Consultant care but low risk.

[Lolabee]

Anyone else having to deal with this? I find it a little strange but there you go.

Dd was born 3 days early weighing 5lb12. Perfectly healthy but a bit on the small side (she is a bit of a monster now 9yo in 12yo clothing)

15+5 for this pregnancy (different partner) but I have to see a consultant to monitor his/her growth because dd was a small baby. I'll also need serial scans from 28 weeks fortnightly. Plus any other appointments deemed necessary. Should I actually be worried or just roll with it? Maybe I'm just lucky enough to carry small but beautifully formed babies that won't have my foof feeling like a wizard's sleeve. (Family history of big boys but normal girls, which probably means nothing but it's interesting, and by big I mean 10-11lb)

But all lightheartesness aside. What is so important for a low risk to be under consultant for 1 previous small pregnancy? Midwife at 12wk scan (not "my" mw) mentioned something about serial low weight. It's been in the back of my mind since the scan but as the consultant appointment is getting nearer the niggle is becoming more of a focus.

(Plus side, extra glimpses of baby I guess)

Any insights or experiences with the same sort of thing?

I've just been moved from mw care to consultant care as my bmi is 0.5 under normal. Have always been this weight naturally.

DD was 7lb 1oz full term when she was born and I was mw care for her. We have moved house since then so it's a different set of rules.

Will mean extra scans which I also had for DD under the mw care.

I'm not concerned at all. Extra chances to ensure baby is ok before they are born.

My sister had a small but perfectly healthy baby and is now under consultant to check this baby's weight just in case there is a reason why your babies are small but you probably just carry small babies. I measured big throughout my whole pregnancy and was under the consultant because he measured 42 weeks at 33 weeks. My son was born 8 weeks ago weighing 9lb 3 oz and I was told by the doctor who delivered him that if I ever get pregnant again, I will need to be consultant led from the start in case I had another big baby and there was a reason for it but again, I probably just carry big babies. I wouldn't worry love, they're just keeping an extra close eye which is better than them not checking enough! I honestly don't see anything to worry about, if everything else is normal you probably just carry small babies! :) x

Low risk midwife-led care is supposed to be the exception, for those women that have absolutely nothing in their history to suggest risk. Your history has one risk factor, hence the enhanced level of care. 5'12 is quite small for almost 40 weeks and they will want to be extra alert to possible causes like raised blood pressure, placental insufficiency, etc. My child weighed about that when induced at 37w0 for IUGR and hypertension. Personally I'd be delighted to have additional expert care but I know others have differing views for their own reasons. You can ask them about likelihood of another smaller baby and what that risk means for you.

Not directly relevant but on a parenting board primarily aimed at women, your "wizard-sleeve" comment is pretty distasteful. If you are asking people for help and to share experiences, insulting them isn't a great idea.

I had growth scans with DS2 because DS1 barely grew from week 20 to week 28.
He was however born at 42 + 3 (I refused early induction but ended up being induced because I was overdue) at 7lbs. So not massive but not small.
Same happened with DS2. Worried about his growth. He was induced at 38 weeks and was nearly 7lbs.
We are from a family of 10lb/11lb babies so everyone is very surprised by them! My mum was terrified to hold them as 'they're missing 4lbs!'
I have been told if I have a third it will have to be consultant lead due to now 2 pregnancies with these issues and two inductions.

Agree with wizard sleeve comment being distasteful.
My darling 7lb babies caused 3rd degree tears, I really don't think size matters all that much it's often position (back to back for example)

Because you may have had IUGR and not known about it. I had DS1 5 years ago and he was 5lb 5oz. The protocol for subsequent babies for those whose first was small has changed. You will have a grow chart in your maternity notes and additional scans. It's part of the protocol to catch problems early and prevent stillbirth. Anyway in my case it was all much needed because DS2 ended up being 14 weeks early (he's doing well having had a super smooth NICU stay, fingers crossed). The NHS is severely stretched so don't knock the extra care you are getting.

Also you don't know that you have small babies. You had ONE small baby. You may have had late pregnancy placental issues that went undetected. This is to prevent all that.
Incidentally my v prem baby was nice and big for gestational age (which was great) so clearly I don't always carry small babies (which is what I had said first time around). And I am Asian and 5 feet tall so not surprising that I might have small babies. But even then it turns out DS1 was different from DS2.

Apologies to anyone offended by my comment. And thank you for advise. Going to Google iugr cause it's not something I've heard before

My first was smallish but has also grown to be a fine little boy. The issue was not so much that he was small but that when he was about 30ish weeks his growth dropped from 50th% to 13th%. There were clots noted on my placenta at birth. For my second I was put on aspirin and he didn't have any growth issues in utero and was over a pound heavier than my first. With a different doctor this time and not on aspirin, 30 wk growth scan tomorrow... I hope all is well.

It's Intrauterine Growth Restriction, basically the baby doesn't grow as large as it should because of some problem. Usually that is to do with the placenta, either the placenta itself has a problem or the mother develops high blood pressure which can prevent the proper transfer of nutrients across the placenta. This type will usually see babies with proportionately larger heads (close to expected for gestational age) and smaller bodies as the nutrients are prioritised to develop the brain. Monitoring and possibly induction / section at 37 weeks or earlier in cases of severe concern are possibilities. There comes a point when it's safer for those babies to be out than in with an under-functioning placenta and it's even possible for IUGR babies to actually lose weight in the final weeks of pregnancy if gestation goes past the due date.

There is also a more generalised IUGR which will see the baby small all over and usually manifests itself in second trimester and can indicate some more serious health concerns.

Disclaimer - info above is not a professional opinion, just based on my own learning when faced with an IUGR pregnancy that thankfully had a successful outcome.

In any case, chances are of course that you and your baby will be well and healthy so don't worry unduly but there are some indications of risk so it's great that you are getting close care and attention. Make sure to ask lots of questions if you don't understand anything.

I had the same - 1st baby 5lb 13oz so I was consultant led to monitor growth and had growth scans from 28 weeks - at my final review at 36 weeks they were happy with the growth and signed me off consultant care so I could use the MLU x