was always told that movement is a key indicator of the baby's wellbeing. You might find it is in a weird position like mine was. BTW, I suddenly "grew" almost overnight when he shifted back to a normal lie!