Massive Fundal height?

[LJSmith123]

Hello,

I had my 28 week appointment a few days ago, and I'm worried because my fundal height measured 28cm (which I thought was bang on) but on my personalised chart it's way way above the 90th percentile! Now I'm really worried my daughter is going to be massive and I won't be able to birth her because I'm only 5ft2 and pre pregnancy was 100lbs! My weight gain is exactly on track for a 25lb gain, so I'm really a tiny person! No one in my family has ever had a baby above 7 1/2 lbs (and even that was 2 weeks late) and the same in DH's family. What on earth could be happening to have such a large baby!?!??

Hello LJ, sorry that you're feeling so worried. I hope I can reassure you! Firstly, fundal height measurements are really inaccurate. They also tell you very little about the size of your baby because there are so many variables - the baby's position, the size of your placenta, the amount of amniotic fluid etc etc. Even if you have a growth scan it's a bit of a fudge.

I'm also 5'2" and got a massive bump early on. At 28 weeks I was measuring 6 weeks ahead! Cue lots of flapping and talk of gestational diabetes. I wanted to avoid the GTT (diabetes test) and luckily had access to blood sugar monitoring through work so checked it over a few days that way and refused a hospital appointment.

Three weeks later I was measuring exactly the same, cue flapping and talk of a growth scan! I found it hard to be simultaneously worried that my baby was too big and too small, so I refused a growth scan on the grounds that he was very wriggly and I was happy to wait until the next measurement. The latest two measurements have been back on track. I'm still measuring big but no indication that I have a huge baby.

So bump measurements have been something I've thought about a lot! With hindsight, I think my 6 weeks ahead measurement was mostly because my baby was lying right across my bump in a transverse position. Between that and the same measurement 3 weeks later he got into a more comfortable head down position. Also, all these points were getting plotted onto a 'personalised' growth chart based on my own height and weight. My parter is 6'5", 15" taller than me! So we might well have a long baby, although they can't measure baby length in a growth scan so we won't know until we meet him.

I'm pleased in retrospect that I didn't have all the extra checks that were suggested because hospitals and interventions stress me out and make me worry. I found that I trusted in my wriggly baby and waiting to get more of an overview was enough, but of course you may feel differently and find it helpful to have extra checks. Asking around at my antenatal class was great, because so many people have similar stories- I don't think it's made clear how inaccurate fundal height measurement is and a lot of worry gets caused by them as a result.

All the best for your pregnancy, I hope I have reassured you a bit xx

Also I should be able to report back in a couple of weeks with my baby's actual length and weight so watch this space!

I am a similar size to you, and I gave birth to babies weighing 8Ib 11 oz and 9Ib 8 oz. The second, and bigger baby needed no help at all to be born. Neither of the births were particularly difficult.

It is amazing what a human body is capable of. The lady who ran my NCT classes said that as long as the pregnancy is healthy, the baby never grows bigger than your body can handle.

Good luck, and please do not worry. The professionals will look after you, and you can do it.

I'm only 5ft and whilst my fundal measurements are normal going by how many weeks I am (e.g. 38 cm at 38 weeks), on my chart I think I'm over the 100th centile! My midwives are not concerned, said whilst baby might be big it's not unusually so, and also could just be because baby is all in the bump and not in my body, IYSWIM.