Fundal height worry

[TinyTerror1]

Hi everyone. I'm nearly 23 weeks and have a midwife appointment next Thursday when I guess she's going to measure my fundal height. I'd read somewhere it should be roughly the same as your gestation in weeks so I was curious and just tried to measure mine and it came out at 18cm. Should I just assume I've measured wrong and wait until next Thursday or is this something you would call triage about? (My midwife team are only available 9-10am Mon-Fri). Baby has been very active the last couple of days.

I wouldn’t worry about it. You’ve probably not measured properly, and I’m sure that there are other indicators for foetal health that they will also check out. If you’re feeling okay and not bleeding etc then try not to worry.

Fundal height only gives you an idea of what’s going on. It’s not reliable at all, esp if you try and do it on yourself.

When I was expecting dc2 I had the midwife measuring me, being unsure as she though I might be measuring small.
Sent me tomsee the consultant who said ‘you Obvioulsy look find by looking at me’. She the measured me and found me even smaller than the midwife
Went for a scan and baby was absolutely fine and spot on compare to what he should be.

What I’ve learnt from both pregnancies is that it’s a measure that is better done by the same person and is only indicative. It’s actually easy to get it wrong!
So I wouldn’t worry too much, esp if the baby is clearly happy and active.

Fundal height is really inaccurate, I was measured by two midwives on the same day and there was 3cm difference in their measurements. It can change depending on midwife,babies position etc

They never measured me before the third trimester in any pregnancy, usually 28/29 weeks.

Sorry the consultant ‘you Obvioulsy look fine just by looking at you’ (not sure what I tried to type there!)

I was measuring 4 weeks ahead but had growth scans and he was measuring fine just had a big tummy but I had GD. My midwife said to me its pretty outdated now as scans are more accurate so if they have concerns about size they'll refer you. They just use it as a rough guide. Plus some babies are bigger/ smaller than others. Also women's tummys are all different! I didn't get measured until my bump had full on popped out.

Thanks everyone. I feel a bit more reassured!

As an old FTM I get growth scans from 28 weeks anyway but just worrying that everything will go wrong before I get that far.

I got measured by a student midwife and my normal midwife this week at my 34 week appointment - the student midwife measured me at 38 weeks! My normal midwife then measured 36 weeks, which is where I've been tracking throughout the pregnancy. Just shows the differences and doing it on yourself would be very difficult as you need to understand where the baby's body is in your upper abdomen.